Introduction

There is an active scientific publishing community in Croatia. The first Croatian Open Access initiative was launched in 1997, when Hrvatska znanstvena bibliografija (Croatian Scientific Bibliography or CROSBI) went online. CROSI allows researchers to search for scientific articles and books that were published in Croatia. 

As of March 2021, there are 134 OA journals indexed in DOAJ which have been published in Croatia. There is also a central portal of Croatian scientific journals (Hrcak) which offers Open Access to over 250 journals. As of May 2013 the Hrčak portal of scientific journals hosted 333 journal titles with 91,737 full-text articles, including dozens of journals in the Humanities and Social Science fields. Both the CROSBI and Hrčak demonstrate the effectiveness of Croatian open access policy initiatives. Whereas the official statement on open access in Croatia became public in October 2012, the projects that supported these initiatives came to fruition at a much earlier date. Although the success of these two open access projects may not point to a generalized conclusion about the development of open access in the Croatian context, their success clearly indicates a promising future for open access policy initiatives in Croatia

There are nine public universities (Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Pula and Slavonski Brod) and 30 public and private polytechnic institutes, with more than 180.000 students enrolled. Research in Croatia is also conducted by 25 public institutes and six technology centres. There are approximately 11.500 active researchers in Croatia. The largest university in Croatia is the University of Zagreb with more than 70.000 enrolled students, and the largest research institute is Ruđer Bošković Institute with more than 550 researchers.

139 OA institutional repositories are registered in OpenDOAR. 02 institutional OA policies are currently registered in ROARMAP. 

Enabling Environment

Croatia is part of the European Research Area (ERA) and supports open science through different Open Access initiatives. Numerous bottom-up initiatives at the national level make Croatia a vibrant OA environment.

University of Zagreb Medical School Repository is a fully functioning OA institutional repository. Academic librarians have high awareness of OA. The public nature of the Croatian publishing industry lends itself to OA and self-archiving – publishers of Croatian scientific journals are non-for-profit organizations (mostly universities, scientific associations, scientific institutes) and they allow self-archiving. 

Potential Barriers

Lack of national mandates; non-Croatian publishers that publish research results of Croatian scientists do not always support OA – some of the articles written by Croatian scientists and published abroad cannot be self-archived (i.e. made accessible through OA repositories).

National and Institutional Level Policies/Mandates

None, although in the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports’ document “Science and technology policy of the Republic of Croatia 2007-2010” it is specified that the results of research (all research is publicly funded) should be accessible to the general public through open publications or databases.

The Croatian Research and Innovation Infrastructures Roadmap 2014-2020 addresses the promotion of OA to scientific papers and research data, especially those funded by public sources. MSE’s Strategy of Education, Science, and Technology (in Croatian) recognizes that setting up an OA system for research data, publications, and teaching resources is a key to improving the research environment.

Research data sharing in Croatia is in its initial phase, and researchers are not encouraged and/or rewarded for sharing their research data, except when mandated by funders (e.g. EC through H2020 projects).

The national contact point for the open access to the scientific information is Jadranka Stojanovski, appointed by the Croatian Ministry of science and education.

Research institutions in Croatia are autonomous, but they strongly rely on national policies and regulations. There are only a few institutional OA mandates, such as those of the RBI, SRCE, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture of the University of Zagreb, and the Physics Department of the Faculty of Science at the University of Zagreb, mostly addressing OA to publications. Only SRCE’s OA policy includes research and other data management.

Funding Mandate

Ministry of Science, Education and Sports’ document “Science and technology policy of the Republic of Croatia 2007-2010” it is specified that the results of research (all research is publicly funded) should be accessible to the general public through open publications or databases.

New OA mandates

On 17 April 2015, the Rudjer Boskovic Institute (RBI) adapted a new OA Policy which mandates researchers to submit a digital copy of all articles to the institutional OA repository FULIR (which is OpenAIRE compliant)  upon acceptance for publication. 

Some institutions provide support for OA and ORDM activities for their researchers. The level of support varies and usually consists of infrastructure, training for using the infrastructure, and creation of DMPs.

Key Organizations

Three public bodies play a major role in the consolidation of the research at the national level in terms of:

• strategy with the Ministry of Science and Education (MSE)

• funding with the Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ)

• development and assessment with the National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development (NCSHETD) and Agency for Science and Higher Education

University of Zagreb Medical School Repository

Overview: Medical School repository providing open access to the publication output of the University of Zagreb's Medical School and some theses. Uses GNU software. Compliant with Open Access Initiative protocols. Communication address: University of Zagreb, Medical School, 10 000 Zagreb, Šalata 3; e-mail: smk(at)medlib.mef.hr

Croatian Information and Documentation Society (HID)

Overview: Established to develop information and documentation sciences in Croatia, to promote professional principles and encourage free flow or materials including OA initiatives.

