Open access (OA) is a movement to grant free, online access to peer-reviewed scholarly material, with as few restrictions as possible on how the material can be reused, as long as the authors are properly acknowledged. This makes research outcomes available to anyone at no cost, unlike traditional models of publishing whereby readers are required to pay a subscription to be able to access content.
There are many reasons to make your work available via Open Access, including:
Open Access makes research available to far more people than a subscription-only journal article does, this can facilitate the spread of ideas and research collaboration
Open Access encourages public engagement with research
Your funding body may have a mandate which requires you to make your research available via Open Access
Health Sciences University has a Open Access Policy which requires researchers to upload a version of their article into our institutional repository where possible
The HSU institutional Open Access Fund provides a route to Gold Open Access where alternative funding (i.e., external grant funding) is not available to pay article processing charges (APC). The fund covers APCs for peer-reviewed outputs that support the strategic aims of HSU.
The Green route to Open Access describes depositing a version of a research output, published in a traditional journal, in an open access repository. This route is free but deposits may be subject to an embargo period and publishers may also place restrictions on the version that can be made available by the author. You can check the Green Open Access policies of a particular journal title using Jisc's Open Policy Finder. Health Sciences University encourages all its researchers to make their outputs Open Access via the Green route.
The Gold route to Open Access means that the output is openly available to all on the publisher's website. This route often incurs a fee known as an Article Processing Charge (APC), some external funders may cover these costs. Articles published via the Gold route should still be uploaded to the institutional repository.
Diamond Open Access, also known as Platinum Open Access, is a scholarly publishing model where research is freely available to both readers and authors at no cost. It differs from Gold Open Access where authors pay fees to publish in open access journals. Diamond Open Access is often community-driven, scholar-led, and funded by institutions, research organizations, or other initiatives, ensuring equitable access to research.
The HSU Publication & Open Access Policy and Procedures can be found below. The policy provides guidance on all steps on the path towards publication, including rights retention.
To be eligible for submission to REF 2029, outputs in scope (journal articles and conference proceedings with an ISSN) must be uploaded to the repository in line with the timeframes below:
Those published between 1st January 2021 and 31 December 2025 within 3 months of the date of acceptance.
Those published between 1st January 2026 and 31 December 2028 within 3 months of the date of publication.
There is no OA requirement for other output types, such as monographs and book chapters, in REF 2029.
You will find more information on the REF tab.