Here is a list of practical actions to publish the results of the research activity within the NFFA-Europe Pilot project. These guidelines summarise the requirements included in the NFFA-Europe Pilot Grant Agreement, in the NFFA-Europe User Declaration Agreement, in the NFFA-Europe Research Data Policy and in the NFFA-Europe Data Management Plan.

The Glossary of terms used in this document can be found HERE.

For any question related to Open Access to Scientific Publications and to Research Data write to userdissemination@nffa.eu.

Scientific Publications

A Scientific Publication is any of the following contributions (peer-reviewed or not): article in a scientific journal, monograph, book or book chapter, conference proceedings and ‘grey literature’ (i.e. informally published material not having gone through a standard publishing process, e.g. reports, highlights).

If researchers affiliated with a NFFA-Europe Pilot Beneficiary are within the authors of a peer-reviewed Scientific Publication resulting from a research work within NFFA-Europe, it is mandatory to provide Open Access (Gold, Green or Hybrid) within six months of publication.
➜ all 7 steps listed below are required

In all other cases, Research Users are encouraged to choose Open Access for their Scientific Publications.
➜ only steps 1 and 2 listed below are required

Steps

1. Acknowledge the project in your Scientific Publication including:
   
   • if applicable, the following sentence: “This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101007417, having benefited from the access provided by [access provider Institution] in [access site] within the framework of the NFFA-Europe Pilot Transnational Access Activity, proposal [IDXXXX].";
   • otherwise, the following sentence: “This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101007417.”;
   • the NFFA-Europe Pilot staff members who ensured the access support;
   • the EU emblem.
2. Communicate at least tentative title, list of authors, abstract and name of the repository where you intend to publish the related Research Data at least 20 days before any submission to publication, writing to userdissemination@nffa.eu and, if the Scientific Publication results from a NFFA-Europe Joint Activity, also to science@nffa.eu, specifying the JA number.
3. Submit your article to a journal whose policies are in line with open access requirements. You can choose between:
   
   • an Open Access journal (Gold Open Access);
     More info
     You can look for an Open Access journal on the DOAJ website or publish on Open Research Europe, the open access platform of the European Commission. You may be required to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to support the costs of the publication process and peer-review. In case one of the authors is affiliated with a NFFA-Europe Pilot Beneficiary, the cost can be borne by NFFA-Europe.
     
     
   • a traditional subscription scientific journal that allows you to deposit a copy of your article in an online repository and provide open access to it after a maximum of 6 months (Green Open Access);
     More info
     You can check the conditions of scientific journals through Sherpa Romeo. In case of a longer embargo, you have to choose a different journal or negotiate with the editor for a shorter embargo. In the latter case, you can use this addendum template.
     
     
   • a traditional subscription scientific journal that allows you to make your article open access by paying a fee (Hybrid Open Access).
     More info
     Check if the institution you are affiliated with has entered into transformative agreements or read and publish agreements with the journal of your choice before proceeding to sign the Journal Publishing Agreement with the publisher. Otherwise, in case one of the authors is affiliated with a NFFA-Europe Pilot Beneficiary, the cost can be borne by NFFA-Europe. Try to avoid double-dipping.
     
     
4. Choose the appropriate online repository for scientific publications to upload your work, remembering that it has to be compliant with the journal policy and with OpenAIRE requirements. It can be an institutional repository, a discipline-specific repository or a multi-purpose repository like Zenodo.
5. Deposit either the the published version or accepted version (postprint) of your article in the choosen repository (check the publisher's policy through Sherpa Romeo to determine which version you can upload). This is mandatory also in case of Gold and Hybrid open access. Always assign the DOI of the original article.
6. Ensure open access to the deposited publication — via the repository — at the latest:
   • On publication, if an electronic version is available for free via the publisher;
   • Within six months of publication in any other case.
7. Identify the deposited publication by indicating in the repository at least the following descriptive metadata:
   • The terms “European Union (EU)” and “Horizon 2020”
   • Grant project name, acronym and number: "Nanoscience Foundries and Fine Analysis - Europe|PILOT, NEP, 101007417"
   • Proposal ID number (if applicable)
   • Date of publication and duration of the embargo period (if applicable)
   • DOI of the original article.

