Open Access: Open Access Policies & Compliance

What type of material is covered by the requirements for the next Research Excellence Framework?

REF Open Access requirements apply to papers accepted from 1 April 2016

The policy covers journal articles and conference papers which are in a publication with an ISSN. No other type of material is required but HEFCW  / HEFCE are keen to see universities make as much as possible open access and universities will get credit for going beyond the requirements.

You must deposit your author accepted manuscript within 3 months of the date of acceptance to be eligible for REF. 
There are some exceptions to the REF Open Access requirements.  Exceptions include:

• You were not employed by a UK HEI at the time of publication submission
• You were employed at a different UK HEI which failed to comply with the criteria
• It would be unlawful to deposit
• It would present a security risk to deposit
• The publication concerned requires an embargo period that exceeds the stated maximum, and it was the most appropriate publication for the output
• Open Access rights could not be granted for third party content
• The publication concerned actively disallows open access deposit, and it was the most appropriate publication for the output

Contact us if you require further information or visit our FAQ tab on this guide.

What do I need to do to comply with the University / HEFCW open access policy?

• All Swansea University researchers are expected to ensure that their published outputs align with the University OA policy and the requirements for submission to REF 2021. Many external funders also have open access requirements that exceed the REF policy which will apply to any research acknowledging funding.
• When you have an article or conference paper accepted for publication make sure you deposit it in the Research Information System (RIS) straight away. It must be the peer reviewed version with the text basically as it will appear in the journal but without the publisher formatting (unless you have paid an article processing charge to the publisher).
• You will need to check that your publisher allows you to do this and whether they require an embargo period. Use the Sherpa Romeo tool to see a summary of the publisher copyright and self-archiving policy for your chosen title.

Find out more about RIS & Cronfa in our Institutional Repository Guide.