The intent of the REF open access policy is to provide a set of minimum requirements for open access. Note that these requirements may differ from open access requirements of research funders.
Guidance on this page is based on information from the Open Research website and the University of Cambridge REF2029 SharePoint.
On this page:
- REF 2029 Open Access Policy
- Definitions
- How to comply
- Further information
- Open Research at the University
REF 2029 Open Access Policy
REF 2029 will assess research outputs published between 2021 and 2028.
The REF 2029 Open Access policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings (with an ISSN) which are published from 1 January 2021.
For full information please see the University of Cambridge's REF2029 SharePoint page REF and Open Access
Definitions
1. Date of acceptance
The date of acceptance means the date given in the acceptance letter or email from the publisher to the author as the ‘firm’ accepted date.
2. Author’s accepted manuscript
The version of the output that should be deposited is the author’s accepted manuscript. The author’s accepted manuscript is the final peer-reviewed text which may otherwise be known as the ‘author manuscript’ or ‘final author version’ or ‘post-print.”
3. Date of publication
Date of publication means the date that the final ‘version of record’ is first made publicly available (such as on the publisher’s website). This will usually mean that the ‘early online’ date, rather than the print publication date, should be taken as the date of publication.
How to comply
Full details on how to comply with the REF2029 Open Access policy are available on the University's REF2029 SharePoint How to comply with the policy section.
- When submitting your paper, follow the University's Self-Archiving Policy Guidance and agree to apply a CC-BY licence.
- Upload your author accepted manuscript to Elements. The Open Access Team will review your submission and be able to advise on funder agreements, Read and Publish agreements and Article Processing Charges (APCs).
- Maintain your publications list in Elements by regularly claiming or manually adding publications.
The Open Access Team have provided a video explaining how you can comply.
Further information
- Already published OA or in a preprint server such as arXiv or ChemRxiv?
You still need to upload your accepted manuscript to Elements to help the University log, report and audit REF open access compliance.
- Missed the OA Compliance deposit deadline?
It is always best policy to upload your journal article or conference proceedings as detailed above. Please prioritise papers which have been recently accepted, or which have been published within the last 3 months. For older publications there may be an alternative way to comply with REF OA policy. Please contact the Chemistry Librarian or Open Access Team for further advice.
- Where can I get further support about REF and open access?
The Chemistry Librarian can support with some REF and OA queries, including using Elements, running OA compliance reports and setting up automatic claiming in Elements. Please call by the Library Office or email library@ch.cam.ac.uk
The Open Access team, part of Cambridge University Libraries and Archives, handles all Open Access queries. Their contact email is info@openresearch.cam.ac.uk, and their website is https://www.openaccess.cam.ac.uk. They also have a dedicated page about REF2029 and OA.
The University of Cambridge REF2029 SharePoint pages on REF and open access provide full guidance on open access for REF 2029.
The Research Information SharePoint pages on Using Elements provide comprehensive guidance on Elements and open access.
You can also download the full REF 2029 Open Access policy from the Research Excellence Framework website.
Open Research at the University
The University of Cambridge Open Research Position Statement summarises the University’s approach to Open Research. It sets out key principles for the conduct and support of Open Research at the University. The Statement can be found here: https://www.openresearch.cam.ac.uk/cambridge/policies-frameworks/open-research-position-statement
