Open Access policies

Policy:

The author accepted the manuscript of all journal articles and conference proceedings must be deposited in, or be made accessible through, the University Repository (via Liverpool Elements). The policy ensures that staff retain re-use rights in their own publications, such that they can meet the requirements of the other policies listed on this page.

Applies to:

All journal articles and conference proceedings in publications with an ISSN. Researchers are encouraged to make other research outputs Open Access were possible, but the licencing terms within the policy would not apply to those other output types.

How to comply:

Deposit the author accepted manuscript of any journal article or conference proceeding in Liverpool Elements. This will then be made available in the University Repository.

Full policy details are available on our Research Publications and Copyright Policy web page.

Policy:

To be eligible for submission to REF 2021, authors' outputs must have been deposited in an institutional or subject repository within three months of acceptance for publication. Deposited material should be discoverable, and free to read and download, for anyone with an internet connection. Publisher embargo policies can be applied with a maximum of 12 months for REF Panels A & B, and 24 months for Panels C & D.

Applies to:

Journal articles and conference proceedings with an ISSN that were accepted for publication from 1 April 2016.

How to comply:

Upload your author accepted manuscript to Liverpool Elements and it will be made available in the institutional repository. If your journal article or proceeding has been published via Gold Open Access you can deposit the published version or enter the link.

Policy:

The UKRI Policy on Open Access requires immediate, unrestricted, on‐line access to peer‐reviewed and published research papers that acknowledge Research Council Funding. Papers should be available on an open access basis immediately on publication, with a Creative Commons-Attribution licence (CC-BY licence) applied.

The policy further requires that all papers acknowledging UKRI funding must have a Data Availability Statement, outlining if and how the underlying data can be accessed. This applies even if there are no underlying data, i.e. there should be an explicit statement to this effect. Click here for more information on Data Statements.

Note - articles submitted to journals before 1st April 2022 are not required to have a CC-BY licence.

Applies to:

Peer‐reviewed research articles and conference papers (including review articles not commissioned by publishers), which acknowledge Research Council funding, that are submitted for publication from 1st April 2022, and which are published in journals or conference proceedings with an ISSN.

How to comply:

• Route 1: publish the article open access in a journal or publishing platform which makes the Version of Record immediately open access via its website with a CC BY or other permitted licence. This includes fully open access journals, those journals included in our transitional agreements, and journals that meet the UKRI requirements for transformative journals*.
  *Note the requirements for transformative journals may be subject to change; this is one reason open access request forms must be completed before submitting an article to a journal you believe to be transformative. If you have any questions, please contact openaccess@liverpool.ac.uk.

• Route 2: publish the article in a subscription journal and deposit your Author’s Accepted Manuscript in an institutional or subject repository at the time of publication with a CC-BY or other permitted licence. A publisher embargo period is not permitted.

If following Route 2, UKRI recommend using the following text in your submission:

For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence [where permitted by UKRI, ‘Open Government Licence’ or ‘Creative Commons Attribution No derivatives (CC BY ND) licence’ may be stated instead] to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
If a publisher explicitly says they will not accept this statement, or upon acceptance insists you sign a licence contradicting this statement, contact us for advice.

Full policy details (of both the pre- and post-April 2022 policies) are available on the UKRI website.

You can also watch a video on how to meet the UKRI Open Access requirements.

Monographs, book chapters and edited collections:

The UKRI Open Access Policy applies to long form publications published from 1 January 2024.

How to comply

Authors can comply with the policy in one of two ways: 

1) Publisher route

• The final Version of Record (this is the final version with publisher branding and typesetting) is immediately available, and must be free to view and download via an online publication platform or publisher's website
• With a Creative Commons Licence
• No Embargo

2) Repository Route

Deposit the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (this is the final version with no publisher typesetting) in a subject or institutional repository such as Liverpool Elements within 12 months of publication.

Publisher route - UKRI open access book funding requests

UKRI have provided a ring-fenced fund for open access book publishing costs for those taking the publisher route as mentioned above.

There is a two-stage process for requesting use of UKRI's book fund that the library will administer.

Stage 1: Funding request

Authors applying for funding should complete the UKRI Gold Open Access Book Request form. This should be completed BEFORE a publisher contract has been signed. UKRI will confirm whether a publication is eligible for use of their open access book funding. 

In order to be successful, Stage 1 applications will need to demonstrate a substantial link between the publication and UKRI research funding, as well as between the author and UKRI research funding.

Stage 2: Funding request

The library will notify UKRI that the book has been published and funds will be reimbursed by UKRI.

Summary of requirements:

• Your final Version of Record must be immediately free to view and download via an online publication platform or publisher’s website with a creative commons licence and no embargo

OR

• The Author’s Accepted Manuscript must be free to view and download via an institutional or subject repository within 12 months of publication

For either route, the following applies:

• Images, illustrations, tables, and other supporting content should be included in the open access verison, where possible.
• The open access version of your publication must have a Creative Commons licence, with a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence preferred, though not required. An Open Government Licence is also permitted. (This requirement does not apply to third party materials included in your publication).

