Responding to the National Government's Basic Policy on Open Access in Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), etc.
The government has decided on a basic policy on open access to scientific papers and other outputs supported by public funding such as KAKENHI (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research). Here we explain what is required of researchers specifically, and what kind of support Kyoto University provides.
Key Points of the Cabinet Office’s Basic Policy on Promoting Open Access to Publicly Funded Scholarly Publications and Scientific Data (National OA Basic Policy)
In February 2024, the Cabinet Office’s Integrated Innovation Strategy Promotion Council established the Basic Policy on Promoting Open Access to Publicly Funded Scholarly Publications and Scientific Data (hereinafter the "National OA Basic Policy" )
There are two key points to the National OA Basic Policy:
- The Policy applies to recipients (including corporations) of any competitive public research funding awarded under a new call for applications made in fiscal 2025 or thereafter, which is subject to immediate open access. Such recipients will be obliged to make all papers and supporting data produced under the funding available in an institutional repository or other information database immediately after publication in an academic journal.
- Materials subject to this immediate open access requirement are peer-reviewed journal articles (peer-reviewed research papers [including author final manuscripts] published in digital journals) and their supporting data (such as research data that the applicable journal’s author guidelines or publication regulations require to be published in order to ensure transparency, reproducibility, etc.)
In simple terms, the basic requirements are:
- 【Who?】Researchers receiving KAKENHI and other competitive research funding
- 【What ?】Outputs of the research in the form of peer-reviewed journal articles (peer-reviewed research papers published in digital journals)
- 【How? 】Make available in the repository of the researcher’s institution
(These requirements apply to articles published as part of projects supported by any of the four competitive funding schemes in a call for applications in fiscal 2025 or thereafter.)
*This is a simplified summary provided for ease of understanding: there are some exceptions and other points to note. The FAQ section in the lower part of this page addresses questions such as, what to do in cases where it is difficult to arrange immediate open access.
For the original text of and background to the National OA Basic Policy, please refer to Cabinet Office documents ("National OA Basic Policy", "Specific Measures for Implementation of the National OA Basic Policy", "FAQ on the Specific Measures", explanatory materials from the August 2024 Cabinet Office information session) and the Research DX page(in Japanese only)).
What are the advantages of Green OA (Open Access)?
"Green OA" is the term used for making a research paper available publicly in the author’s institutional repository. In principle, Green OA is mandated under the National OA Basic Policy.
Providing open access to your research papers enables your research findings to reach scholars at universities and other institutions that do not have digital journal contracts, which are increasingly costly. Publishing your research papers with Green OA will ensure higher rates of access. A 2020 study found a marked increase especially in access to papers available publicly with OA only through institutional repositories (not OA on publisher platforms).
Moreover, a survey commissioned by the Cabinet Office (Report of Survey on Issues and Measures Needed for Strengthening Research Capabilities at Universities and University Joint-Use Facilities, March 2024 ) found a correlation between the promotion of Hybrid OA and Green OA and an increase in FWCI (citations), which denote research quality. In other words, OA leads to higher citation rates.
The survey also examined discipline-specific trends, and found that Green OA papers in the humanities and social sciences tended to have markedly higher FWCI (citations). The impact of publishing papers in repositories on increasing citations and raising research capabilities is thus especially high in the humanities and social sciences.
What should researchers at Kyoto University do?
Kyoto University was the first in Japan to draw up an Japan's first open access policy, so we already have a platform for implementing Green OA under the National OA Basic Policy.
At Kyoto University, since the OA policy was formulated in 2015, researchers have been able to register and publish peer-reviewed academic papers and evidence data resulting from their research grants in the Kyoto University Research Information Repository "KURENAI," and many researchers have actually published academic papers.
Since Kyoto University’s OA policy was established in 2015, researchers have been able to register and publish peer-reviewed journal articles and associated data produced with the support of research grants in KURENAI, the Kyoto University Research Information Repository. In practice, numerous researchers have already made their work publicly available in KURENAI.
The Kyoto University Research Information Repository KURENAI serves as a platform to promote open access, making the outputs of research and education created from day to day at Kyoto University available to the public online.
KURENAI already offers access to over 200,000 papers and other resources, and records more than 6 million downloads per year, making it one of the world’s top platforms for academic papers.
One-stop solution
KURENAI and the KURENAI Deposit System provide Kyoto University researchers with a one-stop solution for complying with the National OA Basic Policy.
When you log in to the KURENAI Publication Support System with your SPS-ID, you will see a list of your own articles acquired automatically from platforms such as Web of Science and researchmap.
You can register and publish any of these articles on KURENAI in a one-stop process, simply by attaching the article file (author's final manuscript) and any supporting data. After the library has checked intellectual property rights and other matters, the article will be released on KURENAI.
Articles that do not appear in the list can be registered in KURENAI using data from researchmap, allowing you to keep your research profile (CV) up to date.
For detailed instructions, see the KURENAI Dposit System manual.
Assigning a DOI to your paper’s supporting data
The National OA Basic Policy also requires publication of supporting data for research articles. KURENAI allows you to publish supporting data along with the main article file.
You can also assign a separate DOI (and metadata) to the supporting data (research data) so that your material is published across two different screens: one for the article itself, and one for the research data. This enables secondary use of your research data and opens up possibilities for data-driven research.
