Many UK and International research institutions and funders mandate Open Access for some publication types. Below, you will find information that outlines the key aspects of open access policies in the UK and international policies:
UKRI (including Research England, Innovate UK, and all UKRI Research Councils)
UKRI have an open access policy that covers any journal articles and conference papers acknowledging UKRI funding submitted for publishing on or after 1st April 2022. In order to comply with the policy, these articles must:
be made available immediately at the point of publication, either via Gold or Green Open Access. (i.e. have no embargo).
include the following rights retention statement to the submitted version of the article (to ensure compliance with the above to points):
"For the purpose of open access, the author(s) 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"
have a Data Access Statement, even where there is no data associated with the article or the data are inaccessible.
be archived in Europe PubMed Central, if the article acknowledges funding from MRC and/or BBSRC.
The full UKRI Open Access policy can be found here. For support with complying with the policy, get in touch with the Open Research Team.
Ensure that you include the rights retention statement in the submitted manuscript of any article you submit.
At acceptance, deposit the author's accepted manuscript in WRAP to ensure it can be made Open Access at the point of publication.
If you plan to comply via the Gold Route, please ensure that the journal is eligible for funding/ is covered by a Read and Publish Agreement. If you are unsure, contact the Open Research Team.
Apply for APC funding from the UKRI Block Grant, as long as you are publishing in a Gold Open Access Journals (the Block Grant cannot be used to pay for APCs for articles published in Hybrid journals)
UKRI have an open access policy that covers any longform publications (including books, book chapters and edited collections) published on or after 1st January 2024 and within 7 years of the formal end of the associated UKRI funded project. In order to comply with the policy, the publication:
must be made available within 12 months of publication, either via Gold or Green Open Access.
should include third-party materials (such as images, photographs, diagrams or maps).
The full UKRI Open Access policy can be found here. For support with complying with the policy, get in touch with the Open Research Team.
UKRI have outlined a list of exceptions that can be applied to certain publications that cannot/should not meet the policy. These exceptions include:
where the contract was signed with a publisher before 1st January 2024.
where the only appropriate publisher, after liaison and consideration, is unable to offer an open access option that complies with UKRI’s policy.
where a monograph, book chapter or edited collection is the outcome of a UKRI Training Grant.
where the longform publication type is out of scope of the policy. Out of scope longform publications include trade books (that is not the only output of the funding), a scholarly edition, an exhibition catalogue, a scholarly illustrated catalogue, a textbook or a form of fictional work/creative writing.
At acceptance, deposit the author's accepted manuscript in WRAP to ensure it can be made Open Access at the point of publication.
At the point of making an agreement with the publisher, you should discuss what Open Access options they offer. If you would find advice around doing this useful, please contact the Open Research Team.
Check out the Open Access Books page to find out more about making your books Open Access.
Use this Open Access books toolkit which explains more about the process of publishing a book Open Access.
Apply for UKRI BPC funding. Please note the applications for funding MUST be done prior to publication. Applications for funding cannot exceed £10,000 (including VAT) for entire monographs/ edited collections, or £1,000 (including VAT) for book chapters. Within these caps, up to £2,000 can be claimed for acquiring rights to third party material. You may need to discuss these figures with your publisher, and if you have any concerns, get in touch with the Open Research team.
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust have an open access policy that applies to journal articles. In order to comply with the policy, these articles must:
be made available immediately at the point of publication, either via Gold or Green Open Access. (i.e. have no embargo).
include the following rights retention statement to the submitted version of the article (to ensure compliance with the above to points):
“This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust [Grant number]. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.”
have a Data Access Statement, even where there is no data associated with the article or the data are inaccessible.
The full Wellcome Trust Open Access policy can be found here. For support with complying with the policy, get in touch with the Open Research Team.
Ensure that you include the rights retention statement in the submitted manuscript of any article you submit.
At acceptance, deposit the author's accepted manuscript in WRAP to ensure it can be made Open Access at the point of publication.
If you plan to comply via the Gold Route, please ensure that the journal is eligible for funding/ is covered by a Read and Publish Agreement. If you are unsure, contact the Open Research Team.
Apply for APC funding from the Wellcome Trust Block Grant, as long as you are publishing in a Gold Open Access Journals (the Block Grant cannot be used to pay for APCs for articles published in Hybrid journals)
The Wellcome Trust have an open access policy that covers monographs and book chapters. In order to comply with the policy, the publication:
must be made available within 6 months of publication, either via Gold or Green Open Access.
should include third-party materials (such as images, photographs, diagrams or maps).
The full Wellcome Trust Open Access policy can be found here. For support with complying with the policy, get in touch with the Open Research Team.
At acceptance, deposit the author's accepted manuscript in WRAP to ensure it can be made Open Access at the point of publication.
At the point of making an agreement with the publisher, you should discuss what Open Access options they offer. If you would find advice around doing this useful, please contact the Open Research Team.
Check out the Open Access Books page to find out more about making your books Open Access.
Use this Open Access books toolkit which explains more about the process of publishing a book Open Access.
