UiT is world leading in open publishing
UiT ranks 6th in the world in a new ranking, leading the way in open publishing in the Nordics.
“This really is a feather in our cap!”
That’s the reaction from Library Director at UiT, Johanne Raade, when she hears that UiT recently was ranked 6th in Open Access in the CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition 2024.
“UiT has worked deliberately with open science over the years. Reaching such a high position on this list is the fruits of long-term work,” Raade adds.
The Pro-Rector for Research and Development at UiT, Jan-Gunnar Winther, agrees:
“Making our research accessible has been a priority area for UiT. That we are now world-leading in Open Access is nothing less than impressive!”
The ranking was published on October 9 and ranks over 1500 universities worldwide according to the degree of open publishing – or Open Access – they have had between 2019 and 2022.
With 91,4 percent open publications, only five universities in the world have a larger share of their publications freely available to the public.
The sixth place also makes UiT the leading university in the entire Nordic region in open publishing.
UiT has open publishing as a principle
Open Access means that the public gets free, digital access to scientific publications, for example by researchers publishing their work in open journals.
This is not the first time UiT has distinguished itself in open research publishing. Already in 2016, UiT was among the institutions in Norway that published the most, with 42 percent Open Access.
UiT has aimed to be a leader in open science and open access for a long time. Scientific publications should, as a principle, be made available either through publishing channels with Open Access, or through the open knowledge archive Munin.
And being sixth in the world surely is leading. That is the firm belief of Open Access Advisor at the University Library, Jan Erik Frantsvåg.
“Achieving such a high position in an international ranking of universities, is clear proof that the work has yielded visible results. It also helps to make UiT visible internationally”, Frantsåg says.
“UiT has had an ever-increasing activity in the area of open access for about 25 years, including open science, with activities locally, nationally and internationally”.
An example is the annual Munin Conference on Scientific Publishing, which on November 26 is held for the 19th time, attracting participants from 23 countries.
A result of conscious work and good collaboration
In 2017, the Norwegian government stated a goal that all Norwegian scientific articles funded by public funds, should be openly available by 2024.
With the recent ranking in open access, UiT must be said to be well on its way to reaching that goal.
“Good collaboration between researchers, research administration and the University Library now makes us number six in the world”, Library Director Johanne Raade says.
“Both researchers and management have seen the importance of open and shared research. The University Library has many skilled and innovative employees who have worked on this for years.”
