On March 1st 2022, the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers approved the Latvian Open Science Strategy 2021-2027, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science. The Latvian Open Science Strategy aims to provide society, researchers, businesses, policymakers and other stakeholders with freely accessible scientific information (including scientific publications and research data), as well as to promote meaningful societal engagement in the scientific research process.
The Open Science Strategy is structured in 3 pillars:
I. “Open Access to Scientific Publications” addresses open-access publishing practices and defines a national open-access policy – all scientific publications produced for new state-funded research projects must be openly accessible in “green” or “gold” open access, without an embargo period.
II. “FAIR research data” foresees that research data should be open by default, and that data, metadata and e-infrastructures intended for long-term preservation and reuse must meet the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles to the greatest extent possible.
III. “Citizen Science” foresees encouraging co-creation in the context of citizen science activities, supporting citizen science initiatives by e.g. providing access to scientific e-infrastructures (i.e. research data repositories) and integrating citizen science in Latvian science communication activities. Latvian stakeholders will be encouraged to participate in international initiatives and networks related to citizen science.