Examples of use by Kyoto University researchers:
1) Research data publication screen: https://doi.org/10.57723/276374
2) Article publication screen: http://hdl.handle.net/2433/285297
Kyoto University recommends a data-first OA research cycle, as shown in the examples above. This cycle involves first registering and publishing the supporting data (research data) associated with the article still being written in KURENAI, assigning a DOI to the data, and then citing this DOI in the article itself..
For detailed instructions, see "Publish Research Data (Evidence Data for Articles) with DOIs in KURENAI".
FAQs on Kyoto University’s Response to the National OA Basic Policy
The Cabinet Office and related ministries and agencies have now published "Specific Measures for Implementing the Basic Policy on Realizing Immediate Open Access to Publicly Funded Scholarly Publications and Scientific Data" and "FAQ on the Specific Measures" (latest update: October 2024).
The following describes how we can respond to the National OA Basic Policy using KURENAI based on these Specific Measures and FAQ. Please note that many points remain unclear even in the explanations provided by the Cabinet Office. The information on this page reflects what is known as of December 2024. We plan to continue revising and adding to this information as further details are clarified in the application guidelines for Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and other documentation.
Q1. What competitive research funding programs are covered by the National OA Basic Policy?
A. The Specific Measures (p.1-2), state that, for the time being, the following four types of competitive research funding are covered by the National OA Basic Policy.
1. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI)
2. Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Strategic Basic Research Programs
3. Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) Strategic Basic Research Program (Advanced Research & Development Programs for Medical Innovation)
4. Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Fusion Oriented Research for Disruptive Science and Technology
According to the Cabinet Office’s explanation (FAQ1, p.1), the National OA Basic Policy will apply to programs for which a new public call for applications is made in fiscal 2025 or thereafter. It does not apply to competitive research funding programs for which the call for applications was made in fiscal 2024 or prior.
Q2. What kinds of research outputs are covered by the National OA Basic Policy?
A. The National OA Basic Policy requires repository publication of "peer-reviewed research papers published in digital journals" (and the supporting data on which such papers are based) that are produced as part of research funded by competitive research funding programs mentioned above, including the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research.
According to the Cabinet Office’s explanation (FAQ2, p.1), the Policy does not apply to outputs such as non-refereed papers, preprints and books. However, researchers are welcome to publish such outputs on KURENAI if they wish.
Q3.Who can apply to have a paper published on KURENAI?
A. Although not clearly specified in the National OA Basic Policy, it is usually the corresponding author or first author of the paper who applies for registration and publication in KURENAI. However, there is no problem if another co-author applies on behalf of all author(s).
The Principal Investigator of the project receiving competitive research funding also needs to comply with the National OA Basic Policy, as this must be included in the project’s research achievements report.
Q4. What does “immediate” mean in the National OA Basic Policy?
A. According to the Cabinet Office's explanation (A.B., p.7), “There is no specific provision. However, as a guideline, it is desirable to publish in an institutional repository or other platform approximately within three months after publication in an academic journal.”
We recommend you submit your KURENAI publication application immediately after your paper is published. This will ensure that you do not forget to do so later on.
Q5.Won’t there be situations where it’s difficult to provide “immediate” open access?
A. Yes, there are cases where the journal, publisher, or academic society uses publication agreements and other mechanisms to prohibit “immediate” Green OA. Some papers are subject to a publication ban (embargo) for a specified period (e.g., 6 months); in other cases, authors are permitted to release only the paper’s manuscript file (author's final manuscript); and in others, publication is disallowed under copyright transfer agreements. The library staff will check if your paper is subject to any such restrictions, so please go ahead and apply for publication on KURENAI first.
If it turns out to be impossible to implement immediate open access, the Cabinet Office’s explanation (E. on p.10 and FAQ12 on p.16), says that you can select and state the reason for this when you submit the report on research achievements for your Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research or other funded project.
Q6. Do I need to publish on KURENAI if my article is already OA on the journal’s website or if I paid an APC to make it OA (hereinafter referred to as Gold OA)?
A. According to the Cabinet Office’s explanation (FAQ11, p.16), Gold OA papers do not necessarily have to be published in a repository. You will need to provide the DOI or URL of the OA paper in the report on research achievements for your Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research or other funded projects. However, researchers are welcome to publish such outputs on KURENAI if they wish.
Q7. Does the National OA Basic Policy apply to papers published only in print (paper media) journals, such as the journals of academic societies in Japan?
A. The National OA Basic Policy (p.2), applies to “peer-reviewed research papers published in digital journals.” This means that papers published only in print (paper media) journals are not subject to the Policy. However, researchers are welcome to publish such outputs on KURENAI if they wish.
Q8. What range of data is considered “supporting data” for an article?
A. According to the Cabinet Office's explanation (C., p.8), under the National OA Basic Policy, supporting data means data that constitutes supporting evidence for a published article and that “the applicable journal’s author guidelines or publication regulations require to be published in order to ensure transparency, reproducibility, etc. Supporting data is data that is intended to be published, such as supplemental data, and does not include data not intended for publication, such as data requested as part of the peer review process.”
The terminology differs among journals, publishers, and academic societies, but supporting data usually refers to research data linked from a section in the article titled “Supplementary Information,” “Supporting Information,” “Research Data for this Article,” or “Data Availability,” which is usually located near the References section of the paper.
The scope of supporting data required to be published differs depending on the academic society, publisher, editorial department, academic discipline, scholarly community, etc. Please check the journal’s author guidelines and publication regulations for details.
