Open Access Policy

1. Summary

This policy lays out the requirements for Open Access to research publications produced by researchers at St Mary's University, Twickenham. It applies to all research staff whose research outputs derive from their employment by the University, from research grants or from the use of University resources and facilities and all Post Graduate researchers.

The University is committed to maximising the visibility, citation, usage and impact of research by ensuring that the outputs of its researchers are available openly, wherever possible, as per the University's corporate objective to enhance the quality and quantity of its research, knowledge exchange and enterprise. The University supports Open Access through self-archiving in the University's Open Research Archive Repository - the so-called 'Green' route to Open Access.

The University also supports the principle that the findings of publicly-funded research should be made available as widely as possible in line with Open Access policies as stipulated by the government and research funding bodies.

In order to put this commitment into practice, this policy establishes three key requirements for St Mary's researchers:

Researchers must create a record in theSt Mary's Open Research Archive (institutional publications repository) for each research output that they author or coauthor
Researchers must deposit in the Open Research Archive a copy of the Author Accepted Manuscript (also known as 'post-print') of each journal article or conference contribution (with an ISSN) to comply with the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Open Access policy. This should be done immediately at the point of acceptance for publication. This copy is made available on Open Access as soon as possible, while observing any embargo period stipulated by the publisher. Researchers must ensure their chosen journal meets the requirements of the REF Ope n Access policy and any funder Open Access policies that may be applicable
Researchers in receipt of external funding must ensure they comply with all Open Access publication and data stipulations from the funder. Funding conditions in this area should be carefully scrutinised before an application is made to ensure both the researcher and the University can meet these at the time of publication

2. Aims of the policy

This policy has several key aims:

To improve public access to the outputs of research carried out directly or indirectly with public funding, in line with the University's Mission, Values, and Aims
To raise the profile of both the University and its researchers in the wider world, both nationally and internationally
To ensure a comprehensive institutional record of research activity within the University is available both internally and externally
To enhance the opportunities for increasing the use, re-use, and citations of the University's research outputs in the wider academic environment
To ensure the University complies with the REF Open Access Policy from April 2016 and that University research outputs are not excluded from consideration for the next REF exercise due to lack of Open Access provision
To provide a robust foundation for the University to increase its research activity through provision of compliant infrastructure and procedures that can support external research funding bids

3. Scope

This policy applies to those defined as 'St Mary's University Researchers'. This means all academic staff who publish research findings as part of their employment by the University, as well as Postgraduate Research students. It does not cover either Undergraduate or Taught Postgraduate students. It also does not cover Visiting Lecturers employed on a casual hourly basis to carry out teaching.

Any researchers who are receipt of, or plan to apply for, external research funding have heightened levels of responsibility under this policy due to the Open Access and Research Data Management stipulations that are commonly associated with external research funding.

4. Types of research output covered

This policy covers all published research outputs produced by St Mary's researchers. This includes, but is not limited to, journal articles, conference proceedings, monographs and book chapters.

The Open Access stipulations of this policy currently only cover journal articles and conference contributions in conference proceedings with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) published from April 2016 onwards. However, researchers are encouraged to deposit all research outputs in the Open Research Archive as Open Access if this is permissible within copyright law and/or the publisher's licence.

5. Process for complying with policy

5.1 Choice of journal for research publication

St Mary's researchers are advised to employ caution in selection of journals for publishing their research. This is to avoid the risk of research outputs becoming ineligible for consideration in the next REF due to lack of Open Access provision. In the case of externally funded research, there is also a need to choose a journal which meets the funder's requirements for Open Access. Researchers should pay particularly close attention to the following:

The journal must permit the author to post a copy of the Author Accepted Manuscript (Postprint) to an institutional repository site as soon as the article is accepted
The journal must not have an embargo period that is longer than that specified by the REF and/or the research funder. The maximum embargo periods for REF purposes are 12 months for REF Panels A and B and 24 months for Panels C and D. Please note that some research funders have shorter maximum embargo periods

Both of these permissions can easily be checked for any given journal by searching for it on the SHERPA/RoMEO tool . If in doubt please contact the Open Access team in Library Services.

