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This page advises UKRI and Wellcome funded authors on complying with these funders’ open access policies. It sets out how to check if a journal complies, and what to do if it doesn’t.

Guidance forÌýUKRI funded papers submittedÌýbefore 1 April 2022

In January 2021, the Wellcome Trust updatedÌýitsopenaccesspolicyto,Ìýan initiative aimed at transitioning to an affordable, fully open access publishing environment.ÌýUKRI’s new open access policy for research articles submitted from 1 April 2022 largely aligns with the Wellcome Trust’s.

The advice on theseÌýpages will assist researchersÌýin complying with UKRI and Wellcome's policies,Ìýand applying for funding.ÌýThe new UKRI open access policy applies to publications funded by the UK Research Councils (AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC), Innovate UK,Ìýand Research England (funding leading directly to particular research outputs only). This page also includes advice on monographs and book chapters.

Peer-reviewed research articles

The following applies to all journal articles that report original, peer-reviewed research, and acknowledge funding from UKRI/Wellcome Trust. It also applies to peer-reviewed conference papers (published in a journal, or proceedings with an ISSN number) and review articles acknowledging UKRI funding.

Key points:

• Wellcome and UKRI require immediate open access under the upon publication.
• Journal embargoes on Green open access are not permitted.
• Gold open access in subscription journals (hybrid) will not be funded except throughÌýtransformative agreements or transformative journals.
• All journal submissions must include this submission statement.
• Both funders may allow, on a case-by-case basis, the use of the more restrictive CC BY-ND licence.
• For Wellcome, where it is not possible to make the Version of Record open access on publication under the CC BY licence, researchers can comply with the policy by posting a preprint version of their paper to a preprint server indexed by Europe PubMed Central before final publication.

Compliant journals and proceedings

Funded authors should establish if their chosen journal is compliant before submission and before applying for funding. Compliant types of journal are summarised in the table below, along with advice on identifying them.

For the Gold open access options listed above, the publisher must make the final version immediately open access under CC BY on their webpages upon publication, and make Wellcome, MRC, and BBSRC funded papers freely available from Europe PMC at publication.ÌýSee our funding pageÌýfor eligibility criteria, instructions on applying for funding, and conditions of payment.

For the Green open access option, the accepted manuscript must be uploaded to RPS on or before the first onlineÌýpublication date and include the mandatoryÌýsubmission statement. Contact the Open Access Team after uploading your manuscript, in order to make it open access upon publicationÌýwith a CC BY licence, through Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Discovery, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's open access repository.ÌýPapers funded byÌýWellcome, MRC, and BBSRC must also be Ìýon or before first onlineÌýpublication.

Non-compliant journals and proceedingsÌý

If your journal is notÌýcompliant (i.e.Ìýone that does not comply through the options in the table above), you may want to consider submitting elsewhere. Alternatively, you will need to retain the right to make your Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) open access on publication under the CC BY licence. Take the following steps:

1. Include the UKRI/Wellcome submission wording in all submissions, covering letters and funding acknowledgements.
2. Before submission, ask the editorial office whether the publishingÌýagreement allows immediate OA to the accepted manuscript under CC BY. If in doubt, ask the editorial office for clarification. The Open Access Team can provide wording and advise you on making pre-submission enquiries.
3. If the agreement does not allow this, you can:
   • Ask for Gold OA with a waiver of the charges; or
   • Negotiate amendments to the agreement; then upload the final accepted manuscript to RPS on or before first online publication (and also Europe PMC for Wellcome, MRC and BBSRC funded papers).
   • For Wellcome papers, if the journal refuses both options, contact Wellcome for advice: openaccess@wellcome.org.ÌýÌý

Funded authors should not sign a publishing contract that: Ìý

• applies an embargo period to the self-archiving of the AAM post publication, andÌý
• does not allow the AAM to be made freely available under a CC BY licence.Ìý

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's Open Access Team cannot give legal advice, but we can provide general advice and support to assist authors in negotiations with publishers, and help identify journal policies and conditions.

Licence exceptions

Wellcome and UKRI may grant permission toÌýuseÌýthe more restrictiveÌýCC BY-ND licence on a case-by-case basis. Requests for this licence exception must be approvedÌýbefore submitting your paper, and can be requested using the following forms:Ìý

If approved, use the relevantÌýamended submission statement on our submission statement and rights retention page.

Monographs, book chapters and edited collections

WellcomeÌýTrust

Original scholarly monographs and book chapters authored or co-authored by Wellcome Trust grant holders, as part of their grant-funded research, must be made open access in NCBI Bookshelf and Europe PubMed CentralÌýwithin six months of the official date of publication. Wellcome will fund compliant Gold open access for monographs. If your publisher does not have a compliant Gold option, but allows you to make your accepted manuscript open access in PubMed Central six months after publication, you should deposit to NCBI Bookshelf and Europe PubMed Central, using the .

UKRI

Monographs, book chapters and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024 must be made open access no later than 12 months after publication under CC BY or another CC licence. For more information see our UKRI monographs, book chapters, and edited collections page.Ìý