Major Boost to Open Access Publishing as Norway Signs New National Agreement

Left: Nina Karlstrøm, head of section at Unit. Right: Kamila Markram, CEO and co-founder of Frontiers

A landmark national agreement has today been signed by the Norwegian Directorate​ for ICT and Joint Services ​in Higher Education & Research​​ (Unit) and the leading open access publisher Frontiers.

The terms of the agreement will simplify the publishing process for Norwegian researchers who publish in Frontiers’ journals. The deal includes a national discount on article processing charges (APCs), centralized, flexible invoicing, payment options, and dedicated support for library staff dealing with APCs.

The Frontiers – Unit Open Access Framework Agreement highlights the commitment of Norway’s research community to make research universally and freely accessible. The agreement will initially run for three years from January 2020.

Nina Karlstrøm, head of section at Unit, said: “Unit is pleased to announce its first national agreement with a pure open access publisher, Frontiers. The centralized invoicing and standardized workflow will simplify the process for authors wishing to publish openly in Frontiers journals, and help contribute to the growing number of Norwegian research articles that are openly available to all.”

Kamila Markram, CEO and co-founder at Frontiers, said: “This is great news for Norway’s research community and Europe’s bold vision for open access science. We are starting to see more and more commitment for a fairer, more transparent way of making research freely accessible to society at large. Norway joins other consortia, including the UK, Sweden, and Austria, all of whom have committed to open-access framework agreements with Frontiers.”

From January, 27 of the institutions represented by Unit can publish in Frontiers’ open access journals at a discounted rate. Researchers at these institutions will have access to Frontiers’ Open Science tools, including collaborative peer-review, article and author impact metrics, and scholarly social sharing tools such as the Loop research network.

Initial participants include:

  • Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority

  • Norwegian Institute of Public Health

  • The Fafo Research Foundation

  • Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

  • Østfold University College

  • Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

  • Peace Research Institute Oslo

  • Institute for Social Research

  • Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

  • NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research

  • Nofima the Food Research Institute

  • NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS

  • Nord University

  • Norwegian School of Sport Sciences – The Library

  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

  • Norwegian Institute for Nature Research

  • Norwegian Institute for Water Research

  • SINTEF AS

  • Sykehuset Østfold

  • Soerlandet Hospital

  • Institute of Transport Economics

  • UiT The Artic University of Norway

  • University of Agder

  • University of Bergen

  • University of Stavanger

  • University of South-Eastern Norway

  • Norwegian Veterinary Institute

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ENDS

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Notes to editor:

  • Image 1, Kamila Markram, CEO and co-founder of Frontiers

  • Image 2, Nina Karlstrøm, head of section at Unit

About Unit - The Norwegian Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research

Unit - The Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research provides a broad range of services to research and higher education. Unit has a central role in following up the government’s digitalization policies. The head office is located in Trondheim. Unit has a branch office located in Oslo. Unit's website can be accessed at www.unit.no

About Frontiers

Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading open-access scholarly publisher. Frontiers’ mission is to make high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles rapidly and freely available to everybody in the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. Frontiers received the 2014 ALPSP Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing. For more information, visit www.frontiersin.org