On 5 February, the magnificent Great Hall of the prestigious Academy of Sciences of Lisbon hosted Portugal’s first conference on Secondary Publication Rights (SPR). Not even an extraordinary storm that struck Lisbon for several days could prevent an afternoon of lively discussion on the role legislation should play in advancing Open Access to publicly funded scientific outputs.
The event was organised by civil society organisations Knowledge Rights 21, COMMUNIA, and the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Information and Documentation Professionals, alongside three Universities: NOVA University Lisbon, Coimbra University, and Minho University, with support from OPERAS and the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. The conference featured speakers from the European Commission, UNESCO, and academic experts. During the event, a group of civil society stakeholders presented a proposal to introduce a secondary publication right and corresponding obligation into Portuguese legislation.
The EU perspective on Open Science
In the opening keynote, Manuel Aleixo (Expert in the Cabinet of European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva) presented the latest developments in European Open Science policy and shared perspectives on the legislative framework for Open Access.
Aleixo outlined the challenging context for EU scientific research in a globally competitive landscape. Over the past two decades, investment in research and innovation has been stagnant, lagging behind international averages. Public investment is fragmented across member states, and private investment is even lower. In this context, the European Research Area (ERA) plays a critical role in fostering cooperation, but further action is needed: moving towards a legally anchored framework is essential.
The upcoming ERA Act, expected in the 2nd half of 2026, aims to address these challenges. Its objectives include increasing research investment (targeting 3% of GDP), improving researchers’ conditions, and enhancing coordination between countries to reduce fragmentation. To ensure consistent application across Member States, the ERA Act will take the form of a Regulation rather than a Directive. Aleixo also emphasised that the European Commission seeks to align scientific policy with Europe’s competitiveness goals, strengthening both its scientific and industrial capacities.
With over 50% of publicly funded research in Europe still behind paywalls, the Commission underscored the importance of defending Open Science principles and the freedom of research. Particular concerns include the role of evaluation processes in science and the common practice of publishers demanding unnecessary copyright transfers from researchers. Aleixo outlined several possible approaches, including ensuring immediate access to publicly funded research outputs, promoting rights retention strategies, introducing an EU-wide SPR, and harmonising the research exception.
The UNESCO perspective on Open Science
Shaofeng Hu (Director of the Division of Science Policy and Basic Sciences at UNESCO) discussed the principles and vision of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and its relevance for Europe and national reforms. UNESCO published the first consolidated report on the implementation of the 2021 Recommendation in 2025, covering 81 countries.
Despite the growing number of national Open Science policies, challenges persist, including inadequate funding, high costs Open Access publishing models relying on article processing charges (APCs), insufficient infrastructure, capacity gaps, regulatory and policy misalignment, geopolitical constraints, intellectual property concerns, and persisting inequalities in access to science, technology and innovation, further exacerbated by language barriers and digital divides. Adoption of Open Science thus varies widely across regions.
An SPR proposal by Civil Society
The second half of the conference focused on a civil society proposal for a secondary publication right and obligation in Portuguese legislation.
Maria Fernanda Rollo (Full Professor, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, NOVA University Lisbon; former Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education), presented the proposal. The initiative emerged from an informal group formed after my presentation on SPR at the 15th Lusophone Open Science Conference in Porto in 2024. Enthusiastic Open Science advocates in Portugal joined the effort, and a first meeting at NOVA School of Law led to the decision to draft a legislative proposal driven by civil society to introduce SPR in Portugal. For over a year, a diverse group of participants met regularly online to discuss and refine the proposal, which is now available and open for signatures.
Insights on Implementing SPR in Portugal
The final panel, moderated by Teresa Nobre (Legal Director, COMMUNIA), brought together copyright and Open Science experts.
Martin Senftleben (Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Director of IViR – the Institute for Information Law – at the University of Amsterdam, and co-author of a comparative study analysing SPR in EU countries and proposing an EU-wide SPR) commented on the Portuguese proposal. He noted that most lessons identified in his comparative study are well understood and reflected in the proposal. These include specifying that all types of scientific outputs are included, that there is no embargo period, and that the final version of the work also falls within the scope of a publication right. Senftleben suggested adding a private international law norm to ensure Portuguese jurisdiction over disputes relating to publications funded by Portuguese public funds.