Action for researchers to take at submission: 

• Inform the publisher you wish to publish with that you are UKRI funded and will need to comply with their open access policy.
• Acknowledge UKRI funding for your manuscript with the grant name and number. Further guidance is available from UKRI here.
• Use a Creative Commons licence, with the CC BY preferred for maximum to maximise opportunities for sharing and reuse.

Answers to frequently asked questions can be found on our dedicated FAQs page. Full policy details can be found on UKRI's webpages.

Policy:

Published outputs that arise from Wellcome funding, whether wholly or in part, must be open and accessible to everyone.

Applies to:

Research papers, monographs and book chapters.

How to comply:

There are four routes to comply with the Wellcome Open Access policy:

1. Publish in a Fully Open Access journal or platform indexed by DOAJ. You can apply for funding to cover the costs of APCs.
2. Publish in a hybrid or subscription journal and make the author accepted manuscript available in Europe PMC immediately on publication with a CC-BY licence.
3. Publish in a journal that is part of a transformative agreement.
4. Publish in a journal on the Plan S list of transformative journals. Note that the requirements of transformative journals may be subject to change, so it is important to complete a request form before submitting.

Additionally, when submitting your paper the Wellcome Trust require you to submit the following statement to the publisher:-

'This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust [Grant number]. For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.'
If a publisher explicitly says they will not accept this statement, or upon acceptance insists you sign a licence contradicting this statement, contact us for advice.

If your paper was submitted for publication prior to the 1^st January 2021 you should comply with the previous Wellcome Trust Open Access policy.

Policy:

NIHR-funded researchers are required to publish their peer-reviewed articles on an open access basis immediately upon publication, with either a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC-BY) or Open Government Licence (OGL). By exception, NIHR may accept the more restrictive Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives licence (CC-BY-ND) - researchers should contact NIHR directly for permission to use that licence.

Papers must be available immediately on publication as described above in PubMed Central / Europe PubMed Central. This does not preclude authors from depositing their papers in institutional repositories (deposit in our own University Repository is via Liverpool Elements).

More details are in the full NIHR Open Access Policy.

Applies to:

This policy applies to any peer-reviewed research articles (including review articles not commissioned by publishers, final reports or executive summaries) that arise from NIHR research-funding grants and infrastructure grants, submitted for publication after 1st June 2022.

How to comply:

• You can publish in one of the journals covered by most of our read and publish agreements (note that some of these, notably the BMJ agreement, do not cover NIHR-funded work).
• You can publish in a journal that provides a paid-for open access option (see below for further information on funding).
• You can publish in a journal that allows you to make your author accepted manuscript immediately available with a CC-BY or OGL licence.

If submitting to a journal that requires payment of an open access fee, you can use your NIHR grants to do this. NIHR will be issuing new grantees an "open access envelope" to cover the expected costs of open access publishing, which can be accessed for up to two years after the end of a grant. More information is available in the NIHR Open Access Publications Funding Guidance.

If submitting to a subscription journal that does not provide an open access publishing option, you are required to include the following statement in your submission and adhere to it:

"For the purpose of open access, the author has applied [a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence] [an ‘Open Government Licence’] (or where permitted by the NIHR) [a Creative Commons Attribution No-derivatives (CC BY-ND) licence] to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising."

If a publisher explicitly says they will not accept this statement, or upon acceptance insists you sign a licence contradicting this statement, contact us for advice.

Policy:

Cancer Research UK requires original research journal articles that have been funded wholly or in part by them to be made available via Open Access.

Applies to:

Original research (i.e. primary data-based), peer-reviewed research publications, registered reports. It does not apply to book chapters, monographs, editorials, reviews or conference proceedings.

How to comply:

If submitting an article to a journal that offers paid-for open access, Cancer Research UK provides a block grant to cover the cost of publishing (only open access-related charges can be supported, no page or colour charges). Please complete the Open Access Payment Request form before committing to a journal to ensure that funding is still available and that the journal meets the CRUKs requirements e.g. the CC-BY licence must be applied.

If submitting an article to a journal covered by a read a publish deal you should simply select the open access option during the submission process – there will be no further charge.

If submitting an article to a journal that does not offer an open access option, you must ensure that the Author Accepted Manuscript version of your paper is deposited to Europe PubMed Central. For articles accepted for publication before 1^st January 2022 Cancer Research UK will allow an embargo period of up to six months from first publication. For articles accepted for publication after 1^st January 2022, the article must be made available immediately on first publication.

You should reconsider your journal choice if it offers none of these options. Most journals will offer at least one of these option, but some, notably Blood, do not.

Full policy details are available on CRUK’s website. If you are funded by CRUK, we would recommend you familiarise yourself with the policy.

Policy:

Wherever possible, Versus Arthritis expects researchers to choose a journal to publish in that ensures the work is available immediately on publication.

Applies to:

Original research papers.

How to comply:

You can comply either by self-archiving your publication in Europe PubMed Central within 6 months of publication or by publishing in an open access journal. Funding is available for open access costs by applying directly to Versus Arthritis but there are several conditions. Full details of the policy and how to comply can be found on the Versus Arthritis Open Access webpages.