Funder Open Access Policies
UKRI Open Access Policy from 1 April 2022
Please see FAQs for Goldsmiths researchers here)
EU Horizon 2020 Guidelines to Open Access
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UKRI Open Access Policy from 1 April 2022
To download this information as a .pdf file, please click here .
The new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Open Access policy comes into effect on 1 April 2022. The policy applies to:
Outputs funded in whole or in part by the UK Research Councils must meet the UKRI Open Access requirements. This includes in-scope research articles arising from UKRI Training Grants (including UKRI-funded studentships).
Prior to selecting venues for publication UKRI funded researchers must consider whether the journal/publisher offers Open Access publishing options that comply with the UKRI policy. Please email gro@gold.ac.uk if you need advice on whether a publishing venue is compliant
On projects with multiple authors, we strongly recommend having a discussion with co-authors prior to selecting venues for publication to identify any funding sources which authors are in receipt of, and which will be acknowledged in the publication. This will help identify whether the UKRI Open Access requirements needs to be met, and will inform decisions on where to publish the research.
Please note that this is not the announcement of the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) open access policy, only the UKRI policy. However, UKRI have made it clear that compliance with their open access policy will also ensure compliance for the next REF.
UKRI will be providing up to £46.7 million per year to UK universities to support the implementation of the policy. This substantial increase to the UKRI block grant recognises the costs involved to meet the new policy requirements, as well as the inclusion of monographs in the policy (£3.5 million has been ring-fenced to support monograph publishing).
If your paper is funded by UKRI and you would like to use block grant to pay for Open Access fees, please email the GRO team at gro@gold.ac.uk with your grant number and required Open Access fee for information and support. The GRO team will check paper eligibility, provide details for the most up-to-date procurement processes and funder requirements, and work with publishers to coordinate the payment process.
The main points from the updated open access policy are summarised below.
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Peer reviewed research articles
Our How to comply with the UKRI Open Access policy for articles resource guides authors through the steps we recommend they take to ensure that their research articles meet the UKRI Open Access requirements. Further information on complying with the policy is included below
Peer reviewed research articles submitted for publication on or after 1 April 2022 which acknowledge funding from UKRI will need to be made open access from the date of publication. The policy applies to all peer reviewed research articles and conference papers published in proceedings with an International Standards Serial Number (ISSN).
There are two routes to compliance:
- Route 1 (Gold Open Access): Making the Version of Record free and unrestricted to view and download on the publisher's website from the date of publication
- Route 2 (Green Open Access): Making the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) free and unrestricted to view and download on a repository such as Goldsmiths Research Online (GRO) from the date of publication
All articles must be made open access by the date of publication with no embargo period, and be published with a CC BY licence unless UKRI has agreed, as an exception, to allow publication under CC BY-ND. The form to apply for a CC BY-ND exception is available here.
UKRI have contacted publishers notifying them of the change to the policy and expect that the significant majority of venues that publish UKRI-funded articles will be able to offer suitable Open Access options to UKRI-funded authors by April 2022.
If authors are using route 1 (Gold Open Access) to achieve compliance, there are several options for publication:
- Publishing an article Open Access via a Read and Publish agreement. Information about the Read and Publish agreements available to authors at Goldsmiths is available here.
- Making use of the block grant we receive from UKRI to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC). UKRI funds for paying APCs can only be used if the journal meets the JISC requirements for transformative journals or transitional agreements (authors should email gro@gold.ac.uk at the submission stage for confirmation that a journal requiring an APC payment is compliant with the policy).
- Publishing in a fully Open Access journal. These are journals with no subscription element and are listed on the Directory Open Access Journals.
For articles complying with the policy under route 2 (Green Open Access), submissions must include the following text in the funding acknowledgement section of the manuscript and any cover letter/note accompanying the submission:
‘For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence [where permitted by UKRI, ‘Open Government Licence’ or ‘Creative Commons Attribution No-derivatives (CC BY-ND) licence may be stated instead] to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising’
The statement will allow authors to post their AAM in a repository such as Goldsmiths Research Online (GRO) with a CC BY licence and no embargo regardless of the standard policy of the publisher.
Most journals require an embargo on the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM), and do not allow it to be made Open Access under a CC BY licence. It is therefore essential that authors using this route are clear with their journal at the point of submission what UKRI requires of them in terms of Open Access and that they check that their publication agreement is compatible with UKRI requirements. If asked to sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement / Publication Agreement read through its terms and conditions to check this is compatible with UKRI Open Access requirements. If the terms of the agreement would not enable you to make your accepted manuscript available immediately at the point of publication under a CC BY licence then it is incompatible with UKRI requirements - please seek to amend the agreement in this case. If you are unsure about an agreement which a publisher is asking you to sign, please contact us at gro@gold.ac.uk for guidance.