OA mandate: Article 7 of HID Statute includes “encouraging development of free flow, access and openness of scientific, professional and public information channels, which derives from the users right on information is making them equally accessible to everyone”.

Communication address: HID c/o National and University Library, Hrvatske bratske zajednice 4, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia; e-mail: Marina Mayer, secretary, e-mail: mmayer(at)irb.hr

Croatian Information and Documentation Society’s (HID) OA working group initiated in 2004. The result was the launch of the Hrcak portal for Croatian scientific journals (supported by the Ministry of Science,  Education and Sports, developed and maintained by University Computing Centre SRCE).

Past and Future OA Related Activities

• How to Organize and Manage Research Data, 2020-10-20, Croatia, Organized by SRCE - University of Zagreb, University Computing Centre | Type: webinar
• Open Access Week in SRCE, 2018-10-26, Croatia, Organized by University Computing Centre SRCE | Type: workshop
• Open Acess Week at Rudjer Boskovic Institute, 2017-10-25, Croatia, Organized by Center for Scientific Information | Type: workshops
• Open Acess Week at Rudjer Boskovic Institute, 2017-10-25, Croatia, Organized by Center for Scientific Information | Type: workshops
• RDA Meets Croatian Researchers, 2017-10-24, Croatia, Organized by University Computing Centre SRCE, Research Data Alliance | Type: discussion
• Open Access Week Croatia, 2016-10-25, Croatia, Organized by Ruđer Bošković Institute, University of Zadar, University of Zagreb | Type: oa week
• InTechOpen In Action, 2016-10-24, Croatia, Organized by InTechOpen | Type: open, access, week, celebration
• PUBMET 2015: SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING IN THE CONTEXT OF OPEN SCIENCE, 24 Sep 2015 - 25 Sep 2015, Zadar, Croatia
• PASTEUR4OA PROJECT MID-TERM MEETING, 13 May 2015, Brussels, Belgium
• OPENAIRE2020 KICK-OFF MEETING, 28 Jan 2015 - 29 Jan 2015, Athens, Greece
• 18-19 September 2014: The Plurality of Approaches to the Scholarly Publishing and Assessment; Zadar, Republic of Croatia
• HID have organised a number of conferences and seminars that have included a focus on OA. OA was one of the topics of several conferences organized by Croatian Library Association (e. g. the Academic and Special Libraries Conference and the AKM - Archives, Libraries, Museums - Conference).
• Open Access Week October 2011 at the University Campus in Rijeka, Croatia.

