Action Plan for Open Repositories in Europe

March 12, 2025  LIBER, OpenAIRE, SPARC Europe, and COAR are publishing a plan of action to strengthen and future-proof research repositories in Europe.

A robust repository network is key for safeguarding Europe’s research production and advancing scientific excellence in Europe. And while currently, Europe has one of the most well-developed networks globally with hundreds of repositories, there are low levels of awareness about their important role in the ecosystem.

The plan sets out seven actions that can be taken to strengthen repositories in Europe:

1. Adopt open standards, persistent identifiers, and API-driven integrations
2. Secure long-term investment to maintain, scale, and enhance repositories
3. Structure metadata and repositories for AI-driven research, discovery, and automation
4. Ensure repositories are integral to research policies and funding strategies
5. Strengthen national, regional, and international collaboration
6. Invest in staff training and upskilling for repository management and AI-driven research
7. Implement strong digital preservation and security measures

The full action plan is attached as a pdf and linked from the blog post on the COAR website. It was designed to be disseminated and reused by any organisation or repository network who wish to promote repositories in their local context. Therefore it is available in an editable format, allowing you to add your logo or translate the text into another language. Please feel free to use in your own local context.