Open access
arc is, with the other major UK funding bodies, funding a UK version of PMC. Please read the following information very carefully.
1. What is the Arthritis Research Campaign’s open access policy?
1.1 It is a condition of arc funding that, on acceptance for publication, a copy of the final manuscript of all peer reviewed research papers supported in whole or in part by an arc grant must be deposited in an open access archive such as PubMed Central (PMC) or UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) once established, to be made freely available within 6 months of publication.
1.2 This policy applies to all primary research papers submitted for publication on or after 1st January 2007. It does not apply to book chapters, editorials, case reports, reviews or conference proceedings.
1.3 Grantholders may apply for additional funding to cover the costs of page processing charges levied by publishers who support the open access model but who will not allow manuscripts deposited in UKPMC to become available within 6 months of the publisher’s official date of final publication. This funding does not cover additional page charges or colour plate charges.
2. How do I comply with this policy?
2.1 As an author there are two ways in which you can comply with this requirement.
2.2 Option 1, you can deposit a copy of the final, peer reviewed manuscript in UKPMC. In this case, papers must be made freely available as soon as possible and, in any event, no later than 6 months after the journal publisher’s official date of final publication. An author manuscript submission system that will enable arc researchers to self-archive papers in UKPMC will go live early in 2007.
2.3 Option 2, you can submit your manuscript to a journal that offers an open access option. Journals which provide this facility will take responsibility for depositing the final, published version of your paper in PMC and making it freely available on the day of publication. Papers deposited in this way will be mirrored to UKPMC.
Publishers that provide this option include all the open access publishers and an increasing number of traditional publishers, who have introduced a hybrid model in which individual articles can be made open access. Under this model the author pays a fee to the publisher to make their article accessible for free online immediately it is published in the journal. A copy of the article will be deposited in PMC (and mirrored to UKPMC), again with immediate free access.
2.4 Grantholders should first explore Option 1 which will be at no cost. If the publisher's policy does not allow author deposition in UKPMC or does not allow deposited papers to be made freely available within 6 months, they may apply for additional funding to cover the costs of page processing charges levied by publishers who support the open access model.
2.5 In both approaches, authors are expected to include in the manuscript the unique identifier(s) for the funding. In the case of arc funding, this will include the grant reference number (further details to follow). This is to enable funders to link the published outputs of research to the funding provided.
3. How can I find out whether my journal has an arc-compliant policy with regard to depositing my manuscript in UKPMC?
3.1 The Sherpa Romeo database http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php, developed by the University of Nottingham, provides information as to whether or not a journal has a publication policy that is compliant with Wellcome Trust policy and hence compliant with arc policy.
3.2 If the journal to which you wish to submit your manuscript is not listed in the database, or the policy is not clear, you are advised to speak directly to the journal’s editorial staff. If the editorial staff reaffirm that the journal policy is not compatible with that of the Wellcome Trust (and arc), authors should follow the guidance below.
4. What should I do if the journal does not have an open access option, nor does it allow me to self-archive my manuscript with UKPMC?
4.1 Authors must ensure in advance of making any agreement with, or commitment to, a publisher at any stage, that this agreement or commitment does not conflict with the author's obligations under arc’s Conditions of Award. Specifically, authors should inform the journal that they have an existing obligation to make their papers available through UKPMC, and investigate whether the publisher's policy is in conflict with this obligation.
4.2 Authors are unlikely to be able to comply with the Conditions of Award if, without reaching a specific agreement with the journal about deposition of a copy of the final paper in PMC, they transfer their copyright (or undertake to do so in the future) to a journal.
If such a conflict exists, authors have a variety of options:
(a) Grant a licence of their copyright to a journal instead of assigning. Such a licence would have to deal with the rights granted to the journal in such a way as to allow the journal to publish but still allow the author to deposit in PMC. In this way, authors should be able to retain ownership of their copyright and still allow publication in a journal. This could be achieved, for example, through using the JISC SURF Licence to Publish.
