The principle of open access responds to the high constitutional values of promoting the development of culture and scientific and technical research, as well as safeguarding academic and scientific freedom. In particular, it aims to enhance the international dissemination of scientific research contributions, reduce the duplication rate of scientific studies, strengthen interdisciplinary research, facilitate the transfer of knowledge to businesses and transparency towards citizens, make the use of scientific contributions for educational purposes more efficient, and ensure the long-term preservation of scientific production.
Publishing or disseminating in open access means engaging in the field of open science, which allows access to the text online for free and without legal or technological restrictions, through platforms that use bibliographic standards and specific IT protocols for dissemination. The reuse of the product of scientific research is permitted, with full respect for the author’s moral right (right of attribution).
Open access has been defined by three foundational international statements: the Budapest Open Access Initiative (February 2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (June 2003), and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (October 2003).
The University for Foreigners of Perugia implements open access to works resulting from scientific research through the institutional research repository called “Exquirite,” which serves as the University’s open access repository, through its own University Press, as well as through any other tool provided by technology.
The institutional research repository, managed through the IRIS platform, is the system for documenting, disseminating, archiving, and preserving the research outputs produced at the University.