Understanding funder policies

Funder open access policies

Most research funders have a publications policy and it is important that you read and understand this as soon as possible.

In some cases publication costs should be written into grant applications in which case you will need to know the requirements before applying to the funder.

The easiest way to get information about a funder’s open access policy is through the Sherpa Juliet database.

• Sherpa Juliet

It is recommended that you also check your funder’s website or contact them for further details.

Whether to deposit

Many funders specify that you must deposit research in either an institutional or subject archive.

What to deposit

It is important for both the publisher and the funder that you deposit the correct version of a research paper.

• see Article versions

When to deposit

Funders will usually state a maximum acceptable embargo period. This is the period of time between publication of the paper and it being made available through an open access repository. Publishers will usually specify a minimum acceptable embargo period. It is important to ensure that the funder and journal policies correspond before submitting your paper.

Where to deposit

Some funders are satisfied as long as your paper has been made available through an established open access repository. Some funders will specify a particular repository in which authors must deposit a copy of their paper. It is not uncommon, for example, for funders in health-related disciplines to insist that a paper is deposited in PubMed Central or Europe PubMed Central.

• OpenDOAR – Directory of Open Access Repositories

Deposit conditions

It’s always worth checking whether funders have any specific requirements to do with deposit.

Whether to publish

Most funders will want you to publish. Some organisations may by funding your research for commercial or other reasons that mean they do not want you to publish your findings. This should have been established from the very beginning of a grant.

Where to publish

The majority of funders are happy for you to publish where you would like as long as the journal allows you to meet their requirements. Some funders will specify that you must publish research in a journal that accepts gold open access or even one that is only gold open access. A small number of funders may require you to publish within specified journals.

Publishing conditions

Any other information regarding the funder’s publishing requirements.

General conditions

Any other information about the funder’s open access or other publishing requirements including qualification of policies listed above.

UK Research & Innovation

UKRI Research Councils covered by the open access policy:

• Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
• Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
• Medical Research Council (MRC)
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

UK Research and Innovation

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has an open access policy which applies to any research papers acknowledging funding from one or more of their research councils (excluding Research England and Innovate UK). 

• UKRI (RCUK) Policy on Open Access

Any peer reviewed research papers which acknowledge funding from one or more of the UK Research Councils must be made open access. Open access can be provided through either the ‘green’ or the ‘gold’ routes.

To find the options available for a specific journal and funder, use the Sherpa Funders & Authors Compliance Tool (Fact) tool.

• Sherpa Fact 

Route 1: The 'green' route

The accepted manuscript for the article should be deposited to PURE (or to White Rose Research Online if you do not have access to PURE) as soon as possible on acceptance for publication.

• Deposit your research

To meet UKRI expectations through the 'green' route, the publisher must allow your article to be made open access within an acceptable timeframe (embargo period).

The current maximum allowable embargo periods for UKRI are:

Route 2: The 'gold' route

To meet UKRI requirements through the ‘gold; route, the journal or conference will provide unrestricted access to the final published version on its own website. This must be done immediately on publication, and the article must be made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence. 

Publication through the ‘gold’ route will usually involve the payment of an article processing charge (APC) to the publisher. It may be possible for APCs to be paid through the York Open Access Fund.

• York Open Access Fund

Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Open Access Policy is changing. From 1st January 2021 Wellcome will require all research articles which arise from Wellcome funding to be made freely available at the time of publication and openly licensed.

• Wellcome open access policy

Wellcome expects all funded authors of research papers, monographs and book chapters to maximise the opportunities to make their results available for free. 

For full details of the Wellcome open access policy, visit the Wellcome website:

• Wellcome open access policy

Where an option exists to make an output available immediately in its final published form, in a way which is compliant with the Wellcome requirements, then Wellcome-funded researchers should use this option. In most cases, this will mean using the ‘gold’ open access option.

As a minimum requirement, all Wellcome-funded research papers accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal must be made openly available through PubMed Central and Europe PMC as soon as possible and in any event within six months of the journal publisher’s official publication date.

Wellcome Trust encourages — and where an APC has been paid requires — use of a Creative Commons CC-BY licence for funded outputs.

To fund open access publication costs (APCs) for research funded in whole or in part by the Trust, Wellcome provides the University with a block grant. This grant is managed through the York Open Access Fund. For information on how to access this fund see out Open Access Fund webpages.

• York Open Access Fund

Europe PMC funders

Europe PMC funders

Europe PMC is funded by major research funders across Europe, primarily focusing on biomedical research.

• Europe PMC: Funders

Europe PMC funders share a minimum expectation of open access for any research they fund.

• Research outputs arising from research that we fund to be made freely and readily available;
• Electronic copies of any biomedical research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in part by funding from any of the Europe PMC Funders, to be made available through PubMed Central (PMC) and Europe PMC, as soon as possible and in any event within six months of the journal publisher's official date of final publication;
• Authors and publishers, if an open access fee has been paid, to license research papers such that they may be freely copied and re-used for purposes such as text and data mining, provided that such uses are fully attributed. This is also encouraged where no fee has been paid.

While this minimum expectation applies to all Europe PMC funders some funders may have further open access requirements, for example Wellcome Trust.

NIHR

National Institute for Health (NIHR) Policy on Open Access

Open Access forms an important component of the NIHR's Publications Policy. The full OA policy is available at:

• NIHR Open Access Policy

Key features:

• The NIHR Open Access policy applies to any peer-reviewed research articles (including review articles not commissioned by publishers, final reports or executive summaries) supported through NIHR funding and submitted for publication from 1st April 2014.
• The NIHR preference is Gold OA, with the associated costs being supported by the original NIHR grant or the NIHR Open Access Fund (under development).
• Where NIHR funds are used to pay an APC the publication should be published with a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence and allow for immediate deposit of the final published version in other repositories without restriction on re-use. The final, author accepted manuscript must be deposited with Europe PubMed Central upon acceptance, to be made freely available as soon as possible and within six months of publication.
• The policy does not cover books, critical editions, volumes and catalogues, or forms of non-peer-reviewed material. However, the NIHR encourages authors of such material to consider making them Open Access where possible.

Additional note:

• NIHR has purchased Supporters Scheme membership of BioMed Central. This entitles NIHR researchers to a 15% discount against any APC for a BioMed Central journal.

Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 mandate

Outputs arising from research funded through the Horizon 2020 programmes of the European Commission are required to be made Open Access through either the Gold or Green route.

• Guidelines on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Research Data in Horizon 2020

The Open Access mandate consists of two steps:

1. Beneficiaries must deposit a machine-readable electronic copy of the published version or final peer-reviewed manuscript accepted for publication in a repository. This condition can be met at York by depositing into PURE.

2. After depositing publications and, where possible, underlying data, beneficiaries must ensure open access to the deposited publication via the chosen repository. This can be achieved by following either:

a) Green route - to comply with this route, you will need to check whether your chosen journal offers a compliant embargo period (six months maximum, or twelve months for Social Sciences and Humanities). See Journal policies for more information.

b) Gold route - by paying an APC.

APC costs incurred by beneficiaries during Horizon2020 projects are eligible for reimbursement by the European Commission. APC costs incurred after the end of projects are not.