(b) Agree to a journal's normal arrangements only on the condition that it be specifically agreed that deposition in PMC can take place. Copyright agreements can take many forms, but the following is an example of the sort of wording that could be included in an agreement with a journal that would still allow an author to comply with arc’s Conditions of Award:
Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this agreement, the journal acknowledges that the researcher will be entitled to deposit an electronic copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript into PubMed Central (PMC), or UK PubMed Central (UKPMC), and for this manuscript to be mirrored to all PMC international sites. Manuscripts deposited with PMC (or UKPMC) may be made freely available to the public, via the internet, within 6 months of the official date of final publication in the journal.
4.3 If a publisher's policy does not support open access or allow the deposition of arc-funded research papers in UKPMC to be made freely available from PMC and all other PMCI repositories within 6 months of publication, then the author should not proceed with the submission to that journal and should reconsider where to publish. This is anticipated to be an exceptional circumstance. It is also worth noting that the major medical research charities (including the Wellcome Trust), the Research Councils and a number of other national and non-government funding agencies in the UK and around the world have adopted very similar positions, which make it likely that open access publication will become part of normal research practice within a few years.
5. How will open access costs be met?
Application for additional costs to support open access publishing should be made on the appropriate application form available from the arc web site.
6. If a publisher offers a funded-access option am I obligated to select this option?
6.1 No, as long as the publisher allows self-archiving of a suitable version of the manuscript to be made available within 6 months of publication.
6.2 If a publisher only offers a funded access option, which provides free access to the published version in PMC/UKPMC at the time of publication, then the author must select this option.
7. In cases where I am self-archiving the paper in UKPMC, when should I do this, which version should I deposit and how do I do it?
7.1 An electronic version of the author's final manuscript resulting from research supported, in whole or in part, by arc funding should be submitted upon acceptance for publication.
7.2 The version of the paper that should be archived is the final version that is accepted for journal publication, and includes all modifications from the publishing peer-review process. The publisher’s PDF version should NOT be deposited.
7.3 From January 2007, UKPMC will be live and all author depositions should be made via this system. This will be available on the UKPMC website http://www.ukpmc.ac.uk/.
8. Who will be able to self-archive a manuscript?
8.1 It is expected that manuscript files may be submitted to UKPMC by the author or anyone given access to the author's files (administrative personnel, graduate students, librarians, etc). Further details will follow.
8.2 Irrespective of who submits the paper, approval of the PDF receipt and web version of the manuscript requires PI review and authorisation. Until this happens, submitted papers are not processed.
9. Will I be required to make my previously published papers accessible through UKPMC?
No. The policy only applies to arc funded research papers submitted from 1st January 2007 regardless of award date. However, as long as you are not breaching publisher copyright agreements, we will be delighted if previously published papers are also deposited in UKPMC.
10. As a result of this policy, what are the benefits to authors?
10.1 Authors will benefit in two ways. Firstly, their research papers will be given a much wider form of dissemination and will be able to be read without restriction by anyone with internet access. And, although the evidence is incomplete, it is starting to show that open access articles are cited more often than non-open access articles from the same journal and year.
10.2 Researchers will increasingly be able to search the full text of all the research published in their area, not just the research available to them via the subscriptions their institution offers.
11. Will arc allow exceptions?
If a researcher wishes to publish a paper in a journal that is unwilling to agree either to author/institution-ownership of copyright, or to deposition in UKPMC within 6 months, arc may, in very exceptional cases, grant permission for authors to submit the paper for publication in such a journal. Such permission is likely to be granted only if a strong case can be made that the paper needs to be published in a particular journal and if there is evidence that the author has raised the issue with the publisher. Requests should be made in writing before the paper is formally submitted for the first time to arc Head Office including details of:
- Your current employing institution
- Title and abstract of the paper
- arc grant reference number
- The name of the journal you would like to submit the paper to, and the reasons for choosing that journal
- The titles of at least two alternative journals that meet arc’s Open Access policy
- Evidence, specific to this paper, that the publisher will not agree either to author/institution-ownership of copyright, or to deposition in UKPMC within 6 months.
12. Who can I contact for more information and/or help?
Any queries about this policy and its implementation should be directed to Claire Fantom, c.fantom@arc.org.uk.
