Open Access has taken on a new importance in UK higher education since its incorporation into the Research Excellence Framework (REF). There is also a separate UKRI open access policy for research funded by research councils. In addition to this, many research funders have their own open access policies. Each policy stipulates the minimum requirements that research outputs must meet to be open access compliant (which varies by policy).
This may involve publishing gold open access, depositing a manuscript in a repository and ensuring that research outputs are licensed correctly.
The last REF (2021) was the first research assessment to mandate open access. For the next REF (due in 2029) there is an ongoing policy consultation. Authors should follow the REF 2021 policy until further notice. The policy applies to all UoL staff members who want their work to be eligible for submission to the REF.
Full details of the current REF 2021 policy can be found in the “Guidance on Submissions” document.
Currently, the policy only applies to journal articles or conference proceedings.
To comply with the policy, all authors need to upload their author accepted manuscript to the University’s Repository within three months of acceptance. Guidance and support on how to use the repository including tutorials, troubleshooting tips, and useful contacts can be found on the repository blog. You can also email the repository team at repository@lincoln.ac.uk.
The acceptance date is usually stated in an e-mail from the publisher. This is different from the publication date, which is the date upon which the item is first published.
Your research may also be compliant if it is published gold or diamond open access (often through a transformative agreement). Despite this, it is still important to upload your manuscript to the institutional repository.
If you fail to upload your output within the specified period, it will not be compliant for the REF (unless it is compliant via another route). It may still qualify for the REF via an exception. Exceptions are set out in the official REF Guidance on Submissions document.
You still need to create a record and upload your author accepted manuscript. This will be checked against open access policies to ensure access is restricted until the embargo has expired. If an embargo applies, your output will still be compliant provided the embargo period falls within the period tolerated in the REF guidance on submissions document (currently 12 months for Panel A and B subjects and 24 months for panel C and D subjects). A list of REF panel subject allocation can be found on the REF website.
The UKRI open access policy applies to research output that acknowledges funding from UKRI or any of its councils. This includes funding from:
Any research outputs that comply with the UKRI open access policy are automatically deemed to be REF compliant.
The UKRI policy applies to journal articles or conference proceedings.
It also applies to monographs, book chapters and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024.
There are two routes to compliance:
All outputs must include a data access statement (even if no data has been collected).
Authors must include their ORCID ID
For more information, please contact the repository team at repository@lincoln.ac.uk prior to speaking to a publisher. More information can be found on the repository team's guidance pages.
In addition to the REF and UKRI open access policies, research funders may also have their own open access policies. You will need to comply with these policies if your research is funded by specific organisations. Some of the most common open access policies can be found below:
You can use the Sherpa Juliet tool to find information on funders' policies and requirements on open access or contact the repository team at repository@lincoln.ac.uk.