A Data Access Statement needs to be included in research articles covered by the policy, even where there is no associated data or where the data is inaccessible. The statement is intended to inform readers where the underlying research materials associated with a paper are available, and how the research materials can be accessed. The statement can include links to the dataset, where applicable and appropriate.
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Monographs, book chapters and edited collections
There is a new requirement for monographs, book chapters and edited collections published from 1 January 2024 (unless a contract has been signed between the author and the publisher before this date that prevents adherence to the policy) which acknowledge funding from UKRI to be made open access.
There are two routes to compliance:
- Making the Version of Record free to view and download on the publisher's website within 12 months of publication
- Making the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) free to view and download on a repository such as Goldsmiths Research Online (GRO) within 12 months of publication. The policy allows the author and publisher to agree the appropriate version to self-archive on a repository.
The open access version should include, where possible, any images, illustrations, tables and other supporting content.
UKRI acknowledge that monographs, book chapters and edited collections may be published many years after the end of a UKRI funded project and over time the link to UKRI funding may not be substantial. Therefore, if a monograph, book chapter, or edited collection is published seven or more years after the formal end of a UKRI funded project, then it will no longer be eligible for support via UKRI’s fund, and therefore they do not expect the publication to be open access.
Given the complexity of the policy we are advising that authors email gro@gold.ac.uk prior to the submission a book proposal for advice on complying with the policy.
Actions authors need to take prior to submission of a book proposal
Authors are advised to choose the publisher most appropriate for their research, provided UKRI’s open access requirements are met. To ensure compliance, authors should inform their preferred publisher that the publication is in scope of the UKRI open access policy and check if they can offer a compliant open access publishing option prior to the submission a book proposal and before entering into any contractual agreement.
Many publishers offer open access of the final Version of Record within 12 months of publication. They may charge a book processing fee for open access or offer free open access supported via alternative funding models, such as subscribe to open models (for example the MIT Press Direct to Open model) or 'diamond' open access. Further information on open access publishing models that don't require the payment of a book processing charge is available under the 'publishing models' tab of our guide to ‘Open Access Monographs’.
Some publishers may not offer open access of the final Version of Record but may permit authors to deposit their Author’s Accepted Manuscript (a version of your accepted manuscript agreed between you and the publisher) in an institutional repository such as GRO within 12 months of publication.
If your preferred publisher does not have an open access programme, check for other open access options, and consider other publishers before considering an exemption. Authors can contact gro@gold.ac.uk for further advice at this stage.
You should also inform any collaborators, (such as co-authors or the editor of a collection you are contributing to) about UKRI’s open access requirements. When contributing a book chapter to an edited collection, you should seek agreement with the editor(s) and publisher for the version of record or the AAM of your chapter to be made open access via the publisher or self-archiving in a repository. UKRI recommend authors inform the editor of the collection and the publisher of the UKRI requirements at the start of the collaboration discussions and before entering into any contractual agreement for the publication. If the publisher charges for making the version of record open access, you may be eligible for open access funding from UKRI.
Licensing for monographs, book chapters and edited collections
The open access versions of monographs, book chapters and edited collections must be published under a Creative Commons licence. UKRI has expressed a preference for a CC BY licence, but other Creative Commons licences are permitted.
The Creative Commons licencing requirement does not apply to third party materials included in the publication such as images, which can be included in the publication under a more restrictive licence or subject to the terms under which the rightsholder has released it, for example on an ‘all rights reserved’ basis.
UKRI in collaboration with Jisc have produced a guide on ‘Publishing under the UKRI open access policy: copyright and Creative Commons licences’ which provides guidance for UKRI-funded researchers on copyright and licensing.
Exemptions to the monographs, book chapters and edited collections policy
Authors should seek to publish open access wherever possible, but UKRI allow a number of exemptions to be applied for monographs, book chapters and edited collections. The process for applying exemptions is self-managed and trust-based. Authors do not need to seek approval from UKRI when making a decision to apply an exemption, but they will have to notify UKRI via a process which will be available from January 2024. Please email gro@gold.ac.uk if you are considering applying an exemption.
UKRI have confirmed that exemptions will be allowed in the following areas:
Funding for Monographs, book chapters and edited collections
UKRI will be providing dedicated funding to support open access monographs, book chapters and edited collections.
Funding will be provided through a centralised fund of £3.5 million per year held by UKRI that research organisations will apply for. Successful applications for funding will need to demonstrate a substantial link between the publication and UKRI funding. If you have included open access costs in your grant application already, you must use this funding for open access publications instead of applying to the dedicated fund.
UKRI will contribute up to the following maximums:
- £10,000 for book processing charges
- £1,000 for chapter processing charges
- £6,000 for participation in an alternative open access model (not exceeding the total cost of participation). UKRI will fund up to another £3,000 where there are two or more eligible outputs.
These amounts are inclusive of VAT, where applicable.
