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How to publish Open Access at Sussex

Open Access has many benefits for the researcher, research community and public at large. It is now also a requirement of many research funders that outputs from projects they fund must be Open Access. 

What is Open Access?

Open Access means providing unrestricted access to peer-reviewed research outputs. This means that if an article is Open Access, it can be read by anyone in the world with an internet connection. As a result, the potential readership of an Open Access article is far greater than one where the full-text is restricted to subscribers. By increasing the number of readers, article citations also significantly grow. 

What are Green and Gold Open Access (click to expand)

Open Access can be provided in two ways:

Green	Authors publish in a journal and then self-archive a version of the article in their institutional repository (such as Sussex Research Online), or subject based repository (such as ArXiv or RePEc).
Gold	Authors publish in a journal which provides Open Access to the article through the publisher’s website. There is usually a fee for this, known as the article processing charge (APC).

 

RCUK funded research

At Sussex, a block grant has been allocated by RCUK to cover Article Processing Charges (APCs). Research Council funded researchers seeking to publish should follow these guidelines:

Click on the image above for a larger version, or download the PDF: Open Access decision tree [PDF 46.92KB]

The RCUK policy, and these procedures, are new, and we strongly encourage RCUK funded PIs who are publishing research to contact library.researchsupport@sussex.ac.uk so we can advise on steps to follow. 

1. Researchers select the most appropriate journal or vehicle for their article, as is current policy
2. When the article is accepted, upload the accepted version to Sussex Research Online
3. Where that journal offers an option for Green Open Access which complies with the RCUK policy (so meets the specified embargo periods, see below), researchers should choose this option and make their article available via Sussex Research Online. Use SHERPA Fact or consult with the Library to check Green compliance
4. If that journal does not offer an option for Green OA which complies with RCUK policy, but there is a Gold option, then the researcher should choose Gold if there are funds available and inform the Library of the outcome. PIs should consult their Head of School to check if funds are available. A procedure will be set up whereby the Head of School will authorise the payment of the APC after the library has raised a Purchase Order.
5. If the journal does not comply with the RCUK policy, then where possible the article should be deposited with SRO and will be made publicly available after an extended embargo period.

The research output must be added to SRO, including information about the Research Project it originated from, to ensure we are compliant with RCUK reporting requirements.

How to be RCUK-compliant with Green and Gold Open Access

Green Open Access (making the full text publicy available on SRO or a subject based repository) is only compliant with RCUK and some other funders if:

• the embargo as set by the publisher for making the full text publicly available is 6 months or less for STEM subjects (12 months if no funds available for Gold Open Access)
• the embargo as set by the publisher for making the full text publicly available is 12 months or less for HSS subjects (24 months if no funds available for Gold Open Access)
• For MRC-funded publications the embargo as set by the publisher for making the full text publicly available is 6 months.

To confirm if OA publication funds are available please contact your Head of School.

For a publication to be compliant via the Gold Open Access route the full text needs to be freely available via the publisher's website immediately on publication and have a CC-BY licence.

RCUK and Sussex Policy

More information can be found in the following policy and guidance documents

• RCUK Policy on Open Access and Supporting Guidance [PDF]
• Managing Open Access Funds : Research & Knowledge Exchange Committee March 2013 [PDF 56.92KB] (Sussex only). 

Research not funded by RCUK

If your research is not being funded by RCUK then the Library also supports researchers to publish in open access journals at a reduced cost, through a number of institutional memberships and initiatives.