Background
OPERAS is the Research Infrastructure (RI) dedicated to advancing open scholarly communication in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) within the European Research Area (ERA). Its mission is to coordinate and federate resources in Europe to effectively and efficiently address the scholarly communication needs of European SSH researchers.
Established in response to the needs and initiatives of the SSH community, OPERAS offers a unique community-driven model that bridges the gap between generic e-infrastructures and discipline-specific RIs.
The role of the UK within OPERAS
Jisc (and the UK) is a founding (core) member of OPERAS and as such, plays an active role in its day to day running. The General Assembly (GA) consists of core member countries’ ministries or designated representatives. For the UK, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is the GA member, with AHRC and Jisc as observers. DSIT also sits on the Board of Governing Representatives (BGR).
Find out more about the OPERAS governance schema
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
SIGs are where discussions take place, and new initiatives emerge. Open to all OPERAS members, whatever their level, SIGs work collaboratively under the responsibility of a contact point who is, in most cases, an OPERAS core member (such as Jisc). UK based members of OPERAS play active roles in many of the SIGs and Working Groups, including the Open Access Books SIG which was established to strengthen collaboration and coordination around open access book publishing.
National Nodes
National Nodes (NN) play a pivotal role in developing national communities as well as acting as a conduit to the wider OPERAS community, promoting OPERAS services and training to their national communities, and allowing those communities to contribute to the scholarly communication lifecycle at a European level. Jisc’s position as a national infrastructure for HE and FE makes it a unique and valued partner that UK HEIs look to for help and clarity, and therefore the ideal candidate to convene and host OPERAS UK.
Making connections and sustaining communities
OPERAS UK is the conduit between UK members of OPERAS, UK-based researchers and the wider OPERAS community across Europe, which includes higher education institutions, open access foundations/charities, research infrastructures, research councils, publishers, including learned societies, and funding bodies.
OPERAS UK membership is diverse; it includes universities, non-profit publishers and infrastructure providers. Therefore, OPERAS UK is an opportunity to connect these members and discovering new opportunities for collaboration e.g. projects and joint funding bids.
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OPERAS UK will also facilitate connections with other researchers and projects in the ERA, strengthening UK connections with 50+ OPERAS members across 20 countries and other European level national services and infrastructures. Collaboration with other NNs will give exposure to UK SSH research on a European stage.
Training and support
One of the key roles of a NN is to ensure that OPERAS’ services and platforms are being used by national communities. OPERAS UK will identify existing activity, assess national needs and provide tailored training and support.
Part of the work of OPERAS UK will be to evidence the engagement of UK researchers via OPERAS UK training events and use of OPERAS services and platforms. There is already recorded evidence of usage of OPERAS’ services in the UK, which the UK NN will help to increase.
OPERAS Prime
PRIME – Progressing the Research Infrastructure towards Maturity & ERIC Status – is a new EU-funded (under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme) project that marks a decisive step in the consolidation of OPERAS as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) status by 2027/2028.
Find out more about OPERAS Prime on the OPERAS website | OPERAS Prime: advancing OPERAS towards ERIC status
Building on the preparatory work of OPERAS‑PLUS, the project will deliver the organisational, financial, and operational readiness needed for the formal ERIC application. Its objectives include finalising governance and statutes while securing Member State commitments; strengthening OPERAS’ provision of open, FAIR‑aligned SHARP services through a distributed architecture; expanding national coordination and community engagement via National Nodes; and enhancing OPERAS’ global presence through policy dialogue and international partnerships.
Bringing together 14 European partners, the 30‑month project will complete governance and policy frameworks, validate the service architecture, consolidate national engagement strategies, and develop an international roadmap, positioning OPERAS to submit its ERIC request and transition smoothly to implementation within the ERA.
As part of the project, OPERAS UK will receive funding to further develop the community. OPERAS Prime will position all NNs as contact points for OPERAS services, such as GoTriple, Pathfinder, PRISM, VERA and the Innovation Lab, amongst others, so that user uptake and service adoption at national level increases. This funding will empower OPERAS UK to raise awareness of the existing community, provide tailored support to members, increase community engagement and foster continuous improvement and co-development with members.
Find out more about OPERAS
If you are interested in finding out more about OPERAS, or becoming a member, there is more information about the different membership levels on the OPERAS website.
Visit the OPERAS UK community webpage to get a flavour of what the NN can offer to UK members, and catch up on past events and activities.
If you belong to a UK member organisation, please do join the OPERAS UK NN and help the community to flourish! We run partner events throughout the year, share updates of wider OPERAS activities via our mailing list, and offer networking opportunities. We are currently planning an exciting programme of activity for 2026/2027 so watch this space!
Find out more about the national community for UK members of OPERAS, and request to join.