Up to £2,000, within the funding maximum for an output, can be applied for to support costs associated with clearing permissions for third-party content to be included in the open access version of the publication. However, these costs should be accounted for in grant applications, where possible.
Funding applications will be in two stages. At Stage 1, authors should email gro@gold.ac.uk to request that Goldsmiths registers the output(s) with UKRI for funding. A publishing contract does not need to be signed for a Stage 1 application to be made.
Authors should send the following information to gro@gold.ac.uk for a Stage 1 application to be made:
- UKRI funding reference
- Author name(s)
- Title of publication (draft)
- Name of publisher (if known)
- Estimated open access costs requested from UKRI (if known; including VAT)
- Anticipated date of publication
- Statement about relationship to the UKRI funded project or grant, including the author’s role in this
- Additional comments and administrative information
UKRI will only provide funding for publications that have a substantial link to UKRI funding so it is crucial that authors provide as much information as possible when making a Stage 1 application.
UKRI will confirm if a publication is eligible for funding after a Stage 1 application.
At Stage 2 Goldsmiths provides final confirmation of publication to allow UKRI to release funds.
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If I am funded by UKRI, what should I do?
Our previous messaging around Open Access compliance for REF2021 emphasised the importance of authors acting upon acceptance, but the new UKRI policy will require authors to consider whether a publishing platform offers compliant Open Access options prior to selecting venues for publication.
Given the complexity of the policy we are advising that authors email gro@gold.ac.uk at the submission stage for confirmation that their chosen publishing venue is compliant, and we will offer advice to authors on the next steps they need to undertake.
If you want advice on whether the journal or publisher you wish to submit your research to is compliant, please email gro@gold.ac.uk.
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Help and Support
If you would like any more information about the policy or have any questions about how this affects your work, please email gro@gold.ac.uk.
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Plan S: a plan for full and immediate Open Access
To download this information as a .pdf file, please click here .
What is Plan S?
At the end of 2018, cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders supported by the European Commission and the European Research Council, launched a new Open Access (OA) publishing initiative called Plan S, which comes into effect on 1 January 2021. Plan S is an initiative that hopes to make immediate, full Open Access a reality by committing to the following:
“With effect from 2021, all scholarly publications on the results from research funded by public or private grants provided by national, regional and international research councils and funding bodies, must be published in Open Access Journals, on Open Access Platforms, or made immediately available through Open Access Repositories without embargo.” (See: https://www.coalition-s.org/about/)
Plan S signatories from the UK include UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust. You can find a full list of signatories here.
Key Points
Plan S is based on a framework of 10 principles, supported by implementation guidance. The main points are:
Hybrid model: Gold Open Access publication in subscription journals via an Article Processing Charge (APC) payment is known as ‘hybrid’ model. Plan S funders to fund hybrid Open Access only when it is part of a transformative agreement supporting a transition of publication platforms to full Open Access.
Copyright: Authors or their institutions to retain copyright of their publications.
Licenses: Authors to publish under an open licence, preferably the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.
Fees: Where applicable, Open Access publication fees are covered by the funders or research institutions, not by individual researchers.
Monographs: It is understood that the timeline to achieve Open Access for monographs and book chapters will be longer and requires a separate and due process.
Compliance: Funding agencies will monitor compliance and sanction non-compliant beneficiaries/grantees.
Metrics: The Funders commit that when assessing research outputs during funding decisions they will value the intrinsic merit of the work and not consider the publication channel, its impact factor (or other journal metrics), or the publisher. This will require that funders and universities align with the principles of the Declaration of Research Assessment (DORA) or the Leiden Manifesto.
What are the benefits of Plan S?
By advocating the point that no scholarly publication should be locked behind a paywall, and that Open Access should be immediate (i.e., without embargoes), Plan S aims at reinforcing the key principles and benefits of Open Access as exemplified in the following:
Increased visibility and impact of research
Raised profile for author, funder, and university
Faster dissemination of research outputs
Compliance with funder and Research Excellence Framework (REF) requirements
Social and public good
How does Plan S affect me as a researcher?
If you are funded by a cOAlition S signatory, as of 1 January 2021 you will be required to make your research publications Open Access via one of the acceptable routes (Please see below the “Three routes to make your research outputs compliant with Plan S” section).
The detailed implementation decisions of individual funding agencies, such as UKRI, will be key in determining the likely impact of Plan S on researchers at Goldsmiths. UKRI is conducting an Open Access Review to develop the new UKRI Open Access policy in response to Plan S.
Goldsmiths has Open Access publishing agreements with a diverse array of journals. Goldsmiths researchers can now publish open access with no charge in journals that are part of “Read and Publish” agreements. Publishing in these journals will meet the Plan S requirement that allows hybrid Open Access only as part of a transformative agreement.
