ANECA updates the Frequently Asked Questions document for the ACADEMIA Program, registering the mandatory deposit of research results

The National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) has updated the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for the ACADEMIA Program to align its content with current legal requirements regarding the deposit of research results in repositories. Specifically, this legal framework comprises Law 14/2011, of June 1, on Science, Technology and Innovation, and Organic Law 2/2023, of March 22, on the University System.

Anyone interested in initiating the accreditation process for university faculty should be aware of the requirement to include in their narrative CV links to the institutional, thematic, or general open access repositories where they have deposited their research results.

Therefore, the Frequently Asked Questions document for the ACADEMIA Program, which can be found on the Agency's website, has been updated to properly assist applicants should they have any questions about these new requirements. Among the key aspects of this obligation, ANECA reminds us that:

• Each research result must have a persistent identifier (Handle, DOI, ARK, SHHID, or equivalent).
• In the case of academic publications (articles, books, or chapters), it will be necessary to provide evidence of having deposited a copy of the final version accepted for publication in a valid repository, whether institutional, thematic, or general.
• The deposit may be made in open access, restricted access, embargoed access, or with metadata only, always respecting the current legal framework of copyright.
• Datasets must comply with the FAIR principles and be disseminated in open access whenever possible.
• In the field of software, significant contributions to programs distributed as free software, in accordance with the licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative, will be especially valued.

ANECA is strongly committed to promoting the use of open access repositories as a tool for disseminating knowledge. Back in 2023, the Agency incorporated the legal requirement to deposit all research results as an evaluation criterion for its calls for research activity evaluations (six-year research periods).

Recalling this requirement for faculty accreditation reflects the need to adapt the Agency's program to current regulations and also reinforces the transformation of the national academic ecosystem toward a new model in which knowledge is conceived as a common good at the service of society.