The open science movement achieved a major victory last week when UNESCO member states unanimously approved a Recommendation on Open Science. It’s key objectives and areas of action are:

• Promoting a common understanding of open science, associated benefits and challenges, as well as diverse paths to open science;
• Developing and enabling a policy environment for open science;
• Investing in open science infrastructures and services;
• Investing in human resources, training, education, digital literacy and capacity building for open science;
• Fostering a culture of open science and aligning incentives for open science;
• Promoting innovative approaches for open science at different stages of the scientific process;
• Promoting international and multi-stakeholder cooperation in the context of open science and with view to reducing digital, technological and knowledge gaps.

As SPARC explains in its statement welcoming the Recommendations,

“Immediate and sustained collective action in these areas by all stakeholders—governments, funders, scientists, academic institutions, libraries, NGOs and the public—is the necessary next step.”

Read the full recommendations here.