The new NIHR open access policy applies to in-scope research outputs submitted on or after 1st June 2022. For research outputs submitted before 1st June 2022 please refer to the current NIHR open access policy. (Please note, this page will be updated as further details are released)
In-scope research outputs are defined as:
In-scope outputs must be funded by:
You can comply with this policy by publishing in:
Provided that the final published version, or the author accepted manuscript is made freely available through PubMed Central and Europe PMC:
You must check before submitting that your preferred journal is compliant. You can use the following to check this:
| Fully open access journals and platforms | Search the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). An Article Processing Charge (APC) is payable. |
|---|---|
| Gold open access in subscription journals in City's transformative agreements | Refer to the guide on open access transformative agreements. You can use this guide to help check which journals are included, and how to use the agreement. |
| Gold open access in hybrid journals | Refer to the publishers webpages to find out if the journal offers a gold open access option. An Article Processing Charge (APC) is payable. |
If publishing using the gold open access route the publisher must make the final published version available on their webpages with a CC-BY licence, and in PubMed Central and Europe PMC upon publication.
NIHR may be able to pay the APC fees associated with publishing gold open access. See funding section below.
When publishing in a subscription journal you must be able to make the accepted manuscript available in PubMed Central and Europe PMC immediately with a CC-BY licence on publication.
The following will help you identify if a publisher will allow this:
| Publisher websites | You can find permissions for the use of accepted manuscripts in repositories in publishers' 'self archiving' or 'green open access' pages. |
|---|---|
| Sherpa Romeo open access policy search tool | Search for the journal title, then select 'Accepted Manuscript' in the publisher policy section. |
| Contact the Publications Team | The publications team will be able to help you with information on permitted use of the accepted manuscript. |
For subscription journals that do not allow the deposit of the accepted manuscript with a CC-BY licence, you must include the following statement in the funding acknowledgement statement on your submitted manuscript and any covering letter accompanying the submission:
'For the purpose of open access, the author has applied [a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence] [an ‘Open Government Licence’] (or where permitted by the National Institute for Health Research) [a Creative Commons Attribution No-derivatives (CC BY-ND) licence] to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising'.
If the publisher does not accept the above statement, you may have to consider submitting to another journal.
All in-scope articles must be published under:
NIHR may permit the use of a Creative Conmmons Attribution No-derivatives (CC BY-ND) licence on a case by case basis.
Licensing requirements do not apply to materials within a research article provided by third party copyright holders. Third party materials can be subject to more restrictive copyright licences.
All in-scope research articles must include appropriate acknowledgement of NIHR, unique award identifier and disclaimer in the funding or acknowledgments section of the article.
Full details can be be found in the NIHR webpage on how to acknowledge the NIHR in research outputs.
All in-scope research outputs must include a data sharing statement describing how the underpinning research data can be accessed.
Where there are reasons to restrict access to the data, e.g. commercial confidentiality or sensitivities, these should be included in the statement.
For full details consult the NIHR position on sharing research data.
Funded authors may request open access publication fees by using an NIHR open access funding request form.
Full details of the terms and conditions of open access funding can be found on the NIHR open access funding guidance webpage