JANUL Statement on Open Access-Pursuing New Scholarly CommunicationMarch 16, 2009
Japan Association of National University Libraries (JANUL)Free and public accessibility to the results of scientific research must be an essential component ofresearch promotion and also serves as the foundation for future development of science and society.
University libraries recognize that it should be their crucial mission to contribute to scholarly
development and social progress, through collecting, organizing and providing scholarly information in
paper- and digital-format. Therefore, we at the Japan Association of National University Libraries(JANUL) appeal strongly to the world in support for the promotion of 'open access.''Open access' movements began to occur in 1990's, with the rapid spread of digitalization ofinformation and the Internet. One of its aims is to bring scholarly communication back into the handsof our researchers as creators of scholarly information and to make it the common property of all
humanity.

"By 'open access' to the literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet,

permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of thesearticles," as confirmed in the Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2002. There have been a number ofattempts by relevant parties to achieve 'open access,' and university libraries are making every effort
to respond to 'open access,' by developing of institutional repositories. However, 'open access' can only
be established by cooperation among many stakeholders.
In view of the situation, JANUL makes the following appeal to the stakeholders in all fields to realize'open access' for sustaining new scholarly communication:■Government and Funding Agencies should:
1) Implement the policies needed to promote 'open access' to publicly-funded research products.
2) Accelerate 'open access' to the digital data of cultural heritages and research data.
■Researchers should:
1) Endorse 'open access' and cooperate to make their research results publicly accessible.
2) Try to self-archive their articles in their institutional repositories.
3) Try to retain the right of copyright ownership for their articles, i.e. their right to use them foreducational, research, or other non-commercial purposes.
■Universities and Research Institutions should:
1) Help affiliated researchers to make their research outputs openly accessible.
2) Try to develop the functionality needed (institutional repositories) to disseminate the affiliatedresearchers' scientific results.
■Scientific Societies and Associations should:
1) Endorse 'open access' and cooperate to make their affiliated researchers' research results publiclyaccessible.
2) Foster 'open access' with society-published journals, through shortening embargo periods andproviding published version of articles to institutional repositories.
■Publishers should:
1) Nurture understanding of and cooperation with other stakeholders to realize 'open access.'2) Enhance utilization of research results by respecting author's rights and demanding only the rights
necessary for publication.
3) Advance 'open access' through shortening embargo periods and providing publisher version ofarticles to institutional repositories.
■University Libraries should:
1) Appeal to library users and other related parties for support and cooperation toward 'open access'and promote it in cooperation with faculty and researchers.
2) Try to develop institutional repositories as a disseminating source for 'open access' anduniversity-launched research results.