FAQS regarding the Management and Open Access Policy

In order to comply with this policy, researchers need to publish in one of the following options:

• Full open access journals.

• Subscription-based journals that allow for the published version or the revised version to be shared in a public access repository.

• Open access publishing platforms that have an open review process.

• Journals that allow individual open access by article.

In the case of publication in a journal or on a platform in which the commitment to open access cannot be fully met for reasons of embargo, such publication must be previously approved by ”la Caixa” Foundation. Approval will only be granted on an exceptional basis when there are no reasonable alternatives that will enable compliance with the policy.

Any institutional or themtic repository that follows the OpenAIRE guidelines is acceptable.

It is recommended that the paper be deposited immediately after publication, even if access to the complete text must be restricted during a certain period of time (embargo), and unless the corresponding journal or platform follows a more restrictive regulation. However, it must be deposited no more than six months following the date of publication.

Following the OpenAIRE guidelines, the “dc.relation. projectID” metadata should be used with the following values:

info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/LCF/FundingProgram/ProjectID/

The project ID is generated by entering the project in the ”la Caixa” Foundation software application; consequently, each beneficiary must contact their administrator to obtain it.

Access to the latest revised version must be available in the repository, whether this is the final version as it will appear in the publication or the revised version without the final layout (also known as postprint or the author’s final version), but with the same contents as the published version.

Any dataset that supports the results disseminated in a scientific publication must be made public at the same time as the publication. If the beneficiaries wish to make public other data obtained during the funded activity they can do so in accordance with the existing data management plan. In the case of negative results data, it is recommended that these should also be published in open access repositories or specialised journals¹ to avoid their reproduction..
 

1. BMC Research Notes (https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com), Journal of Unsolved Questions (http://junq.info), Research Ideas and Outcomes (http://riojournal.com).

The data can be published in any repository prepared to preserve and disseminate this type of objects. The repository may belong to an institution or a scientific community, with priority given to it assigning a persistent identifier (DOI, handle or similar) which facilitates its localisation. To find the most suitable repository for your data, see the registry of discipline-specific data repositories re3data (www.re3data.org).

The data supporting results obtained during research funded by the Foundation and which have been disseminated in scientific publications must be made public at the same time in a data repository which allows public access to them and which assigns a permanent identifier to each dataset.

The data must follow FAIR principles, in other words, must be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable, as far as possible. Standard, open formats should be prioritised, bearing in mind the different characteristics of each scientific discipline.

It is assumed that beneficiaries must have protected the research results prior to requesting publication.

With regard to the research data that supports published results, the policy provides for the possibility of seeking an exception from its application in cases that are sufficiently justified.

Notwithstanding the above, beneficiaries are responsible for taking measures to enable compliance with this policy without negatively affecting the protection and/or exploitation of the results. Where necessary, they should raise any exceptions that may apply, submitting the corresponding justification, with the ”la Caixa” Foundation.

The policy comes into force from 2019 for all beneficiaries. ”la Caixa” Foundation has been implementing an open access policy since 1 January 2018 which, as from the date indicated in a previous paragraph, is now extended to encompass all research results.