Senftleben argued that copyright law is in fact favourable to SPR, as authors – not publishers – are the original rightholders. If the law ensures that authors retain certain rights, those rights cannot be transferred to publishers in the first place. Moreover, publishers do not need such rights for their publishing activities, meaning their business models would remain unaffected.
He further emphasised that, while public funding is often invoked as a key policy argument, it is not necessary to justify SPR from a copyright perspective. If the law guarantees that authors always retain certain rights, the public or private origin of the funding becomes legally irrelevant.
Senftleben encouraged Member States to be bolder in rolling out SPR, noting that national experiences have been essential in demonstrating that it is a practical and effective solution.
Delfim F. Leão (Vice-Rector for Culture, Communication and Open Science at the University of Coimbra), drawing on his vast experience in academic publishing, emphasised that authors are the most vulnerable actors in the publishing ecosystem, often lacking negotiating power and operating in isolation. SPR can help rebalance this relationship. He further noted that, in the Portuguese context, scientific publishing represents a relatively small niche with limited economic impact on sales (also due to the important role of university publishers). Overall, however, the publishing sector remains healthy, with sales rising 7% in 2025. In this light, SPR can support the evolution of business models without harming publishers.
Eloy Rodrigues (Director, Documentation Services and Libraries, University of Minho, and representative of the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists, Information and Documentation Professionals – BAD) highlighted the experience of the Portuguese repository network RCAAP. A cost-benefit analysis conducted by the PathOS European project found that the benefits of such infrastructure exceed costs by 33%. In a national context where collaboration between academia and industry remains limited, he observed that openly accessible research outputs have directly led to partnerships between companies and the University of Minho. In these cases, companies identified relevant research and proactively sought collaboration with academic researchers.
Rodrigues contrasted this with APC-based models, which create the wrong incentives and raise sustainability challenges. By contrast, SPR legislation can enhance visibility, accessibility, and impact, while also providing legal certainty and facilitating the work of research funders.
He also emphasised the non-economic benefits of open access, including democratising access to knowledge and engaging non-formal researchers, citizens, NGOs, and policymakers. Access to scientific outputs, he argued, should be guaranteed for all, not limited to academia.
João Nuno Ferreira (Vice-president of the Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT) shared the funder’s perspective, noting that FCT is the main public body responsible for public funding of research in Portugal. He highlighted that FCT’s Open Access policy, now in place for over a decade, succeeded in increasing the visibility of publicly funded research, generating benefits that go beyond what can be easily measured or quantified. The recent revision of FCT’s Open Access policy aligns it with Plan S.
Ferreira also highlighted that SPR can provide greater legal certainty and position Portugal among the countries with the most advanced research legislation. In addition, SPR can ensure uniform rules for all public funders, simplifying the monitoring and evaluation of Open Access policies.
The panel further discussed the possible introduction of a secondary publication obligation for the beneficiaries of public funding, alongside a right for funding bodies to make funded research publicly available. Teresa Nobre outlined the advantages and challenges of a secondary publication obligation, highlighting its value as a legal tool, particularly in situations where publishers may seek to exploit their position of power to discourage authors from exercising their rights. Ferreira pointed to the potential for future automation enabling funders to make research outputs openly available. He also noted that non-compliance could be taken into account in the evaluation of future funding applications.
Conclusion: From Proposal to Action
The presentation of the SPR proposal from civil society brought significant attention to the issue in Portugal. All speakers agreed that it has the potential to deliver substantial public policy benefits. The next step will be to present the proposal to the Government and/or the Parliament, both of which have the legislative authority to advance the initiative.
SPR Resources
- Knowledge Rights 21 – KR21 Insight on SPR, 2026
- Knowledge Rights 21 – KR21 Position Statement on Secondary Publishing Rights Legislation for a Secondary Publishing Right in Europe, updated 2026.
- COMMUNIA – Policy paper #17 on access to publicly funded research, 2024.
