In the middle of 2008, the RCAAP (Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal = Portugal Open Access Science Repository) initiative was established. The RCAAP initiative aims to increase the visibility, accessibility and dissemination of Portuguese research outputs, as well integrating Portugal worldwide in this domain. The first phase of RCAAP started in July and ended in December (2008) and the project has been renewed annually in 2009 and 2010. The main components of the RCAAP project are the following:

* RCAAP Portal: collects, aggregates and indexes open access scientific contents from Portuguese institutional repositories, and forms a single entry point for searching, discovery and viewing thousands of scientific and scholarly publications;
* SARI (ASP service for institutional repositories): allows institutions to create and completely “brand” their repositories as desired in a central infrastructure;
* Repositories Validator: a tool that measures the degree to which a repository conforms with RCAAP requirements (based on the DRIVER guidelines).
* Communication, promotion and training activities

Furthermore within the RCAAP project an “Open Access Policy Kit” was created. It contains a set of useful information and resources for the formulation and implementation of Open Access policies for research institutions (especially universities) and funding policies. Commissioned by the RCAAP project, it has also produced the report: “Open Access in Portugal: A State of the Art Report”

Currently there are 32 open access repositories on a production stage indexed on the RCAAP Portal, but there are others currently on testing/installation stages. The IRs that are already in production stage, index more than 48.000 scientific documents.