If you are not funded by a cOAlition S signatory, you are not bound to publish in a compliant journal (i.e. a fully Open Access journal or a hybrid journal that is part of a transformative agreement), although it is best practice to do so if possible.
What research is in scope?
The scope of Plan S is primarily peer reviewed research. Plan S applies to all peer-reviewed publications that are based on results from research funded fully or partially by cOAlition S members. This means predominantly:
Scholarly articles: From 1 January 2021 journal articles and conference papers are in scope.
Monographs: By the end of 2021, cOAlition S will provide a statement on Plan S principles (and their implementation guidance) as they can apply to monographs and book chapters.
Three routes to make your research outputs compliant with Plan S
All scholarly articles that result from research funded by members of cOAlition S must be openly available immediately upon publication without any embargo period.
| Open Access publishing venues (journals or platforms) | Subscription venues (repository route) | Transition of subscription venues (transformative arrangements) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Route | Authors publish in an Open Access journal or on an Open Access platform. | Authors publish in a subscription journal and make either the final published version (Version of Record (VoR)) or the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) openly available in a repository. | Authors publish Open Access in a subscription journal under a transformative arrangement. |
| Funding | cOAlition S funders will financially support publication fees. | cOAlition S funders will not financially support ‘hybrid’ Open Access publication fees in subscription venues. | cOAlition S funders can contribute financially to Open Access publishing under transformative arrangements. |
Table 1. “Guidance on the Implementation of Plan S” on https://www.coalition-s.org/guidance-on-the-implementation-of-plan-s/
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FAQs
I am not familiar with Open Access publishing and I am confused by the terminology used to describe Plan S. How can I get help?
The Goldsmiths Research Online team published an Open Access LibGuide, which explains basics of Open Access and includes a glossary of terms. To access the LibGuide, please click here. If you have further questions around the terminology, please email gro@gold.ac.uk for clarification.
How will I know if I am submitting my paper to a Plan S compliant journal?
Compliant journals will be listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Hybrid journals which agree to transformative agreements for being Open Access as means to ensure compliance with Plan S, are also acceptable. The Goldsmiths Research Online team will be happy to help with any queries around the eligibility of specific journals. Please email gro@gold.ac.uk for help.
How do I know where to publish?
We are awaiting further guidance from funders but can advise authors to not publish in hybrid journals (unless they have signed transformative agreements to become fully Open Access journals), check funder requirements, and understand journals’ copyright policy. The Goldsmiths Research Online team will be happy to help with any queries around the eligibility of specific publishing platforms. Please email gro@gold.ac.uk for help.
What about Green Open Access (deposit of manuscript to a repository)? Should I still deposit my papers to Goldsmiths Research Online?
Yes. Plan S promotes Gold Open Access (paid Open Access via the journal/publication platform). However, deposit of your final accepted manuscript to GRO is acceptable provided the file can be made available immediately (i.e. with no embargo) and under a CC-BY licence.
What if I submit my paper to a non-compliant journal before January 2021, but it will be published after the implementation of Plan S?
Papers submitted for publication prior to January 2021 are expected to be exempt from revised Open Access policies which implement Plan S.
At the latest, funders must apply Plan S principles to publications resulting from grants published, or application deadlines, after 1 January 2021. However, funders are encouraged to implement principles to publications resulting from grants awarded from 1 January 2021, and so calls with deadlines prior to this may be affected.
What are the consequences if I publish in a non-compliant journal?
In time, cOAlition S funders, will align grant agreements and/or contracts with Plan S. Funders will monitor and sanction non-compliance on the basis of such agreements or contracts. As stated on cOAlition S webpages, possible sanctions may include “withholding grant funds, discounting non-compliant publications as part of a researcher's track record in grant applications, and/or excluding non-compliant grant holders from future funding calls”.
Can I still submit papers which are not directly funded by a UKRI council to a non-compliant journal?
Probably, but with careful consideration. If your work is not supported by funding from UKRI and your paper is not subject to grant conditions based on a policy adhering to Plan S, then you are free to publish in any journal/platform. Consider, however, that your work would need to be clearly decoupled from any funding you may be in receipt of, to ensure you do not break grant agreements. This point is expected to be further clarified once UKRI release an updated Open Access policy which implements Plan S.
I am an early career researcher (ECR). Will I be disadvantaged because I don’t have funds for OA?
If you are not funded by a cOAlition S signatory you are not bound to publish in a compliant journal, although it is best practice to do so if possible. You can self-archive in appropriate repositories (such as GRO) where embargoes will be applied – if appropriate – as well as using pre-print servers to promote early drafts of your work.
Plan S takes ECRs into account and principles such as responsible research metrics are put in place so that they can publish in appropriate journals for their content and career stage without prejudice.
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Help and Support
These pages will be updated with information relevant to Plan S. If you have any questions regarding Plan S, please email Goldsmiths Research Online at gro@gold.ac.uk.