Open access: frequently asked questions

UCL encourages Green open access where outputs are published in subscription journals or under a traditional book publishing model. Authors must upload the final accepted manuscript of all outputs to UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS). The Open Access Team will make the manuscript open access in UCL Discovery, UCL's institutional repository, according to the publisher's copyright permissions (usually after an embargo period on open access). 

Limited funds are available for Gold open access. 

Most research funders require grant-holders to make their publications open access. See our funders page for more information. Contact the Open Access Team for specific advice. 

To be eligible for submission to the next REF, journal articles and conference proceedings accepted for publication after 1 April 2016 must have been deposited in an open access repository. At UCL, researchers must upload their papers to UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS).

• It is best practice to upload your paper to RPS as soon as it is accepted for publication. Outputs not uploaded within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?) cannot be submitted to the REF. Since the policy encourages open access for all outputs, every paper should be uploaded.
• The version to upload is the final accepted manuscript (after peer-review, but before the publisher's typesetting).
• The Open Access Team will make your paper open access in UCL Discovery, UCL's institutional repository, according to the publisher's copyright permissions (usually after an embargo period on open access). See also Exceptions to the REF policy: The journal's embargo period is too long / the journal does not allow open access. 

The REF policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings. This includes papers presented at a conference, or part of a conference proceedings, but does not include abstracts and posters. Letters and editorials sometimes contain original research, and some disciplines submit them to the REF. In general, the accepted manuscript version of letters and editorials should be uploaded to UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS).

If RPS identifies an abstract as a conference paper, you can change the output type. At the top of the full record in RPS, next to the output type, you will see a small pencil icon. Click on it, and you will be able to select "conference abstract" or "poster" instead.

UCL's policy is that outputs of all types should be uploaded to RPS. The REF open access policy encourages authors to make outputs such as books and book chapters openly available. Units of Assessment can demonstrate their wider commitment to open access in their REF Environment statements. 

You should upload your final accepted manuscript. This may be alternatively referred to as the "final author version", "final manuscript" or "post-print".

Full details are available on our which version to upload page.

You need to ask the corresponding author or your co-authors for the final accepted manuscript so that you can upload it. Alternatively, the journal may be able to provide you with a copy that you can use. If you have not been able to obtain the final accepted manuscript, contact the Open Access Team.

When asking non-UK authors for the final accepted manuscript you can use the following explanation:

UK research funders require UK authors to deposit their final accepted manuscripts in their institutional repository. The manuscript, which is version of the article that was peer-reviewed but without publisher's typesetting, will be made open access in UCL Discovery after the embargo period on open access, according to the publisher's policy. Meeting this requirement has a significant impact on future funding.

The REF policy requires authors to upload their final accepted manuscript, after peer-review but before publisher copy-editing and typesetting.

While the accepted manuscript contains all changes arising from peer-review, it does not usually contain changes made during copy-editing and typesetting. If you would prefer to upload a version that contains these changes, you can either copy them into the accepted manuscript, or ask the publisher for a later version that can be made open access.

It is every UCL author's responsibility to make sure that the final accepted manuscript is uploaded to RPS. Where a paper is co-authored by several UCL researchers, only one of them needs to upload the paper to RPS. If a paper involves authors at more than one UK institution, the accepted manuscript must be uploaded to each institution's repository.

If your paper was uploaded to another institution's repository or a subject repository, but not to RPS, within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?), it may be possible to demonstrate that it complies with the REF policy. Contact the Open Access Team, providing the URL of the paper in the other repository, to discuss this.

Although it is each author's responsibility to maintain their publications records in RPS, authors can delegate access to someone else with an RPS account - an administrator or PA, for instance. Delegates can manage publication records and upload files to them, though the author must provide the final accepted manuscript. To set up a delegate, in RPS go to Menu, then in the My Account section go to Account Settings>Manage Delegates.

Where a paper is co-authored by several UCL researchers, only one of them needs to upload the paper to RPS.

Yes. It is important that all papers that fall under the policy are uploaded, so that they are eligible for submission - regardless of where the authors are based at the time of the next REF.

PDRAs should upload their papers, yes. This will ensure that these outputs are eligible for REF submission, regardless of where the author is based at the time of the next REF. Aside from this, the REF policy encourages open access for all outputs, and uploading papers allows authors to take advantage of the benefits of making their research freely available, including increased citations and downloads. Units of Assessment can demonstrate their wider commitment to open access in their REF Environment statements. 

For the same reasons, we recommend that honorary members of staff upload their publications.

