Open access is important because it:

• maximizes the dissemination, visibility and impact of research worldwide
• makes work accessible to other researchers
• is available to everyone, not just subscribers and those who pay for content
• increases citations
• increases effectiveness and efficiency of the research process by providing easy access to research previously undertaken
• realises public research funders’ ambition to have all outputs stemming from publicly funded research freely available
• fosters innovation and economic growth driven by access to the latest research
• increases opportunities for collaboration and the wider sharing and use of research information
• complies with funders’ policies - including UKRI, the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and the European Commission
• meets the University of Strathclyde and REF2029 policy requirements

• Green open access is where the author deposits the accepted version of an article in a subject or institutional repository.
• Diamond open access is where journals or similar platforms do not charge fees to either the author or reader.
• Gold open access is where authors or institutions pay a fee to publishers to make the final version of an article open to everyone.

An institutional repository is an online platform for collecting, preserving, and disseminating the intellectual output of an institution. Strathprints is the University of Strathclyde’s institutional repository. Depositing your research in Strathclyde's institutional repository is achieved via Pure, the University’s Current Research Information System. Learn how to deposit outputs.

Hybrid journals are subscription (i.e. closed) journals that offer the option of open access for individual articles. These journals combine subscription-only articles with open access articles. Fully open access journals, on the other hand, do not have any subscription charges but often charge mandatory open access publishing fees.

In most cases, you should deposit the 'accepted author manuscript' (AAM). This is also known as the 'post-print' version. An AAM is the version following peer-review (incorporating any reviewer comments) but prior to the journal applying its branding and formatting. It should incorporate any corrections and reviewer comments and be equal in content to the final published version. 

Where peer review is not part of the publishing workflow, the AAM would be the final version of the manuscript submitted to the publisher for publication.

Yes. It is necessary that an AAM is deposited while we await the Gold open access publication to ensure compliance and to allow the funding acknowledgements to be checked if you are requesting Gold open access funding.

Strathclyde authors are encouraged to deposit full-text copies of their pre-peer-review manuscripts in a preprint server for wider and quicker dissemination of their findings. Popular preprint servers include arXiv, bioRxiv and ChemRxiv . You are welcome to create preprint records in Pure and link these to external preprint servers and any subsequently published output.

Repository staff will check publisher policies for all items uploaded to Pure and apply the correct access restrictions and licencing where required. As such, no licence needs to be selected and manuscripts can be uploaded as 'open'.

Historically, many publishers have required accepted manuscripts to be placed under an embargo period. However, Strathclyde has now implemented its Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP). The IRRP asserts the author’s ownership over the accepted manuscript and allows it to be made available in our repository immediately upon publication. Where possible, repository staff will apply rights retention without any specific action needed from authors.  

If an article is not covered by the IRRP, repository staff will check publisher requirements prior to validating any item in Pure and apply the correct embargo period. 

Research outputs must undergo a process of validation before they can be deposited in Strathprints. The process can be time consuming, entailing open access compliance checks, file-handling tasks (e.g. accessibility improvements), publisher policy checks and metadata creation. 

We aim to validate outputs within 7 working days, though this may increase during busy periods. Email enquiries sent to the openaccess@strath.ac.uk will be responded to within 3 working days. When updated publication profiles are required for promotion panels, at least two weeks’ notice must be provided.

Publication information (such as volume/issue number, page numbers, etc.) may be updated when known. However, authors must not remove or alter the visibility of deposited manuscripts once a record has been validated. Once a file has been deposited it is date-stamped, and any changes may affect REF eligibility.

Learn more about the University’s Open Access Policy or visit our webpage

The policy applies to all authors or co-authors who publish while affiliated with the University, as defined in section 1.3 of the Research Code of Practice: 

1. All University staff (regardless of contract type) engaging in research activities.
2. All University students engaging in research activities.
3. Any individuals who do not fall within (i) and (ii) above but who are otherwise associated with the University and are authorised to use the University’s name, facilities and/or services when engaging in research activities (such persons would include, for example, those holding visiting, honorary or emeritus status). 

