Open Access Policies 

University of Strathclyde authors may be required to meet one or more open access policies, depending on the funding acknowledged in outputs and the type of outputs being published.  

Organisations who provide funding to Strathclyde researchers often have their own policies on Open Access for outputs related to the funding they have provided. Authors should be aware of open access requirements before they submit outputs for publication to ensure that their chosen venue is compliant with any relevant policies. 

This section will provide an overview of some of the more common ones, but please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk if you have further questions, or if your research funder is not included here. 

The simplest way to make a journal article Gold Open Access meeting any Open Access policy requirements is to submit the manuscript to any of the over 11,000 journals listed in our institutional Scifree portal. These are the titles covered by the various Read & Publish agreements that Strathclyde has with multiple publishers. Any manuscript with a Strathclyde-affiliated corresponding author that is published in any of these titles will be eligible for Gold OA at no cost to the authors. 

Institutional 

University of Strathclyde Open Access Policy 

This policy applies to anyone affiliated with the University who authors or co-authors a published research article while at Strathclyde. This also includes conference proceedings with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). While other research types are not explicitly covered, we strongly encourage authors to deposit open access versions of all their research whenever possible. 

The policy is designed to ensure all outputs meet any external open access requirements, including from funding bodies and the REF. 

Any related research data must be deposited in accordance with the University’s Research Data Management and Sharing Policy and authors must also include a Data Access Statement in their publication. 

 There are three open access publishing models which can ensure compliance with this policy: 

1. “Gold OA”

Immediate open access publication of the article on the publisher/journal website, with the licensing (CC-BY) and technical requirements satisfied by the publisher.

Gold open access is where the final version of an article is open to everyone indefinitely on the publisher’s website. This can be achieved through the payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC) or through other models such as Subscribe to Open, institutional deals or other models.  

The University currently has ‘Read and Publish’ deals with most major publishers that cover this fee and allow authors to publish open access at no extra cost to themselves. Authors can consult the University’s SciFree website to find journals that are included in our current Read & Publish deals. 

Authors looking to publish in journals not covered by these deals may be able to access funds from their specific funder, or from the University’s Institutional Open Access Fund. Further guidance can be found on the Funding Open Access webpage, and authors can contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk to check eligibility. 

Authors must ensure that their outputs are published with a Creative Commons licence and deposited in the University’s institutional repository via Pure. 

2. “Green OA”

Immediate and unrestricted deposit of the accepted author manuscript (AAM) in a technically compliant digital repository under a CC-BY licence.

Green open access is where the author deposits the accepted version of an article in a subject or institutional repository. The University has an Institutional Rights Retention Policy that allows accepted manuscripts of in-scope outputs to be made open access immediately upon publication with a CC BY licence. Depositing the accepted manuscript in Pure within 3 months of acceptance will automatically ensure compliance regardless of publishing model. 

3. “Diamond OA”

Journals or similar platforms do not charge fees to either the author or reader.

Diamond open access is where journals or similar platforms do not charge fees to either the author or reader. Diamond open access journals can be found using resources such as the DIAMAS project Diamond Discovery Hub and the Directory of Open Access Journals. Authors must ensure that their outputs are published with a Creative Commons licence and deposited in the University’s institutional repository via Pure. 

Please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk  with any questions.

University of Strathclyde Rights Retention Policy 

The Strathclyde Rights Retention Policy came into force on 1st Jan 2024. With the passing of this IRRP, Strathclyde has joined a number of research-intensive UK universities in offering immediate access to full-text accepted manuscripts (AAMs) when Gold Open Access is not achievable for them. This is in line with the requirements of the REF2029 Open Access policy and the University of Strathclyde Open Access Policy.  

The library team in charge of processing and validating the publication records in Pure examine the publishing route for each Strathclyde output and directly apply rights retention where applicable. This is unless an author specifically requests an opt-out from the institutional policy by emailing the Open Access mailbox to the effect (openaccess@strath.ac.uk). 

A rights retention statement is not required for Strathclyde authors. This is because most publishers have been officially notified about the passing of the Strathclyde IRRP, meaning that authors no longer need to inform publishers of their intention to apply rights retention to their manuscripts. 

Research Funder 

We encourage all funded authors at Strathclyde to get in touch with the Open Access Team before submission to ensure that they can fully meet their funder requirements in their chosen publication venue. Please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk for further information on the support that is available to Strathclyde authors, including further information on Europe PubMed Central deposit and payment of article processing charges (APCs). 

 

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) 

UKRI Open Access Policy 

UKRI is a funding body comprised of different councils:  

  • Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
  • Innovate UK 
  • Medical Research Council (MRC) 
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) 
  • Research England 
  • Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) 

The UKRI Open Access Policy applies to  

  1. Research articles submitted for publication on or after 1 April 2022 
  1. Monographs, book chapters and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024 

Authors can meet the policy requirements for UKRI funded outputs that are included in the policy through two routes. 

