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Open Access: REF and OA

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“Open Access research brings benefits to researchers, students, institutions, governments, public bodies, professionals and practitioners, citizen scientists and many others”.

REF2021 Guidance on Submissions (2019)

What's next after REF 2021?

update The REF 2029 Open Access Policy will be published in autumn/winter 2024.  The REF Steering Group considered responses to the  Open Access Consultation and made the following early decisions:

  • REF 2021 Open Access Policy submission requirements [see below] will continue to apply to journal articles and conference proceedings until succeeded by the new policy.  The implementation date for the revised policy will be no earlier than 1 January 2026.

     

  • Open access for longform outputs remains a key area of policy interest for the funding bodies but in response to sector concerns, and in recognition of the broad set of challenges currently facing the sector, there will be no longform open access mandate for REF 2029. 

     

  • An open access requirement for submission of longform outputs will be in place for the next assessment exercise [after REF 2029], with implementation from 1 January 2029.  The funding bodies will work in collaboration with UKRI and key stakeholders and across the sector to develop a policy for longform outputs well in advance of the implementation date, to allow time for planning and adaptation by the sector.

Source:  Early decisions on REF 2029 Open Access Policy, 14 Aug 2024

REF 2021 Open Access Policy

Research England's REF 2021 Guidance on Submissions addressed Open Access in paragraphs 105-114 and 223-255.

 

Key Points

 

  1. In order to be eligible for submission to REF 2021, all journal articles and conference papers published in a journal must be deposited in an insitutional or subject-based repository (such as Worktribe) within 3 months of the date of acceptance for publication.

     

  2. The author's accepted manuscript, or the published version, must be open access as soon as possible after the date of publication: no later than 12 months for REF Panels A&B (STEM) , and 24 months for Panels C&D (AHSS).

     

  3. Open access can be achieved through Gold or Green routes. Research England has not expressed any preference for 'gold'; there is no expectation that authors will pay to publish.

     

  4. The work must be made available with an open licence (such as Creative Commons), downloadable, and machine readable.

     

  5. Research England has agreed a list of exceptions to the policy, where an author or institution is unable to meet the criteria for deposit or access to articles.  At the University of Hull,  Associate Deans for Research have oversight of the use of exceptions.

     

  6. Institutions which demonstrate engagement with open access beyond the minimum specifications of the policy may be rewarded through their Research Environment score.

     

 

If your research output relates to a funded project, your funder's criteria for open access may be more stringent than the REF.  Check your funder's terms.

 

University of Hull process for complying with REF Open Access criteria

Pending publication of the REF 2029 Open Access Policy,  the process developed for REF 2021 remains valid.

Journal articles which are not 'gold' open access can be made eligible through the 'green' route, or by claiming an exception. It is not necessary to pay for open access publishing in order to meet REF criteria.

It is the author's responsibility to ensure that their output records in Worktribe are up-to-date:

  • Don't leave records in progress, as this risks failure to comply with REF 'deposit' criteria
  • If you have any questions about actions required on specific Worktribe records, use the record 'Comments' tab (tag your comment '@Library'),  or contact worktribe@hull.ac.uk
  • Refer to the Worktribe Sharepoint site for guides and FAQs

Researchers are requested to introduce new colleagues to Worktribe and direct them to the Sharepoint site for help getting started.

This is a simplified representation of the process of depositing a journal article in Worktribe for University of Hull authors.  Not every scenario is captured by this visualisation.

Flowchart: 1) Article accepted. 2) Within 3 months, author must create a record in Worktribe, attach the accepted manuscript and deposit the record. 3)

Who Can Help?

Library staff responsible for managing the University's Research Repository can answer queries about output records in Worktribe:  worktribe@hull.ac.uk

The University's Research and Innovation Office has overall responsibility for managing the institutional submission.

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