The fundamental principle is that the community as a whole should benefit from (the results of) publicly funded research. Moreover, Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that ‘Everyone has the right (...) to share in scientific advancement and its benefits’. (United Nations, 1948).
The European Commission defines Open Science in H2020:
‘Open Science represents a new approach to the scientific process based on cooperative work and new ways of diffusing knowledge by using digital technologies and new collaborative tools. The idea captures a systemic change to the way science and research have been carried out for the last 50 years: shifting from the standard practices of publishing research results in scientific publications towards sharing and using all available knowledge at an earlier stage in the research process’. (European Commission, n.d.).
Read more about the Dutch national programme Open Science.
Open Access is part of the Open Science movement.