The "Open Access Acceleration Project" aims to make research results open-access and share research data, thereby promoting the rapid dissemination of knowledge in academia and its return to society. We expect that this initiative will accelerate the exchange of knowledge among researchers, further deepen research activities, and create new knowledge. Open science is an important initiative to increase the transparency and accessibility of academic research and to support further academic progress, and is extremely significant for the future of our academic activities.
　We are fortunate to be the only public university in the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu region to be selected for this project. As one of the few universities to host an international symposium, we feel anew the weight of our responsibility to take on this important task. As this project progresses, we sincerely look forward to further evolving the ways in which we publish and share our research, as well as to further strengthening our cooperative relationships with researchers both within and outside of the university.

　Through this project, we plan to establish a research information platform unique to the University. Specifically, we will utilize the JAIRO Cloud and GakuNin RDM management platform developed by the National Institute of Informatics to establish a system for managing and publishing research data and results. In addition, the University will promote interdisciplinary joint research and provide an environment to connect with more researchers and society in order to deepen the interaction between academia and society, aiming for "convergence of knowledge".
　Based on the founding spirit of "making the spread of science the foundation of national development," the University's mission is to contribute to the development of the local community through education and research that is rooted in the local community. We are convinced that deepening intellectual exchange with local communities by prompt and extensive publication of research results and papers, and further spreading the results to the world, will contribute not only to regional development but also to the academic and social development of Japan as a whole.

Sanyo-Onoda City University
Vice President for Research, Open Access Acceleration Team Leader
Fusaomi Nagata

　In FY2024, Sanyo-Onoda City University advanced the acceleration of open access in alignment with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)'s national policy to enhance the research data infrastructure (NII RDC). Under the overall leadership of President Ken Takeda, and with Vice President Fusaomi Nagata (in charge of research) serving as the leader of the Open Access Acceleration Team, these efforts have been implemented through collaboration among administrative offices--including the Library Office, the Research Promotion Division, the General Affairs Division, and the Education Promotion Division--and faculty members.

Specific initiatives included:
1. Launching the institutional repository "JAIRO Cloud" as the platform for Green Open Access (OA) publication (scheduled for February 10, 2025),
2. Beginning use of the standard storage system "GakuNin RDM" for research data management, and introducing Dropbox as an extended institutional storage solution,
3. Providing financial support for article processing charges (APCs) to accelerate open access publication of academic papers, including a transformative agreement with Springer Nature and a prepayment drawdown APC contract with Elsevier,
4. Hosting an international symposium with support from the City of Moreton Bay (Australia) and Sanyo-Onoda City, featuring participation from domestic and international experts from academia, industry, and government,
5. Conducting study visits to institutions such as Queensland University of Technology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Harvard University, MIT, the University of Oxford, the Dementia Research Institute, and Springer Nature,
6. Supporting immediate open access to research papers and research data funded by JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), JST Strategic Basic Research Programs, and JST's FOREST Program,
7. Enhancing research visibility and analysis through the implementation of Elsevier's Pure system,
8. Exploring open/closed innovation strategies in industry-academia collaboration and joint research,
9. Utilizing the JST preprint server Jxiv and identifying associated issues.

　In addition, two external evaluation committee meetings were held, with participation from six Japan's leading experts

　In FY2025, we will continue to promote the acceleration of open access in accordance with our university's Open Access Policy and Research Data Management Policy. As a public municipal university, we aim to contribute to both the local and global community by fostering open science and citizen science, sharing best practices for regional revitalization, and leveraging the agility in decision-making and system development unique to small universities. Moreover, we seek to enhance our research capacity and dissemination through performance analysis based on our strengths in mathematical and computational sciences within the field of applied engineering.

Sanyo-Onoda City University
Advisor to the President & Designated Professor
Noriko Shiomitsu