How to meet the Research Excellence Framework Open Access requirement 

From 1 April 2016, to be eligible for submission to REF2021, all journal articles and conference papers published with an ISSN had to be deposited in WestminsterResearch, via the VRE, within 3 months of acceptance.

For now, the open-access requirements remain the same as for REF2021.  However, these open access requirements are expected to change. We will publicise these changes when the new policy is released by Research England.

How to comply

On acceptance, upload a copy of your accepted author manuscript including date of acceptance to the Virtual Research Environment (VRE).  The repository team will then check for missing information and ensure publishers' copyright policies are complied with, including adding embargoes, before publishing the record to our open access institutional repository WestminsterResearchGo to WestminsterResearch site.

Full-text embargoes

Some publishers insist on an embargo period before the author manuscript version can be made openly available. You should still add the manuscript to the VRE within three months of acceptance, as this ‘closed’ deposit still meets the REF open access criteria. The REF states maximum embargo periods:

  • 12 months for REF Panels A and B
  • 24 months for REF Panels C and D

You can check embargo periods for most journals through SHERPA RoMEO.

By complying with the University’s Open Access Policy, you will be fully compliant for REF2021.

FAQs

We have created a list of FAQs relating to the policy, including possible exceptions. 

Contact

If you require further help, or information, please email [email protected].