The policy requires final versions of journal articles, and conference proceedings with an ISSN, to be deposited in an Open Access repository no later than 3 months after acceptance for publication, in order to be eligible for the Outputs component of the REF.
Outputs which have been deposited within 3 months of acceptance will comply with the policy, either by meeting the policy’s Open Access requirements or will be covered by its exceptions.
This was introduced by Research England for the 2021 REF. It continues to apply to the current REF cycle until a new REF OA policy is announced.
These FAQs should answer most of your questions about the scope, in terms of publications and authors, in our implementation of the REF Open Access requirements.
Does this policy apply to all of my articles accepted for publication, or just ones that I think are suitable for REF?
It applies to all of your articles so that none are excluded from possible selection.
Yes. This is so that the University can manage its submission to the REF.
No. However, credit may be given in the research environment component of the REF if earlier publications have been made Open Access.
No. However, credit may be given in the research environment component of the REF for making other publication types Open Access.
No, but you must be absolutely sure that the press embargo prevents you from doing this. Instead, deposit the metadata and author final version of the paper as soon as it is published online (and therefore in the public domain).
The policy does not apply to all outputs published in journals – just academic articles. Creative writing outputs could be classified as an ‘other’ output type in the REF submission. This is the best approach. Or, if classified as a journal article, we can ask for an ‘other’ exception to the Open Access policy.
Please contact centaur@reading.ac.uk for advice.
No, there is currently no requirement to make monographs Open Access.
Please contact centaur@reading.ac.uk as soon as possible for advice. The HEFCE policy has provision for authors from other institutions, including from overseas.
If you move to another UK University, the policy for Open Access in the next REF will still apply to your articles. Depositing them in CentAUR helps to ensure they will be eligible for the REF at your new University.
If you have further questions please email centaur@reading.ac.uk.
These FAQs should answer most of your questions about versions and formats in our implementation of the REF Open Access requirements.
Author’s accepted and final peer-reviewed text, also known as accepted author manuscript, final author version or post-print. It includes peer review corrections, but it has not been copyedited or typeset by the publisher. Not the publisher proof. Not the published version.
Upload it as soon as accepted for publication. CentAUR staff will close access to it. This will comply with the publisher’s policy and the HEFCE policy.
No (Not unless the published version can be deposited in CentAUR within 3 months after acceptance and it is permitted by your publisher or it is published as gold Open Access).
You may upload this in addition to the author final version, as long as the improved version has also been accepted by the publisher. Add a statement at the top of the first page indicating that it is an updated version. Email it to centaur@reading.ac.uk for upload. The older version will not be deleted from CentAUR but it may be locked.
Upload it as soon as accepted for publication and inform CentAUR staff about the copyright issue. CentAUR staff will close access to it. This will comply with the publisher’s policy and the HEFCE policy.
You may upload a redacted version in addition the author final version, as long as the copyright holder (usually the publisher) permits you to make a redacted copy available in CentAUR. Add a statement at the top of the first page indicating that it is a redacted version and stating what has been removed. Email it to centaur@reading.ac.uk for upload.
The ideal format is a Word document saved to PDF. Corrections and comments should have been incorporated and a tidy copy uploaded. If you have used a publisher’s template please check with the publisher that this can be archived in CentAUR.
Please include them in the full document. If it is difficult to insert them into the main body of the document then include them on separate pages at the end of the document.
This isn’t required because CentAUR will generate a dynamic coversheet showing the version, journal title, publisher, the full citation and DOI. If you would like to add your own, please add the following wording (or the wording advised by your publisher) to the first page of the document:
If you have further questions please email centaur@reading.ac.uk.
These FAQs should answer most of your questions about funds and funders in our implementation of the REF Open Access requirements. You should also refer to HEFCE's own FAQs.
Publisher’s do not charge a fee for depositing your author final version in a repository, and this is all that is required by the HEFCE policy (even if the article is locked or embargoed) - this is known as Green Open Access.
Publisher’s usually charge a fee (APC) to publish your article as Open Access in a hybrid journal, or in a fully Open Access journal - this is known as Gold Open Access. Publishing as Gold Open Access is not required for compliance with the HEFCE policy, which is a Green Open Access policy. However, if you do publish your article as Gold Open Access an exception to the policy then applies and you do not need to deposit your author final version. BUT, in order for the University to be able to manage its REF submission you MUST instead add the PUBLISHED gold version to CentAUR.
Articles deposited in CentAUR which comply with the Open Access part of the HEFCE policy are likely to comply with the Open Access policies of funders. However, those which only meet the exceptions part of the HEFCE policy (e.g. long embargoes) will not usually be compliant with funder policies.
For example, an author final version deposited in CentAUR at point of acceptance will comply with both the HEFCE policy and with the RCUK policy if it can be made available to read immediately or no later than 6 months (STEM) or 12 months (AH & SS) after publication. If the embargo period is longer or permanent then it will comply only with the exceptions of the HEFCE policy and you will need to consider publishing the article as gold Open Access in order to also comply with RCUK.
For more information on funder requirements see: the Funder Policies page in this guide.
If you have further questions please email centaur@reading.ac.uk.