Complying with the UKRI open access policy for researchers: articles
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A quick guide for libraries and research offices to help researchers with UKRI funding make their research immediately available.
Introduction
Open access to research outputs is integral to maximising the value of publicly funded research. It ensures that knowledge is freely available to researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public - removing barriers to collaboration, innovation, and informed decision-making. By extending open access beyond journal articles to include monographs, we aim to support a more inclusive and transparent research ecosystem.
Open access also strengthens research integrity and reproducibility. When outputs are openly available, it becomes easier to validate findings, build on existing work, and support interdisciplinary research. This openness is especially important in tackling global challenges, where timely access to knowledge can accelerate solutions. Through our work we are committed to working with institutions and partners to develop sustainable models that support open access across all output types.
UKRI’s open access policy requires that all peer-reviewed research articles (including reviews and conference papers) submitted from 1 April 2022 must be made open access (OA) immediately on publication.
This guide outlines steps that you can take to support UKRI-funded researchers in your institution to comply with the policy, whether through gold or green OA routes.
A companion version of this guide is also available for publishers.
Read our complying with the UKRI open access policy for publishers: articles guide.
Requirements for research articles
| Immediate OA, no embargo | Authors must be able to make their articles open access immediately on publication. They can achieve this via:
Authors must deposit the manuscript immediately on acceptance or publication. Use of a licence statement ensures compliance if a publisher does not permit immediate OA. |
| CC BY licence required | UKRI’s policy requires a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence for most articles, ensuring maximum reuse and visibility. CC0 is also permitted. CC BY-ND is an exception that requires explicit approval from UKRI. This should be obtained by the author or their research organisation. |
| Data access statement | Authors must include a statement about how to access the data underpinning their work, or explain why data cannot be openly shared. The UKRI guidance on making your research data open can help with this. |
| Acknowledgement of funding | The article should acknowledge UKRI funding. |
Tip: both green routes 1 and 2 are equally valid, and UKRI does not favour one route over the other. It’s important to check that researchers understand this and plan for compliance before submission to a journal.
Your institution may have a rights retention policy which will allow you to share your AAM via your institutional repository. Our developing and managing institutional rights retention policies guide can support you with this.
Where you can use UKRI block funding
UKRI block grant funds can only be used where the journal or agreement meets UKRI’s eligibility criteria. That includes:
- Journals included in a Jisc-approved transitional agreement (TA)
- APCs in fully OA Journals offering a CC BY licence
UKRI block funding can not be used for:
- Hybrid journals which are not part of Jisc-approved TAs
- Transformative journals (TJs) where articles were submitted after 31 December 2024
- Additional charges such as page, colour or submission charges not related to OA
Tip: following these requirements ensures that your researchers’ article complies with UKRI as well as REF 2029.
Your role in supporting compliance
1. Advise and train researchers
- Proactively inform UKRI-funded researchers about the open access policy including UKRI's licensing requirements and the requirement to acknowledge UKRI funding. This should ideally be at the point of grant receipt. Researchers should have a plan for compliance before submission
- Promote the journal checker tool and open policy finder to find journals offering a compliant route. Note that there are policy differences between funders (eg UKRI and Wellcome). If your institution manages multiple funder grants, be clear on these distinctions
- Ensure researchers know the availability of the green open access route: block grants are provided by UKRI as a contribution towards the cost of complying with the UKRI policy and are not intended to cover all costs incurred and may not meet demand for OA at your organisation. Encourage authors to request funding before submission or acceptance, and ensure authors understand that not every UKRI-funded paper will get an APC covered if funds run out
- Provide a template licence statement for green OA
- Proactively inform UKRI-funded researchers about the open access policy including UKRI's licensing requirements and the requirement to acknowledge UKRI funding. This should ideally be at the point of grant receipt. Researchers should have a plan for compliance before submission
- Promote the journal checker tool and open policy finder to find journals offering a compliant route. Note that there are policy differences between funders (eg UKRI and Wellcome). If your institution manages multiple funder grants, be clear on these distinctions
- Ensure researchers know the availability of the green open access route: block grants are provided by UKRI as a contribution towards the cost of complying with the UKRI policy and are not intended to cover all costs incurred and may not meet demand for OA at your organisation. Encourage authors to request funding before submission or acceptance, and ensure authors understand that not every UKRI-funded paper will get an APC covered if funds run out
- Provide a template licence statement for green OA
2. Manage the block grant
- Set up a straightforward process for researchers to request APC funding from the block grant. This typically involves a web form or email request to the library
- Ensure APC requests meet UKRI rules (licensing and journal choice)
- Retain information and monitor block grant expenditures and compliance of APC payments, including articles covered by transitional deals
- Track usage, plan budgets, and keep accurate records
Additional guidance can be found in the UKRI open access policy and supplementary FAQs
- Set up a straightforward process for researchers to request APC funding from the block grant. This typically involves a web form or email request to the library
- Ensure APC requests meet UKRI rules (licensing and journal choice)
- Retain information and monitor block grant expenditures and compliance of APC payments, including articles covered by transitional deals
- Track usage, plan budgets, and keep accurate records
Additional guidance can be found in the UKRI open access policy and supplementary FAQs
3. Operate the repository
- For every UKRI article not covered by an immediate OA journal, the VOR or AAM should be deposited upon acceptance (or by publication at the latest)
- Check that deposited versions include the correct licence, funder acknowledgement, and data access statements
- For every UKRI article not covered by an immediate OA journal, the VOR or AAM should be deposited upon acceptance (or by publication at the latest)
- Check that deposited versions include the correct licence, funder acknowledgement, and data access statements
4. Monitor compliance and reporting
- UKRI will use existing data sources to monitor policy compliance of research organisations. This will form part of UKRI’s ongoing monitoring and evaluation activity; research organisations no longer need to submit an annual compliance spreadsheet
- If there is a pattern of repeated or extensive non-compliance, or evidence of research organisations not supporting researchers adequately, UKRI may contact the research organisation to find a solution
- Develop internal processes to track funded research outputs, and ensure policy
- UKRI requires institutions to report on block grant expenditures and compliance annually. Keep detailed records of APC payments, including articles covered by transformative deals
- UKRI will use existing data sources to monitor policy compliance of research organisations. This will form part of UKRI’s ongoing monitoring and evaluation activity; research organisations no longer need to submit an annual compliance spreadsheet
- If there is a pattern of repeated or extensive non-compliance, or evidence of research organisations not supporting researchers adequately, UKRI may contact the research organisation to find a solution
- Develop internal processes to track funded research outputs, and ensure policy
- UKRI requires institutions to report on block grant expenditures and compliance annually. Keep detailed records of APC payments, including articles covered by transformative deals
Contact
For help and guidance on the above, please contact us by phone 020 3006 6088 or email help.digitalresources@jisc.ac.uk