The updated principles approved by the rector on 20 January 2025, clarify the distinctions between principles applying to the entire University, services for open access publishing, and author responsibilities. The Helsinki University Library was involved in the preparation of the principles, as the library plays an important role in providing open access services at the University of Helsinki.
The need for an update stemmed from developments such as the expanding role of open access publishing and research funders’ open access requirements. In addition, the University of Helsinki is committed to several national and international declarations and statements on open science and research (e.g., DORA and CoARA)
The new principles highlight topics relevant to recent national and international developments in open science and research, including the promotion of equal opportunities for open access publishing, the costs of such publishing, the long-term preservation and availability of digital research publications, responsible access to theses, and the advancement of open access publishing and an associated publication culture as researcher merits.
The principles are set to be updated again by 2030.