Policy

In 2015–2016, an Open Science Expert Group operated under the Estonian Research Council, which developed the Open Science framework document “Open Science in Estonia” (2016). The framework provided a systematic overview of Open Science, included its principles, and offered policy recommendations for Estonia. The aim of the document was to support the development of a national strategy and institutional policies.

Open Science policy and studies – Estonian Research Council.

At the same time, Estonia has adopted rules, laws, and agreements that regulate Open Science.

1. For example, the Public Information Act applies in Estonia, which states in § 3 (1), point 8(2): “Data that are collected or produced in the course of scientific research activities and are used as evidence in the research process, or are commonly accepted in the research community as necessary to validate research findings and results (hereinafter research data), shall be made available for re-use if the production of research data has been funded from the budget of the state, local governments or legal persons in public law and researchers, research performing persons or research funding persons have already made them publicly available through an institutional or subject-based repository.”

2. In addition, most Estonian universities have signed the Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, which regulates Open Science as follows: under otherwise equal conditions, a researcher prefers journals with open access; A researcher ensures that scientific data is as easily findable and usable as possible. (Researchers may follow the FAIR principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.) The FAIR data principles.

3. In 2020, under the leadership of the Ministry of Education and Research, a draft framework for Open Science in Estonia and its implementation was prepared. The framework sets out general and time-independent principles and defines a governance model and response for Open Science as a topic. Although the framework has not yet been adopted, it provides potential input for developing Estonia’s Open Science policy.