This report examines policies and strategies towards open access (OA) of scientific data in the European Research Area (ERA), Brazil, Canada, Japan and the US from 2000 onwards. The analysis examines strategies that aim to foster OA scientific data—such as the types of incentives given at the researcher and institutional levels and the level of compliance by researchers and funded organisations —and also examines how, and whether, these policies are monitored and enforced. The infrastructures developed to store and share OA scientific data are also examined.
The analysis is supported by findings from the literature on the global progression of OA scientific data since 2000—including its growth as a segment of scholarly publishing—as well as some of the broader trends, themes and debates that have emerged from the movement.