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The University Executive Committee is responsible for all matters associated with the development and management of the university.
The University of Gloucestershire (UoG) is committed to maximising the visibility, accessibility, and impact of its research. This Open Access (OA) Policy sets out our institutional principles and operational framework for enabling open dissemination of research outputs, supporting researcher autonomy, ensuring compliance with funder mandates, and aligning with our strategic research ambitions.
The updated policy replaces the 2015 Green Only OA Policy.
The OA landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade. A sector-wide move towards immediate (Gold) Open Access, uptake of transformative agreements, the shortening of Green OA embargo periods, and the importance placed on OA in research assessment all require an updated institutional position.
Without a new OA policy, researchers risk reduced reach, noncompliance with funder expectations, and missed opportunities within existing Read & Publish (R&P) agreements.
This policy applies to:
It covers:
The University supports OA as a default position. All outputs should wherever possible be made open access via Gold or Green routes in accordance with funder mandates and REF requirements. Further advice and guidance may be sought from the University’s Gloucestershire Research Office (GRO) or the University Library Service.
The University subscribes to R&P agreements with the following publishers:
These deals should be used as the first route to Gold OA for eligible outputs. Previous restrictions – such as externally funded criteria or UK lead authorship – will be removed. Guidance on publishing is available via GRO or the University Library Service.
The University acknowledges financial limits but has developed clear criteria for supporting Article Processing Charges (APCs) for journals not covered by R&P agreements. This involves UoA level decision making, transparent allocation processes, and equity focused prioritisation (see section 4.7 for the decision process for publishing).
Green OA will remain a valid route when Gold OA is not feasible. Embargo periods must comply with current mandates (typically 6–12 months from 2025). Advice on current mandates can be obtained from Research Support: Open Access and UoG Open Access policies.
To ensure that all authors retain the necessary rights to make their research openly available, the University adopts an institutional Rights Retention approach.
The University asserts a nonexclusive licence to make the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) of any scholarly article publicly available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence via the research repository upon publication, regardless of publisher embargoes.
For all scholarly articles submitted after 1 April 2026, the author retains the right to make the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) openly available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence, with no embargo, via the University’s repository. This right is granted to the University of Gloucestershire at the point of acceptance and takes precedence over any publisher-imposed restrictions.
Guidance for authors on the correct procedure for applying a Rights Retention Statement to AAMs, along with a suggested wording, can be provided upon request from GRO or the University Library Service. See: Research Support: Open Access for more information.
Staff must understand their responsibilities when signing publishing contracts/agreements. Authors are advised to read their funding agreements carefully and should be aware of the potential consequences of not adhering to funder mandates, which differ according to funder. If in doubt, please refer to GRO.
The University set a limit on APC funding. Approval to fund APCs will be required and must be managed within budget allocations. Each budget unit or centre will apply oversight and tracking mechanisms to ensure fairness, transparency and equity.
Authors should follow the decision pathway below to determine the appropriate route for making their journal articles open access:
It is the author’s responsibility to initiate and manage the above process from start to completion.
All outputs must be deposited in the research repository by the author upon acceptance. For book chapters or monographs/longform works, the University encourages Green Open Access via self-archiving in the research repository, where permitted by the publisher.
To embed good practice, publication planning should become a standard part of objective-setting in Staff Review & Development (SRD) discussions.
The University will provide centralised resources to support:
A fee charged by some journals to make an article immediately Open Access on publication (Gold OA). Read & Publish agreements, central funds, or discipline level budgets may cover APCs.
The final version of a manuscript after peer review, incorporating all revisions, but before the publisher’s typesetting or branding. The AAM is the version usually deposited in the research repository for Green Open Access (with an embargo period).
A fee required by some publishers to make monographs or book chapters Open Access. Approaches to BPCs post REF-2029 are evolving and may involve new sector frameworks.
A fee charged by some journals to make an article immediately Open Access on publication (Gold OA). Read & Publish agreements, central funds, or discipline level budgets may cover APCs.
The final version of a manuscript after peer review, incorporating all revisions, but before the publisher’s typesetting or branding. The AAM is the version usually deposited in the research repository for Green Open Access (with an embargo period).
A fee required by some publishers to make monographs or book chapters Open Access. Approaches to BPCs post REF-2029 are evolving and may involve new sector frameworks.
A route to OA where neither publishing authors nor readers have to pay for the content. Usually, diamond OA journals are sponsored by major institutions or organisations.
The delay imposed by publishers before an AAM can be made Open Access via a repository. Rights Retention eliminates the need to observe journal article embargoes.
A journal where all articles can be read/accessed free of charge immediately upon publication via the publisher site, with no subscription fee payable by the reader. Publishing fees are usually paid for via an article processing charge
Policies set by research funders (e.g., UKRI, Wellcome, NIHR) that require outputs derived from funded work be made openly available. They normally specify deposit requirements, licensing, and, for some funders, Rights Retention wording.
A route to OA where the final published version (Version of Record) is made openly available immediately on the publisher’s website, usually under a CC BY licence. May involve an APC unless covered by a Read & Publish deal.
A route to OA where the AAM is deposited in an institutional or subject repository. Embargoes may apply unless Rights Retention is used.
A journal that publishes both gold open access (with an article processing charge) and subscription-based articles
A digital archive (e.g., University of Gloucestershire Research Repository, that stores, preserves, and makes available research outputs produced by the institution.
The free, unrestricted online availability of research outputs. OA supports transparency, reuse, global accessibility, and increased research visibility and impact. It includes both Gold and Green routes.
Organisations that present themselves as legitimate scholarly publishers but lack proper peer review, editorial processes, or governance. They often target authors with aggressive solicitation and charge APCs without providing quality services.
Transformative agreements negotiated between universities and publishers. They typically cover two components:
These agreements are expected to evolve as publishing transitions to full OA models.
Rules set by Research England for the submission of research outputs to REF 2029. Compliance usually includes repository deposit on acceptance, timely Open Access, and use of compliant licences. Full requirements for monographs, chapters, and creative outputs are still in development.
The process of submitting an AAM or other research output to the research repository, normally occurs upon acceptance. Deposit enables the University to ensure REF compliance and long-term preservation.
Supporting data that underpins scholarly outputs. While not always mandated for deposit, many funders require data to be made as open as possible and as closed as necessary, with appropriate metadata and storage.
Quantitative indicators used to assess research influence (e.g., citations, h-index, journal metrics). The University encourages responsible metrics aligned with DORA and responsible research evaluation principles.
An approach that allows authors to retain the rights needed to make their AAMs available via the research repository without embargo.
Under Rights Retention, the University asserts a nonexclusive licence to make AAMs openly available under CC BY, taking precedence over publisher-imposed restrictions.
A peer-reviewed journal article or conference contribution intended as a formal dissemination of research findings. For REF and funder compliance, this includes articles published in hybrid or fully OA journals.
The version of an article first submitted to a journal for peer review, before revisions and before acceptance
Hybrid journals that are committed to transitioning to full Open Access. They must demonstrate annual increases in OA content to retain transformative status under cOAlition S criteria.
The final, typeset, publisher-branded version of an article. VoRs are typically the version made available through Gold OA routes.
