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Open Access: REF 2029 Open Access Policy

This guide provides information and advice on open access publishing and licensing at Ulster University. It also provides advice to PhD researchers on their theses in the institutional repository.

REF 2029 Open Access Policy

Open access is a mandatory requirement for REF eligibility.

The REF 2029 Open Access Policy has now been published, and it will be implemented on 1 January 2026.

Until 31 December 2025, the REF 2021 open access requirements will continue to apply. 

REF OA requirements 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025

Scope

This policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings that have an ISSN, accepted for publication on or after 1 April 2016 and published on or before 31 December 2025.

Requirements

The Author's Accepted Manuscript (AAM) should be deposited in Pure upon acceptance and no later than 3 months after that date. Please upload the AAM as soon as it has been accepted to allow for processing time.

Allowable embargoes

  • for outputs submitted to main panels A and B: 12 months
  • for outputs submitted to main panels C and D: 24 months

 

Not sure how to make the Pure record of your output REF-compliant?

Get in touch with Pure Support Team!

REF OA requirements from 1 January 2026

Scope

This policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings that have an ISSN, published on or after 1 January 2026.

Requirements

The Author's Accepted Manuscript (AAM) should be deposited in Pure upon acceptance and no later than 3 months after the publication date. Please upload the AAM as soon as it has been accepted to allow for processing time.

Allowable embargoes

  • for outputs submitted to main panels A and B: 6 months
  • for outputs submitted to main panels C and D: 12 months

Licencing requirements

All outputs submitted to REF should be licenced as openly as possible.

The preferred licence is CC BY or equivalent. However, CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC-ND, or licences meeting an equivalent standard of openness are also permitted.

REF and long-form publications

  • After community consultations, the inclusion of books and book chapters in the REF open access mandate has been postponed. Long-form publications are accepted as outputs for REF 2029 submissions, but there are no open access requirements for these.
  • Open access requirement for long-form outputs will be in place for the next assessment exercise, with implementation from 1 January 2029.
  • If your book or book chapter is resulting from UKRI funding, it is subject to the UKRI Open Access Policy.