Open Access in Japan – a multi-institutional perspective

Abstract

From 27 to 30 January, the French embassy organized an expert visit in Tokyo to gather in-depth information concerning the situation in Japan in the domain of open access to scientific results. The group of 5 experts from France and the Netherlands met with several major agencies (MEXT, JST, JSPS, NII) as well as research and library communities. A specific meeting was organized with Prof. Harayama, executive member of CSTI, to exchange strategic options concerning open access in Japan and France. The present report reflects the very rich interactions that occurred over a week and which could summarise as follows:•Open access benefits from a strong awareness in Japan at institutional, academic and library level;•The recent years have seen several developments in setting up infrastructures that are likely to favour the wider development of a national open access policy in Japan, in particular in the domains of publication repositories and editorial platforms;•The evolution in publication costs have accelerated the open access agenda in Japan with the prospect of a national policy being issued in the period following our visit (See https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2016/webprogram/Paper16940.html and the reports cited in the bibliography) ;•There are several opportunities for close collaborations between European and Japanese institutions both at political and technical levels.