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Open Access for REF

The policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings that have an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) and were published between 01 January 2021 and 31 December 2028. There is no open access requirement in REF 2029 for any other output types e.g. longform outputs, including monographs, book chapters and scholarly editions.

Depositing Research Outputs to Â鶹ӳ»­ Research Online (SRO)

Use to create publication records for accepted research outputs which have not yet been published or to claim publication records for outputs which have already been published. Publication records are then deposited to , the university's institutional repository.

Depositing manual records

• Create a manual record for publications which have been accepted for publication and deposit the record within 3 months of the acceptance date (if published on or before 31st December 2025) or publication date (if published after 31st December 2025).
• Attach the author's accepted manuscript (AAM) to your manual record. This is the version after peer-review but before any layout or copyediting work is completed by the publisher. This will then be made available on SRO.
• Watch for a step-by-step guide on how to use Elements to deposit an accepted publication. Further information is available in the

Depositing claimed publications

• Elements harvests published research from various external databases via identifiers such as your Scopus ID, ResearchID or ORCiD to create claimable records. Adding more information to the ‘identifiers’ section of Elements will improve the accuracy of claimable publications attached to your profile.
• If Elements is certain you have authored a publication, it will automatically claim it for you. If Elements is not sure you authored the publication, it will appear in your pending list. You can claim or reject publications by clicking the blue REJECT or CLAIM buttons on each record in the list, or by selecting multiple records using the checkboxes.
• For existing records, you still need to attach the AAM to the record for upload onto SRO. Watch for a step-by-step guide on how to use Elements to deposit a claimed publication. Further information is available in the

REF 2029 requirements & information

• The basics

  Most outputs will be able to comply with the REF Open Access requirements as follows: 

  • Check if your journal permits self-archiving of papers and whether the embargo date is a maximum of 6 months (for REF panels A&B) or 12 months (for REF panels C&D) 

  • Deposit the accepted version of your article or conference paper to SRO via Elements at the point of acceptance or within 3 months of publication. 

• How is Open Access defined in this policy?

  The REF policy states that to be considered OA the output must allow anyone with internet access to search electronically within the text, read it and download it without charge. It must also be discoverable to anyone with an internet connection and to search engines.

• What outputs does this cover?

  In-scope outputs are those published between 1st January 2021 and 31st December 2028. The policy applies to journal articles and published conference proceedings where the conference publishes 'online, journal-like series of proceedings (typically within the sciences)'. These usually have an ISSN. Conferences that publish books or book-like outputs (typically in the humanities) are not intended to be in scope of the policy, however; we would encourage deposit of accepted manuscripts for these items as well.

• How can an output comply?

  To comply, the final peer-reviewed manuscript of all articles and conference proceedings must be deposited in an open access institutional or subject repository within 3 months of publication, though depositing manuscripts after acceptance is also encouraged.  Authors should deposit their author accepted manuscript (AAM) which is the version post peer review but before any copyediting or layout work has taken place.

  The University’s publications policy will ensure compliance with REF open access requirements.

• What are the permitted embargo periods?

  Most publishers will allow the deposit of the AAM in repositories such as Â鶹ӳ»­ Research Online, but many will not allow the paper to be made freely available immediately and will impose an embargo period. The policy states that outputs must be deposited in a repository within 3 months of publication, but that they may be embargoed for a period of no more than 6 months (for REF panels A&B) and 12 months (for REF panels C&D) after which they will be made available.  

  The Â鶹ӳ»­’s Publications and Copyright Policy allows authors to retain the right to make a copy of their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM), for journal articles and conference proceedings, immediately Open Access through their institutional repository under a CC BY license, irrespective of any embargo periods stipulated by publishers. More information on the policy can be found here. 

• Do I need to deposit in a repository if the article was published as Gold OA

  The Â鶹ӳ»­ requests that you deposit your article to SRO via Elements even if it was published as Gold OA.

• Is there any specific licence requirement?

  The policy does not ask for a specific licence as long as the reader is able to read the output, to download it, and to search electronically within it, all without charge. Outputs licenced under (or more permissive licences) would meet these requirements.

• What if the output doesn't comply?

  In certain circumstances a paper can be submitted to the REF even though it does not comply with the REF Open Access Policy. Permitted exceptions are outlined on the Exceptions for the REF page alongside the action that authors need to take. It is always better to seek advice as early as possible in the process.

• Exceptions for the REF 2029 Open Access policy from 1st January 2026 to 31st December 2028

  Exceptions are recorded in SRO by the team but in many cases will need to be agreed with UoA leads, DRaKEs or Research Managers. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, even if an exception applies, the accepted manuscript should be added to SRO within 3 months of publication. It is always better to act on acceptance and notification of publication to minimise the risk of an output becoming ineligible for REF submission.

  Permitted exceptions are outlined below. For more details .

  Deposit exceptions

  • It would be unlawful to deposit the output.
  • The publication actively disallows open access deposit in a repository.
  • There was a delay in securing the final peer‑reviewed text for deposit.

  Access exceptions

  • The publication requires an embargo period that exceeds the stated maxima.
  • Third‑party content was included for which licences could not be obtained.
  • Deposit is possible, but access, embargo, or licensing requirements cannot be met.

  Technical exceptions

  • The output relates to the submitting institution but was published after the author’s employment ended and compliance cannot be determined.
  • The output was authored entirely by staff who are or were ineligible for the REF 2029 volume measure.
  • A technical issue prevented the output from meeting the open access criteria.

  ‘Other’ exception
  The “Other” exception should be used where criteria beyond the control of the institution prevent compliance. If ‘other’ exception is selected, the output will not need to meet the open access criteria.

  For exceptions for the REF period of 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2025 please visit this page.