While Canada’s three major funders have an Open Access Policy on Publications that requires funded researchers to make the peer-reviewed results of their research available in open access within 12 months of publication, there is currently no simple way of tracking compliance with this policy because Canadian research articles are distributed across many publishers and repositories.
OpenAIRE aggregates metadata records and full text (when available) from thousands of data sources internationally and identifies funder relationships using text and data mining and Crossref affiliations. As such, it is able to track a wider range of research outputs than commercial databases, such as Scopus and Web of Science. By partnering with OpenAIRE, we can ensure that all relevant research outputs, including those in Canadian repositories, are represented in this corpus.
This initiative is strengthening the existing repository network in Canada, and will reduce our dependence on external players that do not have values aligned with openness and the public good. Additionally, making Canadian researcher outputs available through international discovery services such as OpenAIRE is essential for ensuring that Canadian research is visible and included in research assessment systems.
This project is also building the workflows and expertise needed for Canada to take on a more active role in managing and tracking Canadian research outputs, should we decide to do so.