Publications

• Bačić, E., and B. Peradenić-Kotur. 2015. “Open Access to Legal Knowledge - Workshop for Law and Related Librarians in South East European Region [Panel Rasprava - Slobodan Pristup Pravnim Informacijama].” Vjesnik Bibliotekara Hrvatske 58(1–2):413–20.
• Bračanov, A., V. Golubović, and M. Orešković. 2013. “Web-Application - New Titles in the Reading Rooms: Newsletter of the Open Access Department [Mrežna Aplikacija - Novo u Čitaonicama: Bilten Prinova Otvorenog Pristupa Gradstrokei].” Vjesnik Bibliotekara Hrvatske 56(1–2):235–46.
• Duc, N. M., D. V. Hiep, P. M. Thong, L. Zunic, M. Zildzic, D. Donev, S. M. Jankovic, I. Hozo, and I. Masic. 2020. “Predatory Open Access Journals Are Indexed in Reputable Databases: A Revisiting Issue or an Unsolved Problem.” Medical Archives (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) 74(4):318–22. doi: 10.5455/medarh.2020.74.318-322.
• Dunlap, W. C., A. Starcevic, D. Baranasic, J. Diminic, J. Zucko, R. Gacesa, M. J. H. van Oppen, D. Hranueli, J. Cullum, and P. F. Long. 2013. “KEGG Orthology-Based Annotation of the Predicted Proteome of Acropora Digitifera: ZoophyteBase - an Open Access and Searchable Database of a Coral Genome.” BMC Genomics 14(1). doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-509.
• Gajović, S. 2017. “Diamond Open Access in the Quest for Interdisciplinarity and Excellence.” Croatian Medical Journal 58(4):261–62. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2017.58.261.
• Gajović, S. 2020. “Independent, Publicly Funded Journals Adhering to Platinum Open Access Are the Future of Responsible Scholarly Publishing.” Journal of Korean Medical Science 35(4). doi: 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e13.
• Grgic, I. H., and A. Barbaric. 2011. “The Future of Open Access in Croatia: A Survey of Academic and Research Libraries.” Library Review 60(2):155–60. doi: 10.1108/00242531111113096.
• Hebrang Grgic, I. 2016. “Information Literacy and Open Access in Croatian Academic Libraries.” Library Review 65(4–5):255–66. doi: 10.1108/LR-01-2016-0009.
• Hren, D. 2005. “Open Access, Publishers and Small Journals - A Triangle from Hell or Divine Trinity?” Periodicum Biologorum 107(3):373–74.
• Jerčić Martinić-Cezar, I., and A. Marušić. 2019. “Completeness of Reporting in Abstracts of Randomized Controlled Trials in Subscription and Open Access Journals: Cross-Sectional Study.” Trials 20(1). doi: 10.1186/s13063-019-3781-x.
• Jokić, M., A. Mervar, and S. Mateljan. 2018. “Scientific Potential of European Fully Open Access Journals.” Scientometrics 114(3):1373–94. doi: 10.1007/s11192-017-2629-y.
• Macan, B., L. Škorić, and J. Petrak. 2020. “David among Goliaths: Open Access Publishing in Scientific (Semi-)Periphery.” Learned Publishing 33(4):410–17. doi: 10.1002/leap.1320.
• Maravić, B. 2005. “DOAJ - Directory of Open Access Journals [Direktorij Otvoreno Dostupnih Časopisa].” Kemija u Industriji/Journal of Chemists and Chemical Engineers 54(11):482–83.
• Rimet, F., E. Gusev, M. Kahlert, M. G. Kelly, M. Kulikovskiy, Y. Maltsev, D. G. Mann, M. Pfannkuchen, R. Trobajo, V. Vasselon, J. Zimmermann, and A. Bouchez. 2019. “Diat.Barcode, an Open-Access Curated Barcode Library for Diatoms.” Scientific Reports 9(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51500-6.
• Šember, M. 2008. “Medical Journals and Open Access [Medicinski Časopisi i Otvoreni Pristup].” Lijecnicki Vjesnik 130(5–6):151–56.
• Silobrčić, V. 2004. “Open Access to Scientific Information - A Possible Future for Informing Scientists [Slobodan Pristup Znanstvenim Informacijama - Moguća Budúcnost Objavljivanja Znanstvenih Otkrića].” Kemija u Industriji/Journal of Chemists and Chemical Engineers 53(10):472–76.
• Silobrčić, V. 2005. “Open Access to Peer Reviewed Scientific Texts - A Desirable Future for Informing Scientists.” Periodicum Biologorum 107(1):117–21.
• Škorić, L., D. Vrkić, and J. Petrak. 2016. “Current State of Open Access to Journal Publications from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine.” Croatian Medical Journal 57(1):71–76. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2016.57.71.
• Stojanovski, J. 2015a. “Do Croatian Open Access Journals Support Ethical Research? Content Analysis of Instructions to Authors.” Biochemia Medica 25(1):12–21. doi: 10.11613/BM.2015.002.
• Stojanovski, J. 2015b. “Journals’ Editorial Policies - An Analysis of the Instructions for Authors of Croatian Open Access Journals.” Pp. 113–19 in New Avenues for Electronic Publishing in the Age of Infinite Collections and Citizen Science: Scale, Openness and Trust - Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Electronic Publishing, Elpub 2015.
• Stojanovski, J. 2017. “Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Croatia.” Pp. 79–88 in Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage. Vol. 5.
• Stojanovski, J., and A. Marušić. 2017a. “Corrigendum to: Does Small Equal Predatory? Analysis of Publication Charges and Transparency of Editorial Policies in Croatian Open Access Journals.” Biochemia Medica 27(3):031202. doi: 10.11613/BM.2017.031202.
• Stojanovski, J., and A. Marušić. 2017b. “Does Small Equal Predatory? Analysis of Publication Charges and Transparency of Editorial Policies in Croatian Open Access Journals.” Biochemia Medica 27(2):292–99. doi: 10.11613/BM.2017.032.
• Stojanovski, J., J. Petrak, and B. Macan. 2009. “The Croatian National Open Access Journal Platform.” Learned Publishing 22(4):263–73. doi: 10.1087/20090402.
• Tominac, A., and A. Zubac. 2013. “The Presence of Electronic Versions of Croatian Journals from the Field of Educational Sciences in Open Access [Zastupljenost Elektroničkih Inačica Hrvatskih Časopisa Iz Područja Odgojnih Znanosti u Otvorenom Pristupu].” Croatian Journal of Education 15(4):981–1012.
• Vrana, R. 2014. “Open Access Initiative and Its Impact on Use of Digital Information Resources for Research and Teaching in Higher Education Institutions in Croatia.” Pp. 633–38 in 2014 37th International Convention on Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Microelectronics, MIPRO 2014 - Proceedings.
• Vrana, R. 2015. “Open Science, Open Access and Open Educational Resources: Challenges and Opportunities.” Pp. 886–90 in 2015 38th International Convention on Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Microelectronics, MIPRO 2015 - Proceedings.
• Vrana, R. 2016. “Facilitating Mobile Learning by Use of Open Access Information Resources.” Pp. 962–66 in 2016 39th International Convention on Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Microelectronics, MIPRO 2016 - Proceedings.