Open Access in Chile
Chile is a collaborative and engaged member of the global Open Access movement. It focuses on establishing strong policy and turning this into practical and accessible infrastructure.
We outline the history of Chile’s mandates and its current policies for those looking to submit research or read it.
Open Access is the new paradigm
Open Access (OA) refers to a publishing model for scholarly research that makes information immediately available to readers at no cost. This research is also free to reuse for scholarly purposes.
The benefits of publishing Open Access include increased visibility of scientific work, which can lead to gaining more citations and a greater impact, reaching a wider audience, advancing scientific innovation, retaining copyrights, and increasing the potential for collaboration and recognition.
Open Access can also help institutions like universities and research agencies in low- and middle-income countries by removing any price barriers to accessing academic research.
History of Open Access in Chile
There have been a range of open science initiatives in Chile. Here is a brief history of Open Access in Chile:
- 1997: Latindex is launched by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). This is a network of institutions and serves as a hub for academic journals in Latin America.
- 1998: CONICYT establishes SciELO Chile as a pilot, focusing on disseminating scientific outputs through an online platform.
- 2002: The Ministry of Education factor indexing in SciELO Chile when allocating fiscal contributions to universities.
- 2002: Supported by the Autonomous University of Mexico State and other institutions, Redalyc, a bibliographic database and digital library of OA journals across Latin America, was introduced.
- 2010: The National Research and Development Agency (Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, or ANID) launch the ANID Repository.
- 2013: Journals in ScIELO adopt Creative Commons licenses.
- 2021: Calls for InES Open Science funding are launched, which is focused on building institutional capacity for knowledge management.
- 2022: The ANID Open Access policy is launched, requiring the final version of scientific articles to be deposited in open repositories, and for research data management plans to be submitted to ensure their open availability.
- 2023: The ANID Repository launches advanced interoperability programs with institutional repositories across Chile.
Since before the term ‘Open Access’ was coined, Chile has been participating in initiatives focused on ensuring research results are made openly available at an international level.
ANID, the country’s leading funder for research and development, are leading the transition to open science on a national level, with both policy and infrastructure.
Current Open Access laws in Chile
Chile’s main funding agency for research and development, ANID, mandates that all beneficiaries must deposit the final version of their published scientific output, with an embargo period of up to 12 months, into the ANID Repository or in a relevant institutional or disciplinary repository.
Furthermore, research data management plans must be submitted that ensure the public availability of data that adhere to FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability).
As explained by Patricia Muñoz, deputy director of Networks, Strategy and Knowledge of ANID:
“For ANID it is key to generate a culture around open science, because it strengthens the democratization of scientific knowledge, it provides minimum standards of transparency and accountability for the public, and it traces the results obtained with public funds.”
In 2023, the ANID Repository launched advanced interoperability pilot programs with institutional repositories from universities across Chile. This reflects the approach in Chile of ensuring infrastructure that is integrated and functional.
Infrastructure support network and universities
In 2021, ANID signed a memorandum of understanding with universities across Chile, supporting the implementation of Open Access. From this, the National Infrastructure Support Network for Access to Scientific Information, known as InES, was launched. This aimed to enhance technical capabilities, increase visibility, and deliver nationwide services with global quality standards.
In the same year, InES established the InES Open Science funding program, which allowed for universities to apply for funding for capacity and infrastructure building.
Its first round of funding supported 12 projects, and it has since gone through multiple rounds of funding allocation to develop open science infrastructure across Chile.
For example, a leader in open science practices, the Pontifica Universidad Catolica De Chile (UC), received funding to establish a strategic framework for integrating open science initiatives and develop guidelines for implementing best practices at the university. This all built towards an open science ecosystem that includes an Open Science Portal, Council, and Repository.
Throughout the 2020s thus far, universities across Chile have adopted the principles outlined in ANID’s Open Access policy and also received funding from InES. These include:
International initiatives
Chile is an active participant in various international open science initiatives.
Many of these international collaborations support developing OA practices in Latin America and encourage the sharing of research outputs across borders, facilitating greater knowledge exchange among scientists and researchers globally.
These agreements have shaped Chile’s approach to OA, with increasing recognition that international collaboration is essential for driving meaningful progress.
SciELO
Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) is a digital collection of OA journals, edited by national scientific societies, professional associations, universities, and research institutions.
It contains over 1200 OA journals, which collectively publish an average of 50,000 papers each year.
SciELO Chile was established in 1998 and is managed by ANID. It contains a curated collection of 139 OA Chilean scientific journals, as of March 2026.