The University of Strathclyde’s Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP) asserts the author’s ownership over the accepted manuscript and allows it to be made available in our repository immediately upon publication. Authors don’t need to take any specific action for the IRRP to kick-in. Once the accepted manuscript has been deposited in Pure, repository staff will apply the appropriate open access policies, including the IRRP.

No. With the passing of the Strathclyde Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP) this is no longer required. You are still welcome to include this statement to ensure compliance with research funder open access requirements.

Yes. Please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk for more information.

All peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings published with an ISSN that have been accepted after 1 April 2016 need to meet the relevant REF Open Access Policy to be eligible for submission to REF. More information on how to comply with the REF 2021 and REF 2029 Open Access Policies.  There are a number of exceptions that may be applied where open access is not possible. Please contact the Open Access Team (openaccess@strath.ac.uk) if you have questions relating to the REF open access requirements.  

Yes. It is a requirement of the University of Strathclyde Open Access Policy that all in-scope peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings are deposited in Pure, regardless of whether they will be submitted to REF or not. 

If you are considering publishing, or have had an article accepted for publication, in a journal that has no open access policy or actively prevents open access, please get in touch with the Open Access team, openaccess@strath.ac.uk, who can advise further on compliance and available options.

No. The REF Open Access Policy stipulates that authors or institutions do not have to pay fees to meet their requirements for submission to REF. The vast majority of publishers offer a compliant green route to open access where a research output can be freely made available in an institutional repository.

It is expected that every effort is made to secure an accepted author manuscript and deposit it within the required timeframe. However, it is understood that this may be difficult in some instances. If this is the case, please contact the Open Access Team (openaccess@strath.ac.uk), who will look into alternate arrangements to secure compliance.

To comply with the REF 2021 Open Access policy, it is essential that manuscripts are uploaded to Pure within three months of acceptance for publication. As such, the date of acceptance must be recorded in Pure for the timeline to be confirmed.

Yes, all research outputs should be deposited in Pure. Websites and social networking sites like Academia.edu and ResearchGate do not meet the technical requirements for repositories. To ensure REF and University of Strathclyde policy compliance, you must deposit your outputs in Pure.

The REF policy stipulates that only in-scope journal articles and conference proceedings must be deposited in an institutional repository. However, at Strathclyde we encourage authors to make all research outputs open access wherever possible - including book chapters and other types of research outputs.  More information on making long-form outputs open access.

The Open Access Team conducts periodic checks on the publication records created in Pure to verify that they comply with the REF Open Access policy and remain eligible. Non-compliant items are highlighted upon request at Open Access dissemination activities for departments. 

Yes. There are two main ways to do this:

• Publish in a Diamond open access journal- these are titles that do not charge APCs. There isn’t yet a comprehensive directory of Diamond OA titles, but the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) provides information on the publishing costs (or their absence). 
• Publish in a journal included in one of our current ‘Read & Publish’ deals. Eligible titles are listed in Strathclyde’s Scifree database. Provided the corresponding author is affiliated with Strathclyde, authors will not be charged an APC to publish in these journals. The Library will not cover APCs for hybrid journals not covered by these deals.

The following tools are provided by the major publishers to allow authors to search for journals by inputting an abstract or some key words. Please consult any additional publisher websites directly if they are not listed below.  

• Wiley Journal Finder
• Elsevier Journal Finder
• Sage Journal Recommender
• Taylor & Francis Journal Suggester
• Springer Journal Finder

You should use the Strathclyde SciFree database to check if the publisher’s suggested titles are eligible for Gold open access via Strathclyde’s Read & Publish deals. The Open Access Team (openaccess@strath.ac.uk) can also provide confirmation of which titles are covered by these deals (meaning free Gold open access for Strathclyde corresponding authors) or which ones may be eligible for APC funding for funded authors.

