This document highlights research software as an emerging element of open science policies and practices and provides recommendations for research funding and research performing organisations on developing and aligning related policies.

One of the most prominent initiatives in the digital and open transition of research is EOSC. This federation of existing research data infrastructures in Europe aims to create a web of FAIR data and related services for research

This briefing paper aims to support decision makers at research organisations and research funders to develop new monitoring exercises or assess and improve existing processes to measure the Open Access status of publications.

So far, much of the focus of the transition towards Open Access has been on scholarly and scientific articles. However, a significant number of disciplines, notably – but not only – within the Social Sciences, the Arts, and the Humanities produce and heavily use books. This briefing paper identifies the key issues at stake in implementing a policy of Open Access to academic books, and outlines recommendations for different stakeholder groups to facilitate and accelerate such a policy.

Citizen science is a growing movement that enlists the public in scientific discovery, monitoring, and experimentation across a wide range of disciplines. This briefing paper looks in detail at the evolution of citizen science and citizen science policy, provides examples of initiatives from around the world, and considers the future of the activity.

A more strategic approach is needed to the co-ordination between regional, national, and European research activities and to the initiatives supporting them. This briefing presents policy makers with the Science Europe view on how to better organise regional, national, and European research efforts.

Research Infrastructures (RIs) are of utmost importance for Europe’s global competitiveness and this paper puts forward the case of how the focus on RIs in Horizon 2020 should be enhanced.

This briefing is a contribution to the evaluation and development of Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagships under Horizon 2020. It highlights lessons learned about the added value and limitations of the current FET Flagships and provides recommendations for the development of the FET Flagship instrument.

This joint briefing paper with Knowledge Exchange informs the discussion on the funding of Research Data Management (RDM) and related infrastructures in Europe, helps raise awareness of the current challenges, and communicates opportunities for co-ordinated action to relevant stakeholders. The paper highlights that the funding of Research Data Infrastructures, enabling RDM, comes from a great variety of sources and institutions that have different responsibilities and that operate at local, national, and international levels.

Decisive action is needed to transition towards more effectively and efficiently towards an Open Access publishing system. This paper presents some of the recent trends and developments in the transition to Open Access, as well as various business models currently in use which aim to facilitate this transition. It also highlights expected benefits and underlines remaining challenges.