Routes to open access: compliant green agreements
We require publishers to provide a green open access option that complies with funder policies, including CC-BY licensing.
Some of our green open access agreements provide the option to receive direct deposit of articles to institutional repositories via Publications Router. Green compliant open access is referred to as Route 2 in UKRI’s open access policy.
1. Agreements must reduce costs
Academic publishing is a shared endeavour between publishers, research funders, academic staff, and institutions. The UK punches above its weight both in terms of research quality and the benefits that publishers realise through peer review and editorial services, and this must be reflected in publisher proposals.
A global transition to open access requires funders, publishers, and institutions to work in unison to implement agreements that offer the maximum benefit with the minimum burden, on public finances, to researchers and institutions.
The cost of agreements must reflect the current and future financial circumstances of institutions.
Universities are already taking measures to reduce their costs and further increase efficiency through actions including recruitment freezes and tighter spending controls. University and research libraries ask their suppliers to similarly strive for efficiency to provide affordable options that reflect the financial context universities operate in.
Many, if not all, institutions need to reprioritise investment and are unable to commit to agreements that lock in unless they provide full and immediate access to research and provide budgetary stability.
The agreement must offer:
- Fair, affordable, and sustainable fees for access and services which enable green compliant open access
- Costs should be constrained over the lifetime of the agreement and not require additional commitment such as a requirement to pay to access additional titles
Academic publishing is a shared endeavour between publishers, research funders, academic staff, and institutions. The UK punches above its weight both in terms of research quality and the benefits that publishers realise through peer review and editorial services, and this must be reflected in publisher proposals.
A global transition to open access requires funders, publishers, and institutions to work in unison to implement agreements that offer the maximum benefit with the minimum burden, on public finances, to researchers and institutions.
The cost of agreements must reflect the current and future financial circumstances of institutions.
Universities are already taking measures to reduce their costs and further increase efficiency through actions including recruitment freezes and tighter spending controls. University and research libraries ask their suppliers to similarly strive for efficiency to provide affordable options that reflect the financial context universities operate in.
Many, if not all, institutions need to reprioritise investment and are unable to commit to agreements that lock in unless they provide full and immediate access to research and provide budgetary stability.
The agreement must offer:
- Fair, affordable, and sustainable fees for access and services which enable green compliant open access
- Costs should be constrained over the lifetime of the agreement and not require additional commitment such as a requirement to pay to access additional titles
2. Agreements must permit compliance with funder mandates
The agreement must enable institutions and their authors to comply with funder mandates by:
- Supporting open access via the green route by allowing the "version of record" first made publicly available (such as on the publisher's website) or the author's accepted manuscript (AAM) to be openly available immediately in repositories in full alignment with funder policies. This includes the application of the required licence, for example, with no embargo and under a licence that allows reuse by all, in perpetuity, under CC-BY licensing terms
- Allowing the author or the author's institution to retain their copyright and the rights necessary to make a version of the article immediately available under a compliant open licence
- This includes not inhibiting the use of the rights retention strategy either by rejecting articles, rerouting articles to other journals or by presenting the author (including co-authors) with terms that prevent them from making their AAM immediately open access in compliance with their funder policies
- Implementing workflow processes that make clear to the author that the application of CC-BY licensing terms to articles deposited in a repository is a requirement of funding
- Joining our Publications Router to provide the systematic transfer of metadata and deposit of full-text articles into repositories
The agreement must enable institutions and their authors to comply with funder mandates by:
- Supporting open access via the green route by allowing the "version of record" first made publicly available (such as on the publisher's website) or the author's accepted manuscript (AAM) to be openly available immediately in repositories in full alignment with funder policies. This includes the application of the required licence, for example, with no embargo and under a licence that allows reuse by all, in perpetuity, under CC-BY licensing terms
- Allowing the author or the author's institution to retain their copyright and the rights necessary to make a version of the article immediately available under a compliant open licence
- This includes not inhibiting the use of the rights retention strategy either by rejecting articles, rerouting articles to other journals or by presenting the author (including co-authors) with terms that prevent them from making their AAM immediately open access in compliance with their funder policies
- Implementing workflow processes that make clear to the author that the application of CC-BY licensing terms to articles deposited in a repository is a requirement of funding
- Joining our Publications Router to provide the systematic transfer of metadata and deposit of full-text articles into repositories
3. Content must be discoverable
Content must be discoverable, and agreements must support improvements in service and workflow for authors and administrators.
An effective transition to open access is reliant on developments in technical infrastructure and the adoption of national and international standards which can deliver efficiencies for publishers, authors and institutions, and enhanced discovery and re-use.
The agreement must:
- Evidence a commitment to improving the processes and workflows associated with managing open access to deliver greater efficiencies and discovery of open access material
- Include the service and performance levels stipulated in the Jisc model licence, which reflect several of the ESAC recommendations and provide a compensation mechanism should the agreed levels not be met
The publisher is responsible for providing clear guidance on green open access terms enabling funder compliance either during the submission process or on journal author instruction webpages.
The publisher will build ORCID, Ringgold or other recognised identifiers into submission, production, and peer review workflows and expose author ORCIDs in published articles and AAMs via AI services, Crossref and other discovery services.
The publisher will:
- Register the article's DOI with Crossref upon acceptance, and inform all co-authors
- Identify funders of institutional research by populating funding metadata, including funding body and grant number, in Funding Data (on Crossref) and on the publisher's site so institutions can report to funders and show compliance levels
Content must be discoverable, and agreements must support improvements in service and workflow for authors and administrators.
An effective transition to open access is reliant on developments in technical infrastructure and the adoption of national and international standards which can deliver efficiencies for publishers, authors and institutions, and enhanced discovery and re-use.
The agreement must:
- Evidence a commitment to improving the processes and workflows associated with managing open access to deliver greater efficiencies and discovery of open access material
- Include the service and performance levels stipulated in the Jisc model licence, which reflect several of the ESAC recommendations and provide a compensation mechanism should the agreed levels not be met
The publisher is responsible for providing clear guidance on green open access terms enabling funder compliance either during the submission process or on journal author instruction webpages.
The publisher will build ORCID, Ringgold or other recognised identifiers into submission, production, and peer review workflows and expose author ORCIDs in published articles and AAMs via AI services, Crossref and other discovery services.
The publisher will:
- Register the article's DOI with Crossref upon acceptance, and inform all co-authors
- Identify funders of institutional research by populating funding metadata, including funding body and grant number, in Funding Data (on Crossref) and on the publisher's site so institutions can report to funders and show compliance levels
These requirements apply to contracts negotiated from 2022 between institutions, consortia (including Jisc) and publishers for journal agreements including hybrid titles. The requirements may be updated in response to developments in higher education, research and changes to funder policies.