The REF 2021 policy states;
‘Gold’ open access usually means the immediate, permanent, and free to access availability of the published version of record on the publisher’s website and with a licence that permits copying and reuse. Outputs that are made open access through the ‘gold’ route, at the point of first publication, in accordance with other funder’s requirements and definitions, meet the requirement of the REF 2021 open access policy. HEIs will need to confirm that outputs were available immediately after publication via the gold route.
Research outputs that are published Gold Open Access, immediately upon publication with a re-use licence, such as a Creative Commons licence will be compliant with the REF open access policy. Although Gold Open Access outputs will be considered REF compliant, academic staff and researchers are encouraged to upload these outputs to their profiles for inclusion in CRO.