The National Library of Sweden
Since 2017, the National Library of Sweden (KB) has held a long-term mandate from the government to coordinate national efforts on open access to scholarly publications. In this role, KB is responsible for producing strategic intelligence, monitoring progress, providing guidance, and collaborating with relevant actors at the national level. This work forms a central part of Sweden’s overall development towards open science.
Work on Open Science
KB holds a long-term mandate from the government to coordinate work on open access to scholarly publications and has also been tasked with developing national guidelines for open science. Through these mandates, KB has a central role in supporting the planning, coordination, and advancement of Sweden’s transition to an open science system.
Annual Reports
KB compiles annual data on the development of open access articles published by Swedish research organisations. The report presents the total number of articles with immediately open access, as well as their distribution by subject area and institution.
Read more about the statistics
KB also submits an annual report to the government on its coordination mandate. The latest report, published in June 2025, summarises statistics on open access, outlines expenditure related to scholarly publishing, and describes ongoing efforts to coordinate national activities and initiatives that promote open access.
Read the full report (in Swedish)
The Bibsam Consortium
KB administers the national consortium that jointly negotiates and signs agreements for open access publishing, as well as access to scholarly journals and databases. The consortium includes Swedish universities, higher education institutions, government agencies, and public research institutes — a total of 96 participating organisations. In 2024, the consortium had a turnover of SEK 636 million.
The combined purchasing power of the Bibsam Consortium is an important lever for advancing the transition from a subscription-based model for information provision to one based on open access and publication of scholarly articles.
National Guidelines for Open Science
In January 2024, KB reported the results of an additional government mandate to develop national guidelines for open science. The purpose of this mandate was to take a comprehensive approach to identifying goals and priorities, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and defining needs for support and guidance. The work was carried out in collaboration with the Swedish Research Council, universities, higher education institutions, and other government agencies and organisations.
KB’s work has resulted in guidance materials and analyses that can be used by research-performing organisations, funders, and other stakeholders in planning and development. The guidelines are not binding but are intended to support a more coordinated and transparent development of open science within the Swedish research system. The combination of the long-term coordination mandate for open access publications and working on guidelines for open science as a whole gives KB a central role in promoting structure, coherence, and coordination in this field.