5.2 Adding records for all research outputs

Researchers must create a record on the Open Research Archive site for each research publication they author. This record should be created as soon as the item is accepted for publication and can be done by using the self-deposit functionality on the Open Research Archive at https://research.stmarys.ac.uk and following the on-screen prompts

As a minimum, the record must include the following information:

The full title of the research output
The title of the publication the output appears in (if applicable)
Full details of the author and any co-authors as these details appear in the publication
Acceptance for Publication date (DD/MM/YYYY)
An abstract summarising the outcomes and findings of the research
Researcher's ORCID iD

5.3 Adding full text for journal articles and conference proceedings

In addition to the requirement laid out in section 5.1, authors of journal articles and conference proceedings must also ensure a copy of the full text of the publication is made available on Open Access on the Open Research Archive to be compliant with REF policy for inclusion in the REF. This can be accomplished by uploading the full text of the Author Accepted Manuscript in Word or PDF format at the time that the record is created. There are several specific requirements in this area to ensure compliance with REF policy:

The full-text must made available on Open Access within three months of being accepted by the publisher (and this is scheduled to become immediate upon acceptance for publication in the future)
The full-text must be provided as the Author Accepted Manuscript (also known as the 'Postprint'). This is the final peer-reviewed version as sent to the publisher for typesetting. It is not the final publisher PDF version
If an embargo period is set by the publisher, this should be respected by delaying Open Access using the 'restrict Open Access' functionality in the Open Research Archive site. Publisher embargo periods can be checked using the SHERPA/RoMEO tool .

5.4 Complying with funding body requirements for Open Access

Many public and private funding bodies now stipulate Open Access to research outputs and/or supporting research data as a condition of research funding. Researchers who plan to apply for external funding must ensure that both they and the University can meet these requirements prior to submitting funding bids. The SHERPA/FACT tool can be used to ensure a specific publication is compliant with a funder's requirements.

If a researcher is in any doubt about their ability to comply with these requirements they are advised to contact the Library Services or Research Services for advice.

5.5 Responsibilities under this policy

The following units or staff members within the University have specific responsibilities in implementing this policy:

6. The University Research Committee

The University Research Committee is responsible for overseeing the process of research publication at St Mary's University and has overall responsibility for approving this policy and its requirements.

6.1 Research Services

The Research Services Department is responsible for monitoring research activity across the University and providing support and development to researchers. This includes monitoring compliance with internal and external policies on Open Access, as well as providing support to researchers making funding bids. The department is also responsible for coordinating the University's REF submissions and ensuring that all outputs included in the submission are compliant with the REF Open Access policy.

6.2 School Research Coordinators

The School Research Coordinators are responsible for supporting researchers in each Academic School and ensuring compliance with this policy within the Schools. Each Research Coordinator should have a full understanding of Open Access requirements specific to the disciplines for which they are responsible.

6.3 Researchers

Researchers themselves are responsible for familiarising themselves with the requirements of this policy and carrying out the actions outlined in section 5 for each research output they produce. In the case of joint projects with external researchers, this will involve joint responsibility for complying with the Open Access policies of each host institution.

Researchers should understand that failure to comply with these requirements may leave research outputs at risk of being inadmissible in the next REF exercise.

6.4 Library Services

The University Library Services is responsible for managing the Open Research Archive on behalf of the University, ensuring that the service meets the requirements of both researchers and external bodies. Library Services liaise with internal and external infrastructure suppliers as required to ensure the appropriate technology is in place to support this policy. Library Services is also responsible for ensuring the quality of metadata in the Open Research Archive to ensure all publications are able to be discovered, accessed and downloaded.

The Open Access team is specifically responsible for providing specialist support to researchers and other staff on the Open Access publishing process, serving as the University's expert on Open Access policy.

7. Monitoring

The provisions of this policy will be monitored on an ongoing basis by the Research Services team. Library Services will facilitate this by providing regular updates on activity within the Open Research Archive repository.

Last updated: July 2019