Institutional Repository Infrastructure for Scotland

Repository toolkit

• Home

• Contents
• Introduction and overview
• Tookit for researchers
• Toolkit for for institutions and repository managers
  • Why develop?
  • Costing models
  • Policies
  • Legal issues
  • Deposit workflow
  • Mandates
  • Funding bodies
  • Advocacy
• Useful resources

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• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License for Scotland and a Creative Commons License for England and Wales
• Last updated 7 Dec 2007
• Version 1.0

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Toolkit for institutions and repository managers

Funding body policies on open access

Below are the policies of the main funding bodies in the UK.

You can find out more about these policies and those of other funding bodies from the SHERPA JULIET service. The JULIET service summarises policies given by various research funders as part of their grant awards.

The Wellcome Trust

• expects authors of research papers to maximise the opportunities to make their results available for free and, where possible, to retain their copyright;
• will provide grantholders with additional funding to cover the open access charges levied by publishers who support the open access model;
• requires electronic copies of any research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in part by Wellcome Trust funding, to be deposited into UK PubMed Central, to be made freely available as soon as possible and in any event within six months of the journal publisher's official date of final publication;
• affirms the principle that it is the intrinsic merit of the work, and not the title of the journal in which an author's work is published, that should be considered in making funding decisions and awarding grants.

Research Councils UK

RCUK does not have a unified position on Open Access although it has published a position paper. RCUK is carrying out a research project to assess the impact of changes to publication methodologies which is due to report in 2008.

Instead individual research councils have, or will be, producing specific guidance to the research communities they fund about access to outputs in each field of research. More details of each council's position can be accessed from RCUK policies on open access.

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Authors are asked to ensure deposit of a copy of any resultant articles published in journals or conference proceedings in appropriate repository. Copyright and licensing policies should be respected.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

For awards from grant applications submitted from 1 October 2006, and for all projects funded at BBSRC-sponsored institutes and starting from 1 October 2006, BBSRC will require a copy of any resulting published journal article or conference proceedings to be deposited, at the earliest opportunity, in an appropriate e-print repository, wherever such a repository is available.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Endorses the RCUK position paper but has not mandated open access and is awaiting the outcome of the further research that RCUK are carrying out.

Economic and Social Research Council

For awards from 1st October 2006 authors are required to deposit a copy of any resultant articles published in journals or conference proceedings, in the ESRC awards and outputs repository. Wherever possible authors should deposit the bibliographical metadata relating to such articles, including a link to the publisher's website, at or around the time of publication, in the ESRC awards and outputs repository.

Medical Research Council

For applications submitted from 1 October 2006 the MRC requires that electronic copies of any research papers accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, which are supported in whole or in part by MRC funding, are deposited at the earliest opportunity – and certainly within six months – in UK PubMed Central.

Natural Environment Research Council

From 1st October 2006 all new award holders will be required to deposit any resulting publications in an eprint repository.

Science and Technology Facilities Council

Authors should at the earliest opportunity personally deposit, or otherwise ensure the deposit of, a copy of articles published in journals or conference proceedings in the Council's Institutional Repository.