No. Uploading your accepted manuscript to RPS does not make it openly available automatically. After you upload, the Open Access Team will check the file and apply the relevant open access embargo period.

Publishers normally impose an embargo (delay) on making papers open access (this is set out in the terms and conditions/copyright transfer agreement you agree to when you publish), except where a fee is paid for Gold open access. The citation and abstract will appear in UCL Discovery after the Open Access Team has processed the file, but the accepted manuscript itself will only be made open access after the embargo period.

If you are uploading before publication, you can contact the Open Access Team to request that the citation and abstract are not made public until after publication - though publishers do not normally consider that making this information available in an open access repository breaches any publication embargo. 

The REF open access policy does not restrict authors' choice of the most appropriate journal for their output.

Most journals are compliant with the policy. Where a journal does not comply, because it does not allow open access in a repository within 12 months (REF panels A and B) or 24 months (REF panels C and D) of publication, or doesn't allow open access in a repository at all, the author is encouraged to consider publishing in an alternative journal. If the author still wishes to publish in the chosen journal, and considers that it is the most appropriate publication for the work, an exception to the policy applies. The accepted manuscript should still be uploaded to RPS within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?).

If your paper is published as Gold open access - i.e. open access on the publisher's website - as soon as it is published, under a licence that permits copying and reuse, you do not need to upload it to RPS. The paper complies with the REF policy. Most Gold open access papers are published under a Creative Commons (CC) licence, which meets these requirements. If your paper is open access, but does not have a Creative Commons (CC) licence, you should upload the final accepted manuscript to RPS within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?).

Accepted manuscripts deposited in other repositories (e.g. Europe PubMed Central or another institution's repository), either by authors or publishers, should be uploaded to RPS as well. If your paper was uploaded to another repository, but not to RPS, within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?), it may be possible to demonstrate that it complies with the REF policy. Contact the Open Access Team, providing the URL of the paper in the other repository, to discuss this.  

Unless your paper is published as Gold open access, the final accepted manuscript should be uploaded to RPS, even if the paper is available through a pre-print service (e.g. arXiv, bioRxiv, chemRxiv, medRxiv or SSRN). These services cannot be used to demonstrate compliance with the REF open access policy, because they do not usually identify the version that was uploaded. However, where a version identical to the accepted manuscript/final version was uploaded to a pre-print service before first online publication, the paper can be treated as compliant with the REF open access policy under a special provision in the policy. Contact the Open Access Team if this applies to any of your papers. 

If your funder requires open access in a subject repository such as Europe PubMed Central, and your paper is not Gold open access, you will need to upload your manuscript both to Europe PubMed Central and to RPS. If your paper was uploaded to another institution's repository or a subject repository, but not to RPS, within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?), it may be possible to demonstrate that it complies with the REF policy. Contact the Open Access Team, providing the URL of the paper in the other repository, to discuss this.

Sites like ResearchGate and Academia.edu are social networking sites with commercial business models. They do not ensure long-term access to deposited publications. Uploading to these sites does not satisfy the requirements of the REF open access policy.

Publishers often make papers freely available for a limited period of time. This is not the same as Gold open access, which means that the paper will be openly available in perpetuity on the publisher's website, with a licence that permits copying and reuse. Where a paper is labelled "free" or "free to view", the accepted manuscript still needs to be uploaded to RPS.

An open padlock on the publisher's website may not denote open access. It is often just an indication that the content is available through a UCL subscription.

Gold open access papers are normally labelled "open access", and usually contain a Creative Commons licence statement. See If my paper is (or will be) published open access, should I still upload it?". 

UCL's policy is that all outputs should be uploaded to RPS and made openly available in UCL Discovery where copyright conditions allow. The REF open access policy encourages authors to make outputs such as books and book chapters openly available. Units of Assessment can demonstrate their wider commitment to open access in their REF Environment statements. Making your work open access through UCL Discovery will lead to increased citations and greater visibility for your research.

Yes, provided that your final accepted manuscript was uploaded to RPS within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?). It will comply with the REF policy, even if the publisher's embargo period means that it is not open access at the time of the REF submission.

The version that needs to be uploaded to UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS) is the final accepted manuscript. However, REF panels are expected to assess published versions of record, not accepted manuscripts.

If you joined UCL from a non-UK HEI, and there is no other author with a UCL affiliation on the paper, the Open Access Team can apply this exception. Contact the Open Access Team to discuss particular papers. 

If you cannot obtain your final accepted manuscript within the required period (see When should I upload to RPS?), this exception may apply. If you are not the corresponding author, you should make all reasonable efforts to get hold of the manuscript from the corresponding author, from your other co-authors, or from the publisher. Contact the Open Access Team to discuss particular papers.

