UKRI/RCUK has allocated a block grant to the University to contribute towards the cost of Open Access (OA) publishing of UKRI funded research outputs, and this is centrally managed by Library Services.
University researchers are eligible to apply to this fund if:
If you are a previous PhD student with UKRI funding, please contact us to discuss and we will assess on a case by case depending on available funds. If you have any questions over your eligibility to access this grant, please get in touch: library-research-support@open.ac.uk
The block grant will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Given the expectation that the grant will not last us the whole year please always contact the Library Services Research Support Team before agreeing to pay Open Access charges with the publisher or requesting invoices. Only Open Access fees the Library Services Research Support team has already agreed to will be paid. Notice will be issued when the grant has been spent.
The journal should be compliant with the UKRI/RCUK Access to Research Outputs Policy. Library Services will check all applications and inform you if the publisher does not meet UKRI/RCUK requirements. Articles should be published under a Creative Commons CC-BY licence, which many publishers already offer. All publications should acknowledge UKRI/RCUK funding and how any underlying research materials, such as data, samples or models, can be accessed.
Information about publishers who provide paid options for OA (Gold OA) is available on the SHERPA RoMEO website. You may also find it useful to consult the RCUK Policy on Open Access Frequently Asked Questions.
Please note:
In addition to its Open Access policy, UKRI/RCUK also requires that wherever possible researchers share their data (taking in to account any legal, ethical and commercial constraints), and that published results should always include information on how to access the supporting data. You can read the Research Council Common Principles on Data Policy and guidance.
This can be done by adding the data to a suitable repository (for example the OU’s data repository, ORDO), and including a data access statement in the paper with a link to the repository record – or a reason why supporting data cannot be shared.
Individual research councils have their own policies which build upon these common principles. We’d recommend you check these and get in touch with the research support team if you have any questions. We’re very happy to help work out what can and should be shared, how to prepare it, and how to write a data access statement.