Overview
Where Horizon Europe stands on contributorship and open research
Horizon Europe grant agreements require open-access publication and FAIR data management. Contributorship taxonomies are encouraged through the Annotated Model Grant Agreement guidance but are not contractually mandated. CRediT is the de facto vocabulary on the resulting publications via the journal layer.
CRediT status: Encouraged - Guidance or programme calls reference CRediT, but formal policy text is silent.
Open access
Horizon Europe Open Access mandate (CC BY immediate)
All peer-reviewed publications from Horizon Europe projects must be immediately open access under CC BY at the time of publication. The accepted manuscript must be deposited in a trusted repository (Zenodo, Europe PMC, OpenAIRE-linked institutional repositories, or Open Research Europe).
Research data management
Data sharing requirements
Horizon Europe Data Management Plan; "as open as possible, as closed as necessary"; FAIR-aligned.
Submission and reporting
How Horizon Europe researchers apply and report
| Primary submission system | EU Funding and Tenders Portal |
| Biosketch / CV format | Standardised Personal Capacity section + 10 representative outputs |
| Reporting cycle | Continuous-reporting model via Funding and Tenders Portal; periodic technical + financial reports |
Horizon Europe consortia submit through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. A Data Management Plan is required at proposal stage and updated through the project. The default is FAIR-compliant data deposit through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) federated infrastructure. The Annotated Model Grant Agreement (AGA) is the canonical guidance document for what must be reported, with periodic and final technical and financial reports. ORCID is supported on the portal. Adherence to the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA) and the European Commission's 2024 Guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI in research are grant conditions.
Contributorship guidance
How Horizon Europe handles contributor attribution
The Annotated Model Grant Agreement encourages structured contributorship statements on publications but does not mandate a specific taxonomy. CRediT is referenced as accepted practice.
For authors
Publishing from Horizon Europe funding
When publishing from a Horizon Europe project, deposit the accepted manuscript or version of record in a trusted repository with a CC BY licence at the time of publication. Pre-prints are encouraged. Acknowledge EU funding using the precise wording in the Annotated Model Grant Agreement (which names the call identifier and grant agreement number). Maintain and update your Data Management Plan; deposit research data in EOSC-federated repositories where possible. Include a CRediT statement at the publisher's request. For Open Research Europe submissions, contributorship and ORCID linking are integrated into the submission flow.
For general CRediT submission guidance across publishers, see CRediT for authors.
Notable initiatives
Horizon Europe programmes and infrastructure
- EU Missions (Climate, Cancer, Soil, Oceans, Cities)
- European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)
- Open Research Europe
- European Innovation Council (EIC)
Notes
Caveats and context
The "as open as possible, as closed as necessary" principle remains the foundation of EU open-science policy; exceptions to default openness must be justified in the DMP.
Frequently asked
Common questions about Horizon Europe
- Does Horizon Europe require CRediT?
- Horizon Europe does not require CRediT at the policy-text level, but guidance and programme materials reference it. Horizon Europe grant agreements require open-access publication and FAIR data management. Contributorship taxonomies are encouraged through the Annotated Model Grant Agreement guidance but are not contractually mandated. CRediT is the de facto vocabulary on the resulting publications via the journal layer.
- What is Horizon Europe's open access policy?
- Horizon Europe Open Access mandate (CC BY immediate). All peer-reviewed publications from Horizon Europe projects must be immediately open access under CC BY at the time of publication. The accepted manuscript must be deposited in a trusted repository (Zenodo, Europe PMC, OpenAIRE-linked institutional repositories, or Open Research Europe).
- How do I report contributorship to Horizon Europe?
- The Annotated Model Grant Agreement encourages structured contributorship statements on publications but does not mandate a specific taxonomy. CRediT is referenced as accepted practice.
- Where do I submit a Horizon Europe application?
- Horizon Europe applications are submitted through EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Horizon Europe consortia submit through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. A Data Management Plan is required at proposal stage and updated through the project. The default is FAIR-compliant data deposit through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) federated infrastructure. The Annotated Model Grant Agreement (AGA) is the canonical guidance document for what must be reported, with periodic and final technical and financial reports. ORCID is supported on the portal. Adherence to the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA) and the European Commission's 2024 Guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI in research are grant conditions.
- What is Horizon Europe's data sharing requirement?
- Horizon Europe Data Management Plan; "as open as possible, as closed as necessary"; FAIR-aligned. Researchers should follow the data-management plan submitted with the application and deposit data in a recognised repository where appropriate.
References
Sources
- Horizon Europe Annotated Model Grant Agreement
- EU Funding and Tenders Portal reference documents
- EOSC strategic agenda
