On May 28, 2009 Belgorod State University presented its digital repository, http://dspace.bsu.edu.ru/ followed by the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University launching its digital repository eKhNUIR http://dspace.univer.kharkov.ua/ to implement the action plan of the Belgorod declaration on open access to scientific knowledge and cultural heritage at the university area of border regions of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine for 2008-2013.

Last year the rectors of Belgorod State University, Voronezh State University, East-Ukrainian National University named after V.Dahl, Gomel State University named after F.Skorina, Donetsk National University, Zaporozhye National University, Kursk State University, Taurida National University named after V.I.Vernadskiy, Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin and South Federal University signed the Belgorod Declaration to stimulate and support open access to scientific knowledge and cultural heritage by the universities of the CIS countries. They committed themselves to encourage open access publishing among the researchers and grant recipients. The universities should support open access, launch and finance the digital repositories, grant open access to the results of scientific researches fulfilled at the expense of the budgetary funds based on rectors’ directions on mandatory self-archiving of the publications in the institutional digital repositories. The universities should initiate the creation of open access journals and provide financial support to open access publications. Parliamentary committees, ministries, government agencies, scientific funds and other organizations, that form the universities’ scientific research budget and finance it, were recommended to grant open access to the results of the scientific research, to allocate some costs for creating and maintaining the university digital repositories and open access journals and also to evaluate the effects of the open access scientific publications. The universities of the CIS are invited to support the declaration.

A signed copy of the Belgorod Declaration on open access to scientific knowledge and cultural heritage on the university area of border regions of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Belgorod, Jan. 30, 2008 in Russian and in English.

The action plan of the principles of the Belgorod declaration on open access to scientific knowledge and cultural heritage on the university area of border regions of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine for 2008-2013 in Russian and in English.

Contact person: Professor Vladimir Moskovkin, Belgorod State University, moskovkin[@]bsu.edu.ru, http://library.bsu.edu.ru/resourse/biobibl/moskovkin.asp