REF2029 open access policy

We are awaiting guidance for the REF 2029 open access policy and would currently advise anyone submitting a journal article or conference paper from 1 January 2021 to follow the REF 2021 open access policy guidance below. As soon as open access requirements for the REF 2029 period are available, information will be shared.

The existing REF open access policy applies to all journal articles and conference proceedings accepted for publication from 1st January 2021. Until further notice this policy continues to apply. The REF 2021 Index of revisions to the 'Guidance on submissions', paragraphs 223 to 255 (pages 54 to 59) provides full details of the open access requirements for REF.

What do GCU authors need to do?

GCU authors need to deposit the author accepted manuscript of journal articles and conference proceedings in Pure within three months of the acceptance date. Authors should add the publication information and upload the author accepted manuscript.

What’s an author accepted manuscript?

The Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM), also known as the Post-Print, is the final draft of the work after changes from peer review have been incorporated, but before the publisher has added any typesetting, formatting or logos.

What about gold open access?

For journal articles that have been published via the gold open access route (where the publisher charges a fee to publish), the author accepted manuscript should still be deposited in Pure upon acceptance. The library will add the final published version later once it becomes available.

Further information and guidance

We provide guidance for GCU staff on how to deposit in Pure. If you have any questions regarding deposit or REF compliance please contact libraryresearch@gcu.ac.uk.