F1000 research wins EC open access platform bid

F1000 Research has been awarded a contract to set up and manage an open access publishing platform for the European Commission as a service for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries. The platform is planned for launch in early 2021.  

The platform will provide a full open access peer-reviewed publishing service for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries – with all article processing fees paid directly by the EC.  The platform will play a pivotal role in helping the European Commission (EC) achieve full open access to all the research it has supported. 

In 2013 F1000 Research launched the first ‘open research publishing platform’, F1000Research, combining the ability to publish rapidly with functionality to ensure transparency, robustness and reproducibility of research.

F1000 Research now provides fully managed, open research publishing services directly to research funders and institutions, including Wellcome, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Health Research Board Ireland, as well as to other scholarly publishers such as Emerald Publishing.

Rebecca Lawrence, managing director, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with the EC to enable Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe-funded beneficiaries to publish all of their research findings in an open and accessible way.

‘The leadership shown by the EC in its desire to establish an open research publishing platform is crucial in shifting the research culture across Europe to an open research paradigm. We know from our established publishing partnerships the pivotal role that funding agencies play in changing and influencing researcher behaviours, particularly around the adoption of new routes for the sharing and publication of their research. 

‘This platform will offer Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries with an immediate and transparent way to share their findings, thus maximising contact with multiple audiences, sparking new ideas and understanding, and ensuring new interventions and treatments reach those that need them most as soon as possible.’

A wide range of article types are eligible for publication on the platform and in any discipline stemming from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe-funded research. The platform will also offer an open and transparent peer review process and have a mandatory FAIR data policy to provide full and easy access to the source data underlying the results.