REF and Open Research
REF2029 Open Access Compliance for Journal Articles for UON Staff
We are currently in the publication cycle for REF 2029. A new open access policy is due to be consulted on in January 2024 and is expected to take effect from January 2026. We have been advised that until the new policy is agreed and implemented REF2021’s open access policy applies.
Definition of outputs within scope:
- Output is a journal article
- Output was accepted for publication after 1 April 2016
The following outputs are out of scope:
- Monographs and other long-form publications
- Non-text, creative and practice-based research
- Research data
Where an institution can demonstrate that it has taken steps towards enabling open access for outputs outside the scope of this definition, this will contribute to the open research section of the Environment.
Outputs meeting the definition must satisfy all of the following requirements to be treated as open-access.
Deposit requirements:
- Output must be deposited in PURE immediately upon acceptance (and no later than 2 months from acceptance).
- Output must be deposited as the final, peer-reviewed text (Accepted Manuscript).
- Date of Acceptance must be entered in full (dd/mm/yyyy).
Discovery requirements:
- Output must be discoverable to anyone with an internet connection, and to search engines.
Access requirements:
- Output must allow anyone with internet access to search electronically within the text, read it and download it without charge.
- The access requirements must be fulfilled as soon as any embargo period has elapsed.
- Embargo periods should not exceed the following:
- 12 months for REF main panels A and B (STEM (includes Psychology and Health)
- 24 months for REF main panels C and D (HaSS)
Text-mining: Outputs do not need to allow text-mining to fulfil the open access criteria.
Exceptions to the Requirement
Occasionally, it will not be possible for an output to fulfil the criteria. An exception is allowed in the following cases.
Deposit exceptions (these outputs are considered out of scope of the policy):
- Individual was not employed by a UK HEI at the point of acceptance
- Individual was unable to secure the use of a repository
- Individual experienced a delay securing the final peer-reviewed text (e.g. for multi-authored papers)
- It would be unlawful, or present a security risk, to deposit the output
Access exceptions (these outputs must still be deposited):
- Output depends on third party content for which open access rights could not be granted
- The publication concerned requires an embargo period that exceeds the stated maxima, and was the most appropriate for the output
- The publication concerned actively disallows open-access deposit, and was the most appropriate for the output
Technical exceptions (these outputs are considered out of scope of the policy):
- At acceptance, the individual was at a different UK HEI that failed to comply
- A short-term technical failure within the repository prevented compliance
- An external service provider failure prevented compliance (e.g. a subject repository ceased to operate)
What does non-compliance mean?
If an output is submitted to REF2029 that was:
- within the definition
- not compliant with all of the criteria
Then that output will receive an unclassified score in the REF (the output will also not be able to count towards meeting the requirements for the teaching and research contracts).
How to ensure REF eligibility
Follow our 5 simple steps to compliance. All staff and doctoral students publishing any research outputs should upload their accepted manuscript to Pure as soon as their output is accepted for publication.
The accepted manuscript is the author’s final created version after peer review but before typesetting or copy-editing by the publisher. It is usually a Word or a LaTex file and may have been formatted using a publisher’s template.
Process: Submit to publisher > Peer Review > Edit (repeat as many times as necessary) > Accepted by Publisher < Copy-editing and typesetting > Publication