Where there are legal barriers to making a manuscript open access through a repository, or the author's identity needs to be protected (because depositing the paper would put the author or the institution at risk), these exceptions may apply. Contact the Open Access Team to discuss particular papers.

If your paper contains third-party content for which open access rights cannot be granted you have the option to upload the text on its own. However, the REF policy recognises that the third-party content may be essential to the publication, and allows an exception if this is the case. You should upload the manuscript to UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS) as usual (see When should I upload to RPS?), and inform the Open Access Team that your paper includes third-party content and should not be made open access.

This exception may only be applied in specific extenuating circumstances, for instance in cases of extended leave. Contact the Open Access Team for advice.

RPS (Research Publications Service) is UCL's publications management system. Details of publications are imported or entered manually into authors' profiles in RPS, and transferred to IRIS overnight. Where a final accepted manuscript has been uploaded it is processed by the Open Access Team and made available in UCL Discovery according to the publisher's terms and conditions.

See our guides for help with managing your publications in RPS. If you are unable to log in to RPS, please complete ISD's self-service form.

UCL Discovery is UCL's open access repository, showcasing and providing access to UCL research publications.

To meet the requirements of the REF open access policy, UCL's publications policy and UCL's policy on thesis deposit, all outputs should be uploaded to UCL's Research Publications Service (RPS). They will then be processed by the Open Access Team and made openly available in UCL Discovery according to the publisher's terms and conditions.

Many types of publication can be uploaded to RPS and made open access in UCL Discovery according to the publisher's terms and conditions, including articles and conference papers, books and book chapters, and outputs from conferences, workshops and meetings held at UCL or organised by UCL researchers.

Datasets, figures, posters, software, models and similar outputs should be deposited in the UCL Research Data Repository. 

Contact the Open Access Team for more information.

If you can't log in into other UCL sites (such as UCL Moodle) there may be problem with your UCL password. See MyAccount - managing your UCL password.

If your password is working on other UCL sites, please complete ISD's self-service form.

If a publication does not display in chronological order in RPS and IRIS, it is likely that the reporting date field in RPS is not populated. Click on the title of the publication in RPS to view its full record. If the reporting date field towards the top right is blank, click on the pencil icon to add the publication date, then save. The corresponding IRIS record will update overnight.

If you create a basic record for a paper when it is accepted (see our guide Record a publication in your RPS profile), and a full record is later imported into RPS from an external database like Scopus or Web of Science, the two records should merge automatically. If this does not happen, contact the Open Access Team and we will merge the duplicate records for you.

See our guide Upload your publication to RPS. The Library's e-theses pages explain how to upload a doctoral research e-thesis. For help uploading files, contact the Open Access Team.

If your "manuscript" is a collection of files, you don't have to create a single PDF. You can upload all the relevant files separately, or as a zip file.

See our guide ORCID for UCL researchers. If you have any problems creating an ORCID ID, contact the Open Access Team.

You can give another member of UCL staff delegate rights to manage your RPS record.
To delegate, in RPS go to Menu>My Account>Account settings>Manage delegates. Enter the surname of your delegate, then select their name from the drop-down box that will appear. Click 'Enter', then 'Save'.

Contact the Open Access Team to arrange this. 

Publications lists can be exported from RPS and embedded in other webpages. These lists are chronological, based on the reporting date in RPS. If the date is incorrect or missing you can update it: see My publications aren't appearing in date order. How can this be fixed?

UCL Discovery shows download statistics by publication, measured by country, month and year. Contact the Open Access Team for more information.

The copyright owner, usually the publisher or the author, holds the copyright of publications in UCL Discovery. 

You may download and print a single copy of any item (and its associated media) held in UCL Discovery for your personal, non-commercial use without prior permission or charge, provided that you correctly cite the paper. Some records in UCL Discovery indicate that the item is licensed under a Creative Commons or other licence that permits wider re-use. Please refer to the terms of the licence for specific details.

Further use of any items from UCL Discovery may infringe copyright. If the material is required for any other purpose, contact the author or publisher directly.

Cite the publication as it appears at the top of the UCL Discovery record, then indicate that it is available in UCL Discovery.

For example:

Card, D., Dustmann, C., & Preston, I. (2009). Immigration, wages, and compositional amenities. CReAM Discussion Papers (CDP 29/09). Centre for the Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), London, UK. Available at http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18906/

To find the correct page numbers, consult the original version of the publication on the publisher's website.

See UCL Library Services' Research Data Management webpages.

See UCL Library Services' Copyright advice pages.