Policy Officer Ellen Graves reflects on the early decisions on the REF2029 Open Access Policy, published last week.
Earlier this year the funding bodies published a policy proposal outlining the open access compliance requirements for outputs submitted to REF2029. There were some significant changes from REF2021, including:
- shortened embargo periods of six months (Main panels A and B) and 12 months (Main Panels C and D) for journal articles and conference proceedings
- an implementation date of January 2025
- OA requirements for longform publications.
During the consultation period GuildHE Research (GHER) hosted an engagement session between Research England, GHER, GuildHE’s Librarians Network, Conservatoires UK and the Royal College of Art. Alongside our formal response to the consultation, we collectively published a joint position statement outlining our concerns and the challenges presented by the proposals for specialist institutions and those submitting relatively small submissions.
Throughout these activities, we raised concerns relating to:
- Disproportionate financial burden
- Equity and diversity implications
- The publishing landscape
- Licensing and copyright
- Invisibility of alternative open access routes
- Administrative burden
To tackle these challenges GHER contributed insights to and supported University of Oxford’s position that assessment of open access in REF should shift from a compliance structure, to a narrative assessment of institutions’ activities and journey to support Open Research, made possible via the People, Culture and Environment element of REF 2029. Even though the funding bodies do not appear to be taking forward this bold reimagining of open access within REF, we are pleased to see that much of what we have advocated for over the recent months has been taken into consideration and addressed.
There will be no longform open access mandate for REF 2029
The revised policy has removed the requirement that longform publications be published open access for REF2029, although this will be in place for the next assessment exercise, with implementation from 1 January 2029.
In our consultation response, GHER strongly advocated for the removal or delay of the longform open access mandate. This was due to the high financial and administrative costs which risked unintended consequences, as well as the challenges that a lack of knowledge, understanding, and guidance around this area posed. Many of our members were concerned that this requirement was untenable and significantly inequitable. We very much welcome the decision to postpone the longform open access requirement as this will alleviate much strain for our members submitting to REF.
The funding bodies will develop a longform outputs policy well in advance of the implementation date and will consider opportunities to support the sector’s capacity and progress
As part of our consultation response and advocacy to postpone the longform requirement, GHER highlighted that the sector needed much more time and warning to plan and adapt to such a policy, including implementing institution processes and policies, understanding the complexities of publishing open access, and building awareness among their researchers. We argued that the sector was not yet ready to make such a significant, costly and time-consuming leap in such a short period of time and that it would put an enormous amount of pressure on resources and staff. We also highlighted that there is currently not enough understanding of routes to publishing open access, nor enough funding, guidance and support from organisations such as the funding bodies, UKRI and Jisc to make such a change tenable for institutions. We need more time and resources to raise awareness across the whole sector of the full range of OA publishing options available.
We are therefore very pleased to see that the funding bodies have committed to developing a policy for longform outputs well in advance of the implementation date in recognition of this. We also note that the funding bodies will be considering opportunities “to support progress in this area and work with others to enable the sector to develop its capacity and make progress on open access publication of longform outputs”. GHER will continue to lobby for increased support and guidance on open access, in particular for longform outputs and are interested to see how and where the funding bodies will work with UKRI and other stakeholders to meaningfully support the sector.
Open Access requirements for journal articles and conference proceedings remain in place, with an extended implementation date of 1 January 2026
The proposed policy outlined an implementation date of 1 January 2025. GHER advocated strongly for an extended implementation date as we had concerns that the final policy position and guidance would not be published for some time, and there would be little breathing room for institutions in this case, placing incredible pressure on institutions and individuals and damaging outputs already in the pipeline.
GHER is delighted to see that the funding bodies have extended this implementation date by 12 months to 1 January 2025 as we highlighted that the proposed date was unrealistic and recommended that the implementation date be no less than a year after the publication of the policy guidance (expected late Autumn/Winter 2024).
The funding bodies have also made it clear that the REF 2021 Open Access requirements will continue to apply to journal articles and conference proceedings until succeeded by the new policy, and that any output that meets the UKRI open access policy will also meet REF requirements.
We anticipate the full policy to be published in Autumn / Winter 2024. GHER will continue to work closely with the funders and our members to secure equitable opportunity for all types of institutions in the assessment of research.
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