CERN to host next phase of Open Research Europe platform
CERN has been selected to host a new phase of Open Research Europe (ORE), an initiative supported by the European Commission and a new funding consortium of European national funding agencies and research organisations.
Aligned with the Action Plan for Diamond Open Access (2022), the initiative is positioned as a community-led alternative to traditional academic publishing. When the new ORE platform launches later this year, authorship eligibility will expand to include researchers affiliated with institutions in participating consortium countries, while publishing will remain completely free for both European Commission-funded researchers and authors from those countries.
The move is intended to promote equity, diversity and transparency in scholarly communication while maintaining high standards of quality and integrity.
The ORE funding consortium currently comprises members from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The European Commission will act as a permanent observer within the governance structure and continue to provide dedicated financial support.
Under the model, CERN will provide the technical and operational infrastructure for the platform, which will be built on the open-source Open Journal Systems (OJS). Governance and editorial oversight will remain with the ORE consortium.
ORE will continue to operate its publish/review/curate model, designed to increase rigour and transparency in research publishing. Submissions are first checked for integrity and compliance before being published and openly peer reviewed. Reviewer reports are made public, and articles that pass review are curated into subject-specific collections, enabling both quality assurance and post-publication evaluation.
Originally launched by the European Commission in 2021, ORE was created to provide beneficiaries of EU research programmes with a no-fee open access publishing platform. Since then, the platform has grown steadily, publishing more than 1,200 articles and attracting over 6,300 authors from more than 3,000 institutions worldwide.
CERN’s role builds on its experience in delivering open science infrastructure and community-governed services. By hosting ORE, the organisation will provide a neutral and sustainable platform, drawing on expertise from initiatives such as Zenodo, Invenio and SCOAP3.
“For CERN, hosting Open Research Europe is a natural extension of our commitment to an open, community-led scientific infrastructure,” said Mar Capeáns, CERN Director for Site Operations. “The platform supports the rapid sharing of research, while reinforcing Europe’s ability to shape the future of scholarly communication.”
“Open Research Europe is a strong example of a shared commitment to fostering the free flow of knowledge across the European Research Area and beyond”, stated Marc Lemaître, Director-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), European Commission. “By ensuring open access to high-quality research, ORE facilitates the circulation of the latest research findings and amplifies public trust in science. Today, as European research funders and research organisations join forces to support ORE, we open a new chapter, one that strengthens open access scholarly publishing and improves research practices across Europe”.
Beyond infrastructure, the initiative is expected to strengthen collaboration between CERN, the European Commission, national funders and research organisations. In partnership with the OPERAS Research Infrastructure, outreach and engagement activities will be expanded across Europe to attract eligible authors.
ORE is expected to support a growing volume of research outputs each year, with the broader aim of making publicly funded science more accessible and transparent, while setting a benchmark for equitable publishing initiatives in Europe and beyond.
More information: https://ore.eu