Publication Data

Publication Data are datasets generated in the NFFA-Europe PILOT project needed to validate the Results presented in a Scientific Publication or appearing in it. Publication Data include Raw Data, Analysed Data and all the relevant Metadata on Measurement and Data Analysis to validate them.

It is mandatory to provide Open access (free of charge online access) to any Research Data and associated metadata needed to validate any Scientific Publication resulting from a research work within NFFA-Europe, for both Research Users and researchers affiliated with a NFFA-Europe PILOT Beneficiary or Third Party.
➜ all 7 steps listed below are required

Steps

1. Collect all Publication Data generated in the project related to your Scientific Publication.
   More info
   The Publication Data related to a Dataset (spectrum or image) appearing in a Scientific Publication includes:
        - the file of the data as it appears in the Scientific Publication;
        - the respective Raw Data file, if Data Analysis has been performed;
        - the related Metadata, as described in pt. 2, either included in the data files or in a separated file.
   
   
2. Collect and organise all Metadata related to Publication Data, if available according to a Metadata Standard for the related Measurement Technique. Metadata must include all the information necessary to validate or re-use the data.
   More info
   Metadata must include:
        - information on the Data Analysis performed to get from Raw Data to the published data - if applicable (e.g. the log(s) of the Data Analysis Software)
        - information on the Data Analysis Software and any other tool needed to re-use or validate the data (e.g. specialised software or software code, algorithms and analysis protocols).
   
   Metadata should also include:
        - information on the Sample and the Sample Preparation procedure - if applicable (e.g. an extract of the logbook with the parameters of the preparation)
        - information on the Instrument settings related to the generated data (e.g. those usually accompanying the Raw Data file)
   
   An overview of existing Metadata Standards organised by discipline can be found on the Research Data Alliance’s Metadata Standards Directory, on the Digital Curation Center website or on FAIRsharing.org. NFFA-Europe recommends using NeXus format. Where no appropriate and formal Metadata Standard exists, writing “readme” style metadata file and linking it to the data is an appropriate strategy. In any case, all the Metadata has to be clearly identifiable and easily related to its specific data file.
   
   
3. Convert, if needed, the Publication Data to a file format that can be opened with an open-source (or at least free) multi-platform software and make possible for third parties to access, mine, exploit, reproduce and disseminate it — free of charge.
   Example
        - data and Metadata are saved into NeXus/HDF5 file format;
        - data and Metadata are saved in (separated or joint) text files;
        - data is saved in common image format such as PNG or TIFF (in the latter case lossless compression has to be used in order to avoid data loss) and Metadata is saved in text files.
   
   
4. Choose the appropriate online repository to upload your data, remembering it has to be compatible with OpenAIRE and capable of assigning a Persistent Identifier (PID) - such as a DOI.
   Example
   Search for a discipline-specific Data Repository (compatible with OpenAIRE) or use the multi-disciplinary open repository Zenodo.
   
   
5. Deposit the Publication Data in the chosen Data repository; provide - where possible - the tools and instruments needed to re-use or validate the data (e.g. specialised software or software code, algorithms and analysis protocols) - via the Data Repository or by other means.
   Example
   Any NeXus/HDF5 file, or compressed archive containing the Publication Data as defined above, can be deposited on Zenodo (also in closed or embargoed access) at any time before publication (e.g. throughout the data acquisition or analysis process).
   
   
6. Ensure Open Access to the deposited data — via the Data Repository — at the latest by the date the Scientific Publication is published, under the latest available version of the Creative Commons Attribution International Public Licence (CC BY) or Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC 0) or licences with equivalent rights.
   Example
   The Publication Data previously deposited on Zenodo in closed or embargoed access, is released in Open Access. When changing to Open Access the licensing terms have to be specified.
   
   
7. Identify the deposited data by indicating in the Data Repository at least the following descriptive metadata:
   • Brief description, Date of deposit and Author(s) of the Dataset
   • Funding: “Horizon 2020”
   • Grant project name, acronym and number: "Nanoscience Foundries and Fine Analysis - Europe|PILOT, NEP, 101007417"
   • Licensing terms: CC BY, CC0 or a licence with equivalent rights
   • Proposal ID number (if applicable)
   • DOI of the related publication(s) and other research outputs (if applicable)
   • Date of publication and duration of the embargo period (if applicable).

Example