The policy applies to all staff and students publishing peer reviewed research.
The University is committed to publishing the results of its research in the highest quality publications, and strongly believes that these research outputs should be made as widely available as possible to academics, industry, the general public and other interested communities. By making their publications Open Access, researchers increase the visibility of their research to readers worldwide and ensure that it is discoverable and accessible free of charge to anyone via the internet. There have been significant developments in the UK and elsewhere that have pushed the Open Access agenda forward. There will be a significant period of adjustment in the publishing world and it is expected that different routes to Open Access will operate alongside each other. We expect that in the long term, making research publications Open Access will be the norm.
Responsibility for the Open Access policy sits with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), with operational management of the activity resting with the Open Access Group. The policy was introduced in 2013 and revised in 2017.