PHIG Policy Framework v1.2 · Policy 10 · Adopted 1 September 2026 · References: Horizon Europe MGA Art. 17 and Annex 5 (open science: open access to publications, research data management, FAIR data); Council Conclusions on open science (2022); Plan S principles
1. Purpose
PHIG’s reason for existing is to make evidence available to the people who need it. This policy commits the institute and every platform of its network to open access, FAIR data and open methods, in line with the open-science obligations of Horizon Europe and the practice of the Georgian Medical Journal.
2. Publications
- All peer-reviewed publications arising from PHIG’s work are published open access, immediately on publication, under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0), with the author retaining copyright; the Georgian Medical Journal applies this to every article, charges no article-processing fee until at least January 2027, and registers a DOI with Crossref for each article.
- Reports, datasets, verdicts, alerts and courses of the network are published under CC BY 4.0 unless a third party’s rights or a participant’s privacy require otherwise.
- Where a PHIG author publishes elsewhere, the accepted manuscript is deposited in an open repository (Zenodo or an institutional repository) at the latest on publication, with the full publication metadata.
- Metadata of all publications are openly available and machine-readable.
3. Research data
- Every funded project has a data management plan (DMP), drafted at the start and updated at the end, following the Horizon Europe template: what data, how collected, formats, documentation, storage, access, licensing, retention.
- Data are made FAIR — findable (persistent identifier, rich metadata), accessible (open repository, standard protocol), interoperable (open formats, vocabularies), reusable (clear licence, provenance). Datasets are deposited in Zenodo or a domain repository with a DOI.
- “As open as possible, as closed as necessary”: data are closed or restricted only for personal data, confidentiality obligations, security, intellectual property rights of third parties, or where openness would conflict with the project’s objectives — and the reason is stated in the DMP.
- Raw data are retained for ten years for verification.
4. Open methods and software
Methods, protocols, code and tools developed by the network (the Sheni Labs method, the GILS fact-checking method, the network feed, the Dictionary) are published; software is released under an open licence where possible.
5. Citizen and societal engagement
The network publishes in plain language and in Georgian wherever possible; the Georgian Dictionary of Public Health, the open datasets and the free courses are maintained as public goods; results are communicated to the communities studied.
6. Responsibilities
The Director and the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgian Medical Journal; each project lead for its DMP.
7. Review
Every two years and when EU open-science requirements change.
Part of the PHIG Policy Framework. Breaches and concerns may be reported under the Whistleblowing Procedure to info@accreditation.ge (subject “Confidential — integrity”).