City Research Online and REF

The Open Access policy for the REF 2021 allows for publisher embargoes; publications requiring embargoes will be eligible for REF 2021.

What is an embargo? 

Embargoes are set out by publishers and are periods of time during which the full text of an accepted manuscript of a publication is not allowed to be openly accessible. During this time, the publication details will be available in CRO as well as the abstract of the publication. The full text of the publication will only be accessible on individual basis with the author's permission. 

Permissible embargo lengths

• Main panel A and B: 12 months
• Main panel C and D: 24 months

When does an embargo period start? 

• at a point of first publication (this is, in most cases, an online publication date)

Publications with exceeding lengths of embargo periods

• These publications will be eligible for the submission for the REF 2021 as exceptions provided the publisher has been identified as the most appropriate for the publication. 

How to check for embargoes? 

• The publications team applies embargoes as appropriate during the processing of individual publications. SHERPA RoMEO service provides details on embargoes and other self-archiving policies and can be searched by a journal title or a publisher name.