The UK’s European university

INTRODUCTION TO OPEN ACCESS/ UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Dr Nicola Cooper

What is open access?

Open Access refers to unrestricted access to peer-reviewed research outputs via the Internet, free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.

Open Access is also often referred to as Gold or Green.

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Routes to Open Access (OA)

Gold

• Articles available free of charge to the reader and free of most copyright restrictions

• Author/Institution may be required to pay a publication fee (article processing charge or APC)

• ‘Hybrid’ model - subscription-based but with the option of OA for an author

Green

• Deposit in an institutional or subject repository

• Articles freely available

• Most commonly deposit of post-print (after peer review)

• May be subject to embargo-period (usually 6-12 months)

‘Diamon’ Open Access

• Free Open Access Journals

• Immediate access to the final, published version of the article

• The researcher pays no fee to the Journal

• e.g. feminists@law

Why Publish Open Access?• Increases the visibility of your research. Evidence shows the impact of publishing

OA on the number of citations an article receives• Articles whose authors have supplemented subscription-based access to the publisher’s

version by self-archiving their own final draft to make it free for all on the web are cited significantly more than articles in the same journal and year that have not been made OA*

• Accelerates research as a whole

• Allows taxpayers to access research paid for by public funds and allows students to access the latest research findings

• Improved University of Kent research profile and the use of University of Kent research

• Ensures compliance with Research Funders policies (RCUK, Wellcome Trust, European Commission) thereby increasing the chances of future funding

• Ensures compliance with the University of Kent OA Policy

• Ensures submission to post-2014 REF complies with HEFCE OA requirements*Gargouri Y et al(2010) PLoS

ONE 5 (10):e13636

RCUK Open Access Policy

• Effective from 1st April, 2013• Applies to all peer reviewed research articles and conference

proceedings that acknowledge funding from UK’s Research councils.

• OA can be through Gold or Green routes• If via the Green route with a delay of no more than 6 months after

publication for STEM disciplines and 12 months for arts, humanities, and social sciences. This has been extended, for the 5 year transition period, to 12 months for STEM and 24 months for arts, humanities, and social sciences

• All research papers to include a statement of how underlying materials, such as data, can be accessed.

University of Kent OA Policy• University of Kent OA Policy (1st April, 2013)

• The University supports the principles and objectives of OA and Open Science

• Where possible it will make all forms of output from its research available freely and accessible in ways that allow them to be used and re-used for the benefit of wider society. Any underlying data referred to should also be available on the same basis, where appropriate

• The University is also committed to the principle that research should be published in the most suitable outlet for the intended primary audience and that such decisions may be subject specific

University of Kent OA Policy• The University has a preference for Green Open Access, as a way of

achieving a wider and more feasible form of access to its publications, but supports Gold Open Access where appropriate and within available resources.

• The University requires all research publications produced by staff as part of their employment are registered in KAR

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Proposal

• Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Policy for open access in the post-2014 Research Excellence Framework which states:

• to be eligible for submission to the post-2014 REF, authors’ final peer-reviewed manuscripts must have been deposited in an institutional or subject repository on acceptance for publication

• the requirement applies only to journal articles and conference proceedings with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

• the policy applies to research outputs accepted for publication after 1 April 2016• the policy allows repositories to respect embargo periods set by publishers. Where a

publication specifies an embargo period, authors can comply with the policy by making a ‘closed’ deposit on acceptance.

• It will not apply to monographs, book chapters, other long-form publications, working papers, creative or practice-based research outputs, or data.

What is the University of Kent doing to support OA? Via the Green Route

• Deposit your publication in the Kent Academic Repository (or a subject based repository)

• The University provides central support (within Information Services) for Green Open Access through KAR and related services (such as advice on publisher OA policies).

• The publication (usually the peer-reviewed final manuscript) should be deposited within three months of acceptance for publication (for REF compliance) and, if applicable, appropriate embargo periods can be set so that the full text becomes available automatically after the end of the embargo period.

• Electronic University of Kent Research Theses into KAR from September 2014.• For advice contact karadmin@kent.ac.uk

What is the University of Kent doing to support OA? Via the Gold Route

• Request an APC Payment (for OA via the Gold Route)• The University of Kent receives RCUK funding for APC payments and considers

requests for funding for APCs by RCUK-funded authors if:– green OA (via a repository) is not available or the embargo period of a journal

exceeds the RCUK requirements for OA via the green route• University may also fund articles by non-RCUK funded authors that are highly

rated by Schools (equivalent to 3* or 4* in the REF)• Currently we have institutional accounts for APC at reduced rates with IEEE and

Wiley (can also be used by authors whose APCs are not funded by the University)

• A limited number of APC vouchers are available for authors publishing in Royal Society of Chemistry journals.

• All authors can request APC funding or ask for advice via apcharges@kent.ac.uk

What is the University of Kent doing to support OA?

Open Access Journals•Kent Open Access Journals are hosted on:

– Open Journal System» Journal Management and Publishing System» Hosting costs $800/year» E.g. feminists@law

– Blogs.Kent» Staff or research postgraduates can apply for a blog» It’s quick and easy to setup » E.g. Political Almanac, Skepsi (student led journals)

– Other Blog sites» Word Press – Contention (student led journal)» Scribd – Splinter (student led journal)

– Publications Advisory Board:– Chaired by Simon Kirchin (Dean of Humanities) and consisting of academics,

Information Services and Research Services – To advise on issues including selection of new OA Journals, on services

provided to Journal teams, publication policies and future strategic direction.– For advice and information contact oajournals@kent.ac.uk

What is the University of Kent doing to support OA?

Open Access Journals

What is the University of Kent doing to support OA?

OA Steering Group– Directors of Research from all faculties (or representatives), Research Services,

Information Services– Meet every 6 weeks– Remit: to provide direction, shape OA projects and identify where work is

required

For further information:

– University of Kent OA Webpages– http://www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access/index.html

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