There are two potential ways to obtain Gold open access funding from the Library to pay article processing charges (APCs). The first is for authors who acknowledge a funded research project where the funders provide an Open Access Block Grant to Strathclyde. The second is for authors who are publishing in a fully open access journal which charges a mandatory APC. Note that we will not pay APCs for articles published in hybrid journals that are not included in our Read & Publish deals.

Please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk prior to submission to check if you are eligible for Gold open access funding. Please include the name of the journal, the manuscript and any funding associated with the output. A member of the team will be in touch if further information is required and to advise on the next steps. You must not choose Gold open access via an APC payment without first checking with the Open Access Team, as both routes outlined above have strict requirements that must be met for funding to be approved. Invoices received without prior authorisation will not be paid.

The Charity Open Access Fund (COAF) partnership of six health research charities ended on the 30th of September 2020. These charities were:

• the Wellcome Trust
• Arthritis Research UK
• Bloodwise
• the British Heart Foundation (BHF)
• Cancer Research UK (CRUK)
• Parkinson's UK

Following the discontinuation of the COAF block grant. Visit wellcome.org for details of Open Access funding support provided by each individual charity. Please contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk for more information.

As per research funders’ requirements, we cannot process an APC payment if the full grant number for the funded project is not referenced in the manuscript acknowledgements. Publishers will, however, normally allow the author(s) to update this manuscript section at the proof stage so that the funders’ requirements are met prior to publication.

On top of the open access block grants allocated to the University by various research funders, the Library administers the Institutional Open Access Fund (IOAF). This is a small fund provided by the University to support open access for manuscripts that have no other way to be published Gold open access. There are a series of rules that need to be met for a manuscript to be eligible for IOAF funding. Please check with openaccess@strath.ac.uk prior to submission if you think your manuscript may qualify for this.  

In most cases, the Open Access funding will require a Strathclyde corresponding author. However, there may be exceptions depending on the particular funding route. Because several factors will be relevant for potential funding eligibility, the best option is to contact openaccess@strath.ac.uk to check the situation for a specific manuscript.

Research funders increasingly require all research papers to include a statement describing how underlying research materials, such as data, samples, software or models, can be accessed. The University of Strathclyde Open Access Policy also requires the inclusion of a data access statement in research publications produced by Strathclyde authors. Data access statements inform readers how or where data related to the publication can be accessed, or if access is restricted. If the dataset is openly available, then it should be linked to with a DOI or other persistent identifier in the data access statement. 

The inclusion of a data access statement does not require that research data be made available. However, the guideline "as open as possible, as closed as necessary" should be kept in mind. Where there may be compelling reasons to protect access to the data, such as commercial confidentiality or legitimate sensitivities around data derived from potentially identifiable human participants, these should be included in the statement.

At Strathclyde, research data is deposited in Pure and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) can be minted for datasets there. The data deposit procedure is often carried out in parallel to outputs being submitted for publication and/or the Gold open access funding process. Both areas can be part of a single conversation with the research support team within the Library, please contact researchdataproject@strath.ac.uk for more information.

DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are unique alphanumeric combinations assigned to an electronic article (or other digital objects such as datasets or grants) to persistently identify it. A DOI will never change, so you can use it as a permanent link to any electronic article or dataset. 

DOIs can be made into links by adding http://dx.doi.org/ before the DOI number. 

The link will then typically take you to the abstract of the article, with options to access the full text. For other digital objects, the DOI will lead to their metadata. 

DOIs can be located using the DOI look-up site. 

ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers for authors. It also provides a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers. Authors may individually create their ORCIDs for free at orcid.org.

At Strathclyde, ORCIDs for researchers are linked with Pure, meaning that ORCID profiles can be directly populated from the institutional system as new research outputs are published by an author. This must be enabled in your personal profile in Pure. How to enable this connection.