Article 30 of the Law for a Digital Republic and the forthcoming implementation of Plan S have increased the need for French publishers of scientific journals to precisely define their policies regarding the dissemination of articles published in their journals and to display such policies.

For these publishers this raises the question of where and how to declare their publication policies beyond their own websites. The Héloise service is no longer being updated and indeed will soon be stopped. The JISC product Sherpa Romeo is the main internationally recognised reference base for publishing policies. In 2020, JISC released a new version of Sherpa Romeo with improved modelling of the different options available for disseminating open access articles and a new API which makes the integration of this service easier. Nonetheless, Sherpa Romeo does not always respond to the requirements of French journals whose editorial models and copyright policies are sometimes not well-understood.

A working group, Publication Policies and Self-Archiving, has been set up by the Committee for Open Science to specifically study this subject, devise a new strategy to improve the visibility of French publication policies and accompany their necessary evolution. This group will aim to establish a partnership with Sherpa Romeo and will be able to base its work on the Mir@bel network to set up a new operational system in 2021.