In March 2024, The National Open Research Forum (NORF), IReL and OpenAIRE jointly launched the National Open Access Monitor, a cornerstone in Ireland’s shift towards a fully open access research ecosystem. The Monitor will support the shift towards transparency and accessibility of Irish research publications, and tracking Ireland’s goal of 100% of publicly funded research being open access by 2030.
Currently in its pilot phase, the Monitor provides data on over 500,000 publications, detailing publications from 2007 to the present day.
Project Manager: Aaron Binchy aaron.binchy@mu.ie, interim project manager, (while primary project manager Dr Catherine Ferris is on leave)
Project Dates: 1 November 2022 – 1 November 2024 (extended until April 2025)
News & Updates:
OpenAIRE hosted a series of Open Insight Sessions, with the theme “One Year with the Irish Monitor”. You can find the links to the recordings below:
Date |
Session Theme |
Webinar |
Interactive Segment |
| Thu, Dec 12, 2024 12pm Irish time (13pm CET) | A Year in Review & OpenOrg Sprint | A review of Year 1’s milestones and achievements. Introductory “Monitor Essentials” demo for new users. | Short demo and interactive session on OpenOrgs deduplication for RPOs, with Q&A and attendee input. |
| Thu, Jan 23, 2025 12pm Irish time (13pm CET) | Data Quality & Text Mining Q&A
| Presentation on data quality practices in the Monitor, recent updates, and the role of AI and text mining in enhancing Monitor insights. | Q&A with the data quality team, covering data consistency, deduplication, and text mining applications. |
| Thu, Feb 13, 2025 12pm Irish time (13pm CET) | Strengthening Collaboration: Monitor & Repository Integration | Overview of repositories’ role in supporting national Open Access goals, with a focus on best practices for data integration. | Practical guidance on repository data integration, focusing on interoperability, and OpenAIRE Provide, with hands-on examples. |
| Thu, Mar 27, 2025 12pm Irish time (13pm CET) | Monitor Challenges & Usability | Panel discussion with RPO/RFO representatives on challenges and feedback on usability and integration. | Live feedback session with users to pinpoint challenges and gather improvement suggestions. |
| Thu, May 8, 2025 12pm Irish time (13pm CET) | Future Pathways & Community Insights | Reflections on Pilot successes and challenges, with guest insights from PathOS and other projects on monitoring Open Science. | Open discussion on potential ways to extend the benefits of the Monitor within Ireland’s Open Access landscape, with ideas for fostering long-term value and sustainability. |
Project Plan: 10.5281/zenodo.7331432
Project Documentation | Zenodo: https://zenodo.org/communities/irel-national-oa-monitor
Advisory Group: https://irel.ie/oamonitor-advisorygroup/
Mailing List Archive: https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A0=NATIONAL-OA-MONITOR-UPDATES
Subscribe to the Mailing List: https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NATIONAL-OA-MONITOR-UPDATES&A=1
Pilot National Open Access Monitor: https://oamonitor.ireland.openaire.eu/
National Open Access Monitor Ireland Report: https://zenodo.org/records/10838956
Resources from past events:
- 8 May 2025: Open Insight Sessions: One Year with the Irish Monitor, “Future Pathways & Community Insights”: slides | recording
- 27 March 2025: Open Insight Sessions: One Year with the Irish Monitor, “Monitor Challenges & Usability”: slides | recording
- 13 Feb 2025: Open Insight Sessions: One Year with the Irish Monitor, “Strengthening Collaboration: Monitor & Repository Integration”: slides | recording
- 23 Jan 2025: Open Insight Sessions: One Year with the Irish Monitor, “Data Quality & Text Mining Q&A”: slides | recording
- 12 Dec 2024: Open Insight Sessions: One Year with the Irish Monitor, “A Year in Review & OpenOrgs Sprint”: slides | recording
- 24 May 2024: 2nd OpenOrgs Sprint for RPOs:
- 16 May 2024: OpenAPC for RPOs and RFOs: slides | recording
- 25 April 2024: 1st OpenOrg Sprint: slides | recording
- 15 April 2024: Irish National Open Access Monitor – Training for Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) (webinar recording) | Slides
- 27 March 2024: Irish National Open Access Monitor – Training for Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) slides | (webinar recording)
- Mar 20 2024: Monitor launch webinar: slides and recording
- Mar 20 2024: National Open Access Monitor Ireland Report published
- Mar 8 2024: National OA Monitor Launch Marks a New Chapter in the Irish Open Science Landscape
- Dec 1 2023 National Open Access Monitor, Draft Report: Stakeholder Feedback: Response Dataset
- Nov 28 2023 Recording & Slides: OpenAIRE National Open Access Monitor RFO Training
- Nov 22 2023 Recording & Slides: OpenAIRE National Open Access Monitor RPO Training
- Nov 16 2023 OpenAIRE National Open Access Monitor, Draft Report
- Nov 10 2023 National Open Access Monitor Survey: Organisational Identity: Responses Dataset
- Oct 31 2023 Deadline Extended for National Open Access Monitor Survey: Organisational Identity (COB 7th November)
- Oct 26 2023 National Open Access Monitor: OpenAIRE Training Sessions for RPOs & RFOs
- Oct 18 2023 OpenAIRE National Open Access Monitor: Inception Report
- Oct 16 2023 Recording & Slides: National Open Access Monitor Survey: Organisational Identity Webinar
- Oct 9 2023 National Open Access Monitor Survey: Organisational Identity
- Sept 25 2023 Recording & Slides: Developing the National Open Access Monitor, Ireland: Stakeholder Webinar
- Aug 31 2023 Developing the National Open Access Monitor, Ireland: Stakeholder Webinar
- July 26 2023 OpenAIRE Awarded Contract for the National Open Access Monitor, Ireland
- June 09 2023 National Open Access Monitor Project: Mailing List
- June 01 2023 National Open Access Monitor Survey: Outcome Webinar Recording
- April 13 2023 National Open Access Monitor Survey “Defining Requirements” Update
- Feb 02 2023 National Open Access Monitor Survey: Defining Requirements
- Jan 24 2023 Participate in the National Open Access Monitor project
- Jan 19 2023 Introducing the National Open Access Monitor and its Call for Stakeholder Participation
- Nov 21 2022 NORF National Action Plan and Projects’ Launch Event
- Nov 15 2022 IReL to develop National Open Access Monitor
- Nov 15 2022 Ireland’s National Open Research Forum Awards €1.16 Million to Six Collaborative Projects to Advance Open Research