Route 1: 

Publish the research article open access in a journal or publishing platform which makes the Version of Record immediately open access via its website. This is more commonly known as Gold Open Access and usually involves the payment of a fee to the publisher. 

Route 2: 

Publish the research article in a subscription journal and deposit the author’s accepted manuscript (AAM) (or Version of Record, where the publisher permits) in an institutional or subject repository at the time of final publication. This is more commonly known as Green Open Access and does not require payment of a fee to the publisher. The AAM should be made available in the repository with no embargo. 

UKRI requires that a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License is applied to the output. UKRI do allow for exceptions to this in some circumstances. If you believe you require an exception, please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk for further information. 

There is a block grant available from UKRI for the payment of Article Processing Charges for individual journal articles that acknowledge UKRI-funded projects. UKRI also provide funding for monographs and book chapters (. To request funding please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk 

 

Wellcome Trust 

Wellcome Trust Open Access Policy 

The Wellcome Trust Open Access Policy applies to original published research, Research Articles, Monographs and Book Chapters. 

To meet the requirements, a version of the output must be uploaded to Europe PMC and made freely available. In most cases, the publisher will upload the correct version to EPMC, though authors may be required to complete the deposit if their publisher does not offer this service. The version can either be the final published version or the author’s accepted manuscript. Wellcome Trust have provided detailed guidance on complying with their policy, and the Open Access Team can offer further support.  

Journal articles should be made available with no embargo, but Wellcome Trust allow an embargo of up to 6 months from the official publication date for monographs and book chapters. 

The Wellcome Trust require that a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License is applied to the output. Wellcome Trust do allow licence exceptions under certain circumstances. If you require an exception, you must apply to the Wellcome Trust directly. An exception request must be approved before you submit your paper for publication.  

Strathclyde authors with Wellcome Trust funding will need to request the payment of Article Processing Charges directly from the Wellcome Trust, though the Open Access Team can facilitate this. Please note that the Wellcome Trust will only fund APCs for articles to be published in fully open access journals or platforms indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Wellcome Trust also provide funding for monographs and book chapters. Please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk for further information. 

 

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) 

CRUK Open Access Policy 

The CRUK policy only applies to research articles published in journals. It does not apply to book chapters, monographs, editorials, reviews or conference proceedings. 

To meet the policy requirements, a version of the output must be uploaded to Europe PMC and made freely available. The version can either be the version of record or the author’s accepted manuscript (AAM). There must be no embargo on the version that is made available. 

CRUK require that a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License is applied to the output, but they will allow an exception for a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives (CC BY-ND) if requested. 

A block grant from CRUK is available for the payment of Article Processing Charges for journal articles. To request funding please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk  

 

British Heart Foundation (BHF) 

BHF Open Access Policy 

The British Hearth Foundation Open Access Policy applies to research articles to be published in journals. It does not apply to book chapters, monographs, editorials, invited reviews or conference proceedings. 

Authors must upload either the version of record or the author’s accepted manuscript (AAM) to Europe PMC and make it freely available. BHF allow an embargo of up to 6 months on the version that is made available if there is no option for immediate Open Access. 

BHF require that a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License is applied to the output. 

A block grant is available from BHF for the payment of article processing charges for individual journal articles. To request funding please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk  

 

EU- funded projects 

Article processing charges for Gold Open Access publishing of results stemming from H2020 - or Horizon Europe - funded projects may be charged to the project grant (see article 29 on Dissemination of results — Open Access — Visibility of EU funding on the H2020 programme multi-beneficiary general model grant agreement (pdf). 

If Strathclyde is the project coordinator, it may be possible to cover any Open Access publishing fees from the UKRI Open Access block grant under the UKRI Horizon Europe guarantee scheme. If the project coordination is held elsewhere, the Open Access funding should be asked to the project PI or their institution. Please feel free to contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk for more information on specific cases. 

Version 1.0 of June 1st, 2021 EC General Model Grant Agreement (pdf) document for funded projects under the Horizon Europe framework programme states that Open Access publishing fees will only be covered for peer-reviewed papers published in fully Open Access venues. The policy also includes the Rights Retention Strategy under "Open science: open access to scientific publications" on page 108. 

 

Chief Scientist Office (CSO) 

The CSO offers up to £6,000 funding to cover the APC fees for accepted manuscripts that acknowledge any of their funded projects. To be eligible, manuscripts must be accepted for publication within 18 months of the completion of the project. This APC funding is provided as a reimbursement, i.e. the APC gets paid upfront by the project (or the library) following which an application gets submitted to the research funder. 
 
If you are the Principal Investigator for one of these projects, you may directly request the funding to the CSO using their Form 6a (Word doc): This link opens a Word document. If you need any support from the Open Access team, please send us a message at openaccess@strath.ac.uk. 

 

Leverhulme Trust 

Leverhulme Trust allows APC fees to be included either within the 25% associated costs allowable on research project grants and research programme grants or within the research expenses category for fellowships while the research grant is running.