Redalyc
Redalyc is a bibliographic database and a digital library of Open Access journals. It originated in 2002 with a focus on integrating scientific and editorial journals from Latin America into its index. It now exclusively integrates non-profit journals from any region.
It features more than 750,000 articles from more than 1800 journals, as of March 2026, and has been highly important in increasing access to and the visibility of research in the region.
Red de Repositorios Latinoamericanos
The Latin American Repository Network portal was developed in 2006 by the University of Chile through its Directorate of Information Services and Libraries (SISIB).
It provides access to publications located in different repositories across Latin American countries.
It currently has more than 8,000,000 publications from more than 500 institutions in 21 countries.
Latindex
Latindex was developed in 1995 by UNAM and expanded to become a regional cooperation network in 1997.
It features a network of institutions that coordinate to gather and disseminate information on scientific publications produced in Latin America.
It actively disseminates, makes accessible, and improves the quality of academic journals published in the region.
AmeliCA
AmeliCA Open Science is a collaborative initiative designed to promote and strengthen the development of open science. It is controlled by an inter-institutional academy and was created in response to the challenges of delivering OA in Latin America and the Global South.
It has dozens of member institutions and dedicated itself to expanding its reach to Africa and Asia in 2023.
Its governing principles are
- Universal law.
- Equity, diversity, and multilingualism.
- Property of the academy and heritage of humanity.
- Recognition and appreciation.
LA Referencia
The Latin American Network for Open Science, or simply LA Referencia, supports national Open Access strategies in Latin America and Spain. It provides interoperability standards and access to scientific articles and theses.
There are more than 100 universities and research institutions across 10 countries participating in the initiative.
European Union
Chile has a strategic research and innovation partnership with the European Union (EU). An important moment was the 2002 Association Agreement which was consolidated in the 2023 Advanced Framework Agreement between Chile and the EU.
Chile ranks thirteenth among non-EU and -associated countries in its Horizon Europe funding program. Horizon Europe will last until 2027 and has a budget of €95.5 billion. Its aims are to facilitate collaboration and strengthen the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting, and implementing EU policies whilst tackling global challenges.
Accordingly, Open Access is mandatory for researchers receiving funding. This is so Horizon Europe can support the “creating and better dispersing of excellent knowledge and technologies”. Its aims revolve around tackling climate change, achieving the UN’s SDGs, and boosting growth.
If you want to learn more about the EU’s Open Access policy, we have an article on the topic.
Chile’s Open Access statistics
Chile has consistently had a large share of Open Access publications. According to InCites data (Clarivate) extracted in March 2026:
- 2014: 36% of articles and reviews were non-OA and 64% were Open Access.
- 2019: 39% of articles and reviews were non-OA and 61% were Open Access.
- 2024: 34% of articles and reviews were non-OA and 66% were Open Access.
Over the ten-year period of 2014–2024, the share of Open Access publications has remained more than 60% with slight fluctuations. This reflects Chile’s longstanding engagement with open science practices as it develops increasingly sophisticated infrastructure.
Future trends
Chile is a collaborator in many international initiatives and has infrastructure projects underway, both of which strive towards establishing a sustainable open science ecosystem in the country.
The ANID policy and its implementation in universities across the country showcase the widespread embrace of open science.
As highlighted in a piece by UC, the primary challenges the country faces include:
- Expanding the vision of open science beyond data and publications, into open laboratories, citizen science, and shared educational resources.
- Aligning incentives with evaluation systems.
- Fostering an even broader culture shift towards openness.
Given the ongoing collaborations, the engagement with ANID, and sophistication of the country’s infrastructure, it is likely that Chile will continue to be a leader in open science in Latin America and beyond.
Value of Open Access
All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an Open Access license. This means:
- Everyone has free and unlimited access to the full text of all articles published in MDPI journals;
- Everyone is free to re-use the published material if proper accreditation/citation of the original publication is given;
- Open Access publication is supported by the authors’ institutes or research funding agencies by payment of a comparatively low Article Processing Charge (APC) for accepted articles.
Researchers can satisfy Chile’s developing Open Access policy and pre-empt any stricter legislation by publishing in an MDPI journal. Alternatively, if you want to publish an early version of your article, try Preprints.org, our service for publishing early versions of research that are not peer-reviewed and report on either ongoing or complete research.
Open Access makes vital information accessible to all readers and researchers and brings together scholars from across the world. Thus, it is ideal for tackling global challenges that require urgent and coordinated attention.
Chile is a leader in developing infrastructure and policy that empowers researchers to embrace open science. Click here if you would also like to learn more about Open Access around the world.
