For 2025 to 2027, IReL is continuing its support for open research infrastructure by renewing membership agreements with Jisc, the OAPEN Foundation and DOAJ to support vital resources for open scholarship.
The three year agreements are aligned with the National Action Plan for Open Research 2022-2030, which calls for “support [for] the open infrastructure for scholarly communication that underpins bibliodiversity in the international context”.
The open infrastructures we support with these agreements are:
- The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), an essential service in integrating OA journals with all the major discovery tools and aggregation services. The mission of DOAJ is to “increase the visibility, accessibility, reputation, usage and impact of quality, peer-reviewed, open access scholarly research journals”.
- The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB), is a trusted online resource for finding OA book publishers and for the discovery of OA books. DOAB is openly and freely available to all stakeholders, and widely used by publishers, research libraries, and their suppliers. It is a central discovery service integrating OA books into the wider ecosystem of academic book publishing and distribution. DOAB is a service of DOAB Foundation, a non-profit legal entity established by OAPEN Foundation and OpenEdition.
- The OAPEN Library, also managed by the OAPEN Foundation, is an online library of freely accessible academic books. OAPEN works with publishers and research funders to build a quality-controlled collection of OA books while providing premium services to different stakeholders. OAPEN is also responsible for the free-to-access OAPEN OA Books Toolkit which helps book authors to better understand OA book publishing.
- Jisc’s open policy finder (previously Sherpa Romeo) aggregates publisher OA policies from around the world and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis. Across the academic library sector it is the only trusted, central source of such information, and is an essential tool for IReL members’ institutional repositories of open access works.
Open Infrastructure’s Alignment with IReL’s Mission Statement
IReL’s mission is “to provide sustainable and inclusive access to scholarly communications in support of Irish research excellence and impact” and is guided by values including Openness, Equity, Integrity, Sustainability, and Collaboration. IReL’s Open Infrastructure Program aligns with this mission in the following ways:
1. Openness: “Opening up access to research outputs and supporting transparency in scholarly communications”. Supporting DOAJ, DOAB, OAPEN, and Jisc’s Open Policy Finder increases visibility, discoverability, and transparency of OA books and journals, directly enabling open scholarship.
2. Equity: “Fair and equitable access to, and participation in, scholarly communications”. These infrastructures provide free access to OA metadata and full texts, reducing financial barriers for authors, readers and institutions globally.
3. Sustainability: “Economically, environmentally and socially responsible approach… securing the long-term future of scholarly communications”. Multi‑year agreements ensure stable funding for essential open scholarly communication infrastructure.
4. Collaboration: “Working in collaboration with IReL members, stakeholders, international peers and publishers”. The Program is based on consortial support for our members for the resources they value most, and international partnerships with the organisations who build and maintain them.
5. Research Excellence & Impact: “Provide sustainable and inclusive access… in support of Irish research excellence and impact”. These infrastructures help enhance global visibility of Irish research publications, improving impact and reach.