EU ministers could swing behind authors holding on to their IP

Draft Council text in line with Plan S open-access initiative on intellectual property

A draft ministerial position on reforming research assessment and open science has been revised to say that authors of research papers should retain intellectual property over their work—weighing in on what has become a contested issue in academia in recent years.

The draft text, from the French presidency of the Council of the EU, is being developed for research ministers to adopt as EU member state governments’ position on assessment reform and open science. This will shape an agreement for stakeholders that is being drafted by university and funder groups under the coordination of the European Commission.