UKRI Open Access policy: 2013 to 2022

This information applies to the UKRI open access policy which covers peer-reviewed research articles submitted before 1 April 2022.

Articles submitted after 1 April 2022 must follow the updated UKRI open access policy.

In April 2013 Research Councils UK (now UKRI) introduced a combined policy for open access to funded research outputs: UKRI Policy on Open Access.

The policy applies to peer-reviewed research papers, which acknowledge Research Council funding, and which are published in journals or conference proceedings. There are additional requirements for MRC-funded outputs.

If you need help with any of the information below, email openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk for support.

  1. Check if your chosen journal is compliant with the UKRI policy using the SHERPA/FACT service
  2. Ensure you have acknowledged the funding that supported the research in your paper, using the format: "This work was supported by the xxxx Research Council [grant number xxxx]."
  3. If applicable, include a statement in your paper on how the underlying research materials – such as data, samples or models – can be accessed. Contact research-data@st-andrews.ac.uk for advice on Research Data Management.
  4. Choose your route to open access - for hybrid (subscription-based) journals follow the 'Green' option and complete the process as described below. For fully open access journals (as listed in DOAJ) contact the Open Access team to check funds are available, and follow the 'Gold' route.
  5. Use PURE to help with reporting - link publications with projects and information about data. See Pure user guides.

Link publication and project in Pure

Pure can help to provide acknowledgement to funders and establish relationships with projects and research activities. By linking projects and publications we can expose and promote research outcomes for funded projects. See Pure user guides

Adding related projects in Pure:

  • in the Metadata editor for your research output, scroll down to the section marked 'Relations'
  • click on the 'Add project' button
  • search for your funded project by title, author, grant ID or funder
  • select the appropriate project to relate it to your publication.

Link underlying data

You can also describe and relate information about underlying data by using Pure:

  • use 'Add New' to create a record for the research data (select 'Dataset').
  • once complete, scroll down to the section marked 'Relations'
  • click on the 'Add Research Output' button
  • search for and select your publication.

Additional support for Research Data Management is available from research-data@st-andrews.ac.uk

For further questions about open access, please contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk