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Open Access: Gold Open Access Support

Open Access Library Guide

UKRI OA Block Grant - Article Processing Charges (APCs)

UKRI Logo

Article Processing Charges - Gold Open Access Support 2021/2022

Paying Article Processing Charges for UKRI (RCUK) Funded Research

Complete an online application form to apply for APC financial support. 

We will contact you to initiate the payment process with the publisher if we are able to approve your request. Do not initiate an invoice before checking if we can support your application. We usually pay APCs via secure credit card link once we have an invoice. 

 

The Library has limited funding from an UKRI* block grant to pay article processing charges. This grant will enable authors to comply with their funder's open access policy. Annual grant awards are made to the University and we provide financial support to researchers on a first come, first served basis. More information about the UKRI open access policy and the current version of the FAQ section (October 2020) can be found on their website.

*UKRI (formerly RCUK) includes AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, and STFC.

To qualify for funding from the UKRI open access fund:

  • Your research must be funded by UKRI and your eligible paper must be a peer reviewed journal article or conference proceeding.
  • You must use a gold open access route. This means that the paper is available for immediate unrestricted online access at no cost to the end user.
  • The corresponding author or grant holder must be a current member of Swansea University. 
  • Apply for funding when your article is accepted for publication and provide documentation to support the application (acceptance email).
  • We require you to upload the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) when submitting a request. We will not consider paying your invoice unless you attach the manuscript to your application.
  • The journal should offer a creative commons CC-BY licence, which allows downloading and the use of text and data mining tools. It should also allow immediate deposit in other repositories. This can be checked using the Sherpa FACT compliance tool or by checking the journal's OA web page.
  • Please comply with all of the funder's requirements, for example, EPSRC now require a 'Data Access Statement' in all publications.
  • You must acknowledge the UKRI grant in your article and include the grant number. Examples of funder acknowledgment and data access statements are available from our Open Access FAQs.
  • The open access team will upload the publisher's pdf version of record to Cronfa as soon as possible after publication.
  • We do not accept applications for retrospective conversion to gold open access for articles that are already published.  Please contact the open access team to discuss issues with specific publications. The decision to deviate from the stated policy (FAQ3.6) lies with the research organisation.

Where we are able to reduce the cost of publishing Gold OA in subscription (hybrid) journals via offsetting deals or membership schemes, the information is available on the 'Publisher OA Deals and Discount' tab.

 
Do you have an APC query? Get in touch via:

Email 

Phone +44 (0)1792 604567                           

Postal Address:

Open Access
Library Research Support Team
Singleton Park Library
Swansea University
Swansea
United Kingdom
SA2 8PP

Privacy Policy

Unfunded Research and Gold APCs

Open Access Costs for Unfunded Research

The university does not maintain a centrally administered APC fund, however some Colleges have limited budgets for supporting REF eligible publications for their academic research staff.  

  • Approach your College to enquire if funding is available for gold open access. 
  • Apply when your paper is accepted for publication and before the paper is published. No retrospective applications will be considered. 
  • VAT is applicable to all APC invoices at the rate of 20%. Foreign invoices are subject to a reverse charge transaction.

For a list of applicable criteria and an application form please contact the appropriate person in your College.
Medicine
Human and Health Sciences 
Management

Which licence should I pick?

What licenses are compliant with the UKRI (RCUK) OA policy? 

The open access policy stipulates that all publications arising from UKRI funded research must either be available as immediate open access (gold route) or a copy of the author's accepted manuscript must be placed in the repository, Cronfa with an acceptable embargo period and licence (green route).

Gold Route - (immediate open access):
Where an APC is paid, it is a requirement that the licence applied is CC-BY.

Green Route - (deposit of the final accepted manuscript in a repository, usually with an embargo):
The UKRI (RCUK) preference is for CC-BY, however, the formal requirement is that the licence places no restriction on non-commercial reuse, including non-commercial text-and data-mining. The licence should also allow for the sharing of adaptations of the material. This means a CC-BY-NC licence, or equivalent is acceptable.
A CC-BY-NC-ND licence is not compliant.

  • Embargo periods of 12 months are permissible for Arts, Humanities and Social Science journals and 6 months for Science, Technology, Engineering and Medical Journals for authors choosing the green route.

Open Government Licence (OGL) - Crown Body employees.

Green and Gold Routes to OA