Open Access for UKRI-funded researchers

Articles and conference proceedings

The policy applies to all peer reviewed research articles (including review articles) and conference papers published in proceedings with an ISSN, submitted for publication after April 1st 2022 which acknowledge funding from one of the UK Research Councils.

Articles and conference proceedings:

• must be made open access within 1 month of the final date of online publication
• must be published with a CC BY licence (an exception for CC-BY-ND is possible via this form)
• must include a Data Access Statement explaining where and under what conditions the data can be accessed, even where there are no data associated with the article or the data are inaccessible

To comply, authors can choose one of two UKRI Routes. 

Route 1: 

• publish in a fully Open Access (Gold) journal or platform that meets UKRI’s requirements (support from our block grant is available; please contact us before submission to ensure funds)
• publish Open Access in a subscription (hybrid) journal that is included in our Transformative Agreements.
• Open Access publication in hybrid titles outside these agreements will no longer be financially supported by UKRI (unless the title is designated a Jisc-approved Transformative Journal).

Route 2: 

UKRI have included in the policy an option to enable researchers to publish in a subscription journal & deposit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in an institutional repository (Elements/SRO) with a CC-BY licence at the time of publication.

Submissions must include the following text in the funding acknowledgement section of the manuscript and any cover letter/note accompanying the 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.

For advice on these options, please contact us ahead of submission at openaccess@sussex.ac.uk

Please note: if your research is in collaboration with non-UK based partners, you still need to comply with the policy, even if you are not the corresponding author. Researchers funded by UKRI should ensure that collaborators are aware of the terms of funding, and that the obligation to publish results Open Access is included in collaboration agreements. UKRI-funded authors are expected to take the lead in ensuring that the paper is made available as appropriate. More info is available on UKRI's FAQ pages. 

Monographs, book chapters & edited collections

The latest information provided by UKRI can be found on their webpages:

-       Info on making your book Open Access

-       Guidance for authors on the process

-       Guide on 3^rd party materials and copyright

-       Guide on licensing for your work

Monographs, book chapters & edited collections:

• must be made open access within 12 months of official publication
• must be made available under a Creative Commons licence

UKRI have dedicated an annual fund for in support of this policy. Authors will need to contact openaccess@sussex.ac.uk to apply on their behalf.

There is a two stage process to apply for funding meaning that authors can apply (via the Library) for funds in advance of acceptance. Please note: authors should not apply to UKRI directly.

• Stage 1: the Library registers the output(s) with UKRI for funding. A publishing contract need not be signed at this point
• Stage 2: the Library provides final confirmation of publication to allow UKRI to release funds
• Costs to this fund are capped as follows (inclusive of VAT):
• £10,000 for Book Processing Charges (BPCs)
• £1,000 for Chapter Processing Charges (CPCs)
• Please note that outputs must be published within 7 years of the grant end date to be eligible for funding

To check eligibility for use of this fund, or for advice on how to comply with the policy, please contact openaccess@sussex.ac.uk

Exemptions to the policy are detailed on the UKRI pages. An exemption may be applied:

• if you have signed a contract with a publisher before 1 January 2024, which doesn’t enable open access in compliance with UKRI’s policy
• where the only appropriate publisher is unable to offer an open access option that complies with UKRI’s policy
• where a monograph, book chapter or edited collection is the outcome of a UKRI training grant (open access is encouraged but not required)
• where reuse permissions for third-party materials cannot be obtained and there is no suitable alternative to enable open access publication