Enabling open access at scale: The role of trusted data in research policy and funding
Open access policies are reshaping research funding and reporting across Europe. Discover how Open Access Monitor and Web of Science help institutions, funders and policymakers track progress and make informed decisions with trusted publication data.
Open access has become a defining priority for research institutions, funders and governments across Europe. As a core pillar of open science, it is helping to make research more accessible, transparent and useful to communities around the world. At Clarivate, we support this transition by providing trusted data, research intelligence and tools that help institutions understand their research landscape, track progress towards open access goals and make informed decisions.
Yet as the movement gathers momentum, measuring progress presents a growing challenge. Policymakers need reliable evidence to understand the impact of funding programs, institutions need robust reporting to support their demonstration of compliance with applicable requirements, and library leaders need trusted insights to guide investment decisions. Turning the ambitions of open science into meaningful and measurable progress depends on having reliable evidence on which to act.
In Germany and across the wider DACH region, Open Access Monitor (OA Monitor) has emerged as a powerful solution to this challenge. Developed by Forschungszentrum Jülich, the platform brings together data on the volume and financing of open access publishing, providing stakeholders with a broad view of the evolving scholarly communications landscape. By incorporating curated publication metadata from Web of Science, OA Monitor has expanded its analytical capabilities and enabled institutions address increasingly complex reporting requirements with confidence.
It is also a practical example of how Clarivate supports the open science ecosystem: enabling trusted data to be combined with community-led initiatives to help institutions monitor and advance the transition to more open research.
To explore the evolving role of research intelligence in supporting open access initiatives, we spoke with Dr. Bernhard Mittermaier, Head of the Central Library at Forschungszentrum Jülich and a driving force behind the OA Monitor project. He shared insights into the challenges facing institutions today, the importance of trusted publication data and how Web of Science has helped OA Monitor deliver greater value to the research community.
What challenge were you trying to solve when OA Monitor was first developed?
“OA Monitor was created to address a significant challenge facing the research community. Tracking open access publication activity required institutions to collect information from multiple sources, often through highly manual processes. It was difficult to obtain a consistent view of publication output, associated costs and progress towards open access goals. Our aim was to create a centralized, searchable platform that could bring together the information stakeholders needed in one place.
By aggregating publication data, subscription information and other relevant metrics, OA Monitor has enabled institutions, policymakers and researchers to access answers quickly rather than relying on fragmented datasets or time-consuming reporting exercises.”
Why was it important to incorporate Web of Science data into OA Monitor?
“Users wanted to compare their findings against a trusted, widely used source of publication data and ensure consistency with previous analyses. Incorporating Web of Science data helped us achieve that objective while significantly expanding the analytical capabilities of the platform.
What matters is not simply having access to large volumes of data, but knowing that the information has been curated, standardized and can be relied upon for strategic decision making. The broad coverage and market acceptance of Web of Science gives users confidence in the results, while the detailed metadata enables new types of analysis that were not previously possible.”
How does the addition of Web of Science data enhance OA Monitor’s value for institutions?
“The biggest enhancement is the ability to analyze publication activity at a more granular level. When the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) introduced funding requirements that depended on corresponding author reporting, we were able to respond quickly because the necessary information was already available in Web of Science metadata.
The richness of the metadata is especially important because it enables us to analyze corresponding author activity and support reporting requirements that would otherwise be extremely difficult to fulfil. This provides immediate value for institutions seeking funding and demonstrates how high-quality data can support evolving policy requirements.”
What role does trusted data play in supporting research policy?
“As open access continues to evolve, transparency and trust will become increasingly important. Institutions, funders and policymakers all need confidence that the information they rely upon is accurate, consistent and comparable across different contexts. Reliable data helps stakeholders measure progress, evaluate policy outcomes and make informed investment decisions.
As reporting requirements become more sophisticated, the quality of underlying metadata will become even more critical. Building successful open access strategies ultimately depends on having access to trusted research intelligence that stakeholders can use with confidence.”
Looking ahead, what opportunities do you see for OA Monitor?
“We see opportunities to broaden the scope of the platform and provide an even richer understanding of the research ecosystem. Areas of interest include incorporating grant information, conference proceedings and books, enabling users to explore connections across a wider range of scholarly outputs. Our focus remains on providing actionable insights that help institutions and funders navigate an increasingly complex research landscape.”
As open access continues to reshape scholarly communications, it is also contributing to a broader transformation towards a more open and transparent research ecosystem. Delivering on that ambition requires more than making research outputs openly available. Institutions, funders and policymakers also need trusted evidence to understand progress, evaluate the impact of policy and make informed decisions.
The experience of OA Monitor demonstrates that success depends not only on collecting data, but on ensuring that the data is accurate, consistent and fit for purpose. By integrating curated metadata from Web of Science, OA Monitor has been able to deliver deeper insight into publishing activity, support institutions in addressing evolving funding and reporting requirements, and inform decision making across the DACH research community.
This is where Clarivate plays an important role in advancing open science. By providing trusted, curated research data and intelligence, we help research organizations turn the principles of openness into evidence-based action, supporting greater transparency while giving institutions the insights they need to navigate change with confidence.
As open science continues to evolve, trusted data will be fundamental to ensuring that progress can be understood, measured and sustained. Through Web of Science and our broader support for open research, Clarivate is helping the research community build a more transparent, connected and open research ecosystem.
Learn more about how Clarivate supports open research and open access.
Related insights
The latest news, technologies, and resources from our team.
