Open Access Policies

A summary of the policies that require open access, including the University policy, REF policy and UKRI policy.

There are several policies that mandate open access.  The following is a summary of potentially applicable policies, but authors should also check their funding agreements, particularly for funders not listed below.

University Research Publications and Copyright Policy

Applies to All staff on research contracts.
Covers This policy applies to all peer-reviewed research articles submitted for publication after on or after 1 April 2022 and published in either a journal, conference proceeding or publishing platform,  authored or co-authored while the person is a staff member of The University of Edinburgh.
Requirement

The metadata and author's final version of all papers must be entered into Pure on acceptance.

The author's final version must be made open under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) on publication unless the final published version, known as the Version of Record (VoR), has also been made open under the same licence and can be deposited into Pure.

To ensure compliance with this policy it is recommended that future publications should 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 to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.”

Allowable embargo No embargo allowed
Opt-out

In the majority of cases compliance will be simple. However, in exceptional circumstances where it will not, it is permissible for authors to request to opt-out. For more details of the scenarios where this may be appropriate and the opt-out process, please visit the Scholarly Communications web pages. Please note that this process cannot be used to request an opt-out from any possible funders' Open Access requirements or the requirements for depositing accepted manuscripts in Pure.

Scholarly Communications Team guidance on opt-out

Full details

Research Publications & Copyright Policy (2021)

Further guidance

The Scholarly Communications Team have created a checklist to help researchers comply with this policy.

Scholarly Communications open access checklist

For Informatics researchers the RDM team are always available to answer any questions.

Contact RDM team

 

UKRI Open Access Policy

Applies to

Journal, conference papers, monographs, book chapters and edited collections produced from UKRI funded research. 

Covers

Journal and conference papers submitted for publication on or after 1 April 2022.

Monographs, book chapters and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024.

Requirements
  • UKRI funding must be acknowledged within the paper.
  • The paper must be made open access immediately upon publication via the Gold OA or Green OA routes:
    • Gold OA - where the final published version, known as the Version of Record (VoR), is made open under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence;
    • Green OA - where the Author's Accepted Manuscript (AAM), also know as the Author's Final Version (AFV), is made open under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence via deposit in an institutional or subject repository.
Allowable embargo No embargo allowed
Full details

UKRI Open Access policy

Additional tool

The Scholarly Communications Team have created a checklist to help researchers comply with this policy.

Scholarly Communications open access checklist

For Informatics researchers the RDM team are always available to answer any questions.

Contact RDM team

Authors can also check if a journal allows compliance with select funder's Open Access policy through the Journal Checker Tool.

Check journal/funder compliance using the Journal Checker Tool

 

REF Open Access Policy

The below policy is for REF2021, as of yet a policy for REF2028 (or its replacement) has not been announced. With the introduction of the new UKRI open access policy it is likely the the REF open access policy will be superseded by something similar.

Applies to

All staff who are likely to be included in the next REF

Covers Journal and conference papers accepted after 1 April 2016.
Requirements

Paper must be:

  • deposited in an institutional repository within 3 months of the date of acceptance;
  • made open access within a month of the end of any publisher embargo, or within a month of deposit if no embargo applies.
Allowable embargo

For most Informatics staff an embargo period of 12 months will be allowable.  Staff who will be submitted to a non-Informatics REF UoA may have a longer embargo.  Staff who are uncertain which UoA they will be submitted with should contact the Director of Research.

Exceptions may be available where the publisher requires a longer embargo – please contact the RDM team for more details (rdmpublications@inf.ed.ac.uk).

Full details

Local information at http://web.inf.ed.ac.uk/infweb/research/ref/ref-open-access-policy

REF2021 open access policy in paragraphs 223-255 of the Guidance on submissions at https://www.ref.ac.uk/publications/guidance-on-submissions-201901/

Research England (previously HEFCE) information and FAQs at https://re.ukri.org/research/open-access-research/

Additional tool

Authors can check if a journal allows compliance with REF open acces policy through the SHERPA REF tool. Informatics authors should select REF Main Panels A and B (Sciences, Technology and Medicine).

Check journal REF compliance on the SHERPA REF website

Horizon 2020

Applies to All work produced from Horizon 2020 grants.
Covers Peer reviewed scientific publications.
Requirements
  • deposit a copy of the paper in an institutional repository
  • ensure the paper is made open access
Allowable embargo 6 months
Full details https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/FactSheet_Open_Access.pdf

Horizon Europe

Applies to All work produced from Horizon Europe grants.
Covers Peer-reviewed publications.
Requirements
  • Horizon Europe funding details must be included in the paper (grant project name, acronym and number)
  • the final published version or accepted manuscript must be deposited in a trusted repository (Pure is acceptable)
  • deposited manuscript must be published under a CC-BY licence or equivalent
Allowable embargo No embargo allowed.
Additional info

Only publication fees in full open access venues for peer-reviewed scientific publications are eligible for reimbursement.

Monographs do not need to be published under a CC-BY licence. Instead, the licence may exclude commercial uses and derivative works (e.g. CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND).

Data generated as part of funded research should be made ‘as open as possible as closed as necessary’.

Full details

Horizon Europe programme guide (see pp. 32-33. pp. 37-38, pp. 47-48)

Horizon Europe annotated grant agreement (see Annex 5)

Horizon Europe reference documents library (for access to updated programme guide and annotated grant agreements as necessary)

Horizon Europe guidance to complying with publication mandate