29.1     Obligation to disseminate results

Unless it goes against their legitimate interests, each beneficiary must — as soon as possible — ‘disseminate’ its results by disclosing them to the public by appropriate means (other than those resulting from protecting or exploiting the results), including in scientific publications (in any medium).

[OPTION for additional dissemination obligations if foreseen in the work plan: In addition, the beneficiaries must comply with the additional dissemination obligations set out in Annex 1.]

[OPTION for additional dissemination obligations for interoperability if foreseen in the work plan: Moreover, the beneficiaries must — up to four years after the period set out in Article 3 — disseminate any technical specifications of the results that are needed for interoperability.]

[OPTION for additional dissemination obligations for cross-border interoperability if foreseen in the work plan: Moreover, the beneficiaries must — up to four years after the period set out in Article 3  — disseminate the deliverables relating to cross-border interoperability (see Annex 1) and any results needed for cross-border interoperability (in particular common technical specifications and software components).]

This does not change the obligation to protect results in Article 27, the confidentiality obligations in Article 36, the security obligations in Article 37 or the obligations to protect personal data in Article 39, all of which still apply.

A beneficiary that intends to disseminate its results must give advance notice to the other beneficiaries of — unless agreed otherwise — at least 45 days, together with sufficient information on the results it will disseminate.

Any other beneficiary may object within — unless agreed otherwise — 30 days of receiving notification, if it can show that its legitimate interests in relation to the results or background would be significantly harmed. In such cases, the dissemination may not take place unless appropriate steps are taken to safeguard these legitimate interests.

If a beneficiary intends not to protect its results, it may — under certain conditions (see Article 26.4.1) — need to formally notify the PRIMA Foundation before dissemination takes place.

29.2     Open access to scientific publications

Each beneficiary must ensure open access (free of charge, online access for any user) to all peer-reviewed scientific publications relating to its results. 

In particular, it must:

(a)   as soon as possible and at the latest on publication, deposit a machine-readable electronic copy of the published version or final peer-reviewed manuscript accepted for publication in a repository for scientific publications;

Moreover, the beneficiary must aim to deposit at the same time the research data needed to validate the results presented in the deposited scientific publications.

(b)   ensure open access to the deposited publication — via the repository — at the latest:

(i)    on publication, if an electronic version is available for free via the publisher, or

(ii)  within six months of publication (twelve months for publications in the social sciences and humanities) in any other case.

(c)   ensure open access — via the repository — to the bibliographic metadata that identifies the deposited publication.

The bibliographic metadata must be in a standard format and must include all of the following:

–       the terms “PRIMA”, “European Union (EU)” and “Horizon 2020”

–       the name of the action, acronym and grant number;

–       the publication date, and length of embargo period if applicable, and

–       a persistent identifier.

29.3     Open access to research data

[OPTION 1a for actions participating in the Open Research Data Pilot: Regarding the digital research data generated in the action (‘data’), the beneficiaries must:

(a)    deposit in a research data repository and take measures to make it possible for third parties to access, mine, exploit, reproduce and disseminate — free of charge for any user — the following:

(i)    the data, including associated metadata, needed to validate the results presented in scientific publications, as soon as possible;

(ii)  Not applicable;

(iii)      other data, including associated metadata, as specified and within the deadlines laid down in the ‘data management plan’ (see Annex 1);

(b)   provide information — via the repository — about tools and instruments at the disposal of the beneficiaries and necessary for validating the results (and — where possible — provide the tools and instruments themselves).

This does not change the obligation to protect results in Article 27, the confidentiality obligations in Article 36, the security obligations in Article 37 or the obligations to protect personal data in Article 39, all of which still apply.

As an exception, the beneficiaries do not have to ensure open access to specific parts of their research data under Point (a)(i) and (iii), if the achievement of the action’s main objective (as described in Annex 1) would be jeopardised by making those specific parts of the research data openly accessible. In this case, the data management plan must contain the reasons for not giving access.

29.4     Information on PRIMA funding — Obligation and right to use the PRIMA logo and the EU emblem

Unless the PRIMA Foundation requests or agrees otherwise or unless it is impossible, any dissemination of results (in any form, including electronic) must:

(a)     display the PRIMA logo

(b)     display the EU emblem

(c)     include the following text:

“This project is part of the PRIMA programme supported by the European Union”.

When displayed together with another logo, the PRIMA logo and the EU emblem must have appropriate prominence.

For the purposes of their obligations under this Article, the beneficiaries may use the PRIMA logo and the EU emblem without first obtaining approval from the PRIMA Foundation and the Commission respectively.

This does not however give them the right to exclusive use.

Moreover, they may not appropriate the PRIMA logo and the EU emblem or any similar trademark or logo, either by registration or by any other means.

29.5     Disclaimer excluding the PRIMA Foundation responsibility

Any dissemination of results must indicate that it reflects only the author’s view and that the PRIMA Foundation is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

29.6     Consequences of non-compliance

If a beneficiary breaches any of its obligations under this Article, the grant may be reduced (see Article 43).

Such a breach may also lead to any of the other measures described in Chapter 6. 

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