Statement on Open Scholarship

Open scholarship, which encompasses open access, open data, open science, open educational resources, and all other forms of openness in the scholarly and research environment, is changing how knowledge is created, preserved and shared. Open scholarship and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) scholarly practices underpin the integrity of research, its efficient dissemination to researchers, students, policy makers and to the wider public and facilitates faster scientific discovery and problem solving.  A commitment to open scholarship contributes to research impact through the principles of transparency, global access and flexible reuse and will maximise the visibility of researchers and the outputs of their research.

Open scholarship is a global movement to which Australian universities have already contributed substantially. CAUL recognises the need, however, for ongoing action at the institutional level in coordination with relevant national, regional and global funders, policy makers and organisations. 

To maximise the benefits of Open and FAIR scholarship, CAUL and its members affirm the need for clear policies and specific practices on open scholarship at member institutions, and nationally and internationally through governments, funding bodies and other institutions. Implementation of these policies should be accompanied by the development and ongoing support of required open infrastructure and through comprehensive, ongoing training and support for staff and students.

CAUL recognises that Open and FAIR scholarly practices are continually innovating and this requires ongoing collaboration between libraries, funders, policy makers, publishers, and our research communities. CAUL and its members therefore commit to action, including providing resources, to advance open scholarship in the following areas: advocacy, competency, publishing, infrastructure, content acquisition and educational resources. 

Read CAUL's full open scholarship statement (2019) for more information.