Open Access: UKRI funding for journal articles

UK Research and Innovation has allocated a block grant to the university to support the cost of gold open access articles.

Ulster University researchers can apply for this fund if:

• The journal article is the result of research funded by UKRI and it is within scope of the UKRI Open Access Policy.
• The author is a member of staff or a UKRI-funded research student.

To make use of the block grant, please complete the UKRI Block Grant Form.

The grant will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. It can only be used to cover the costs of publication in fully open access journals. It cannot be used to cover open access publishing costs in hybrid journals. Please note that UKRI does not permit block grant funds to be used for non-open access publication fees such as page and/or colour charges.

Please contact the Open Research Team before agreeing to pay any open access charges or requesting invoices.

• Check if the journal is compliant with the UKRI Open Access Policy - use the Journal Checker Tool or contact our team.
• Make sure the article is published under a CC-BY licence, or a CC-BY-ND licence if you have requested an exception (you can find the licence exception form here). Open Government Licence (OGL) can be used if the article is subject to Crown Copyright.
• Make sure that UKRI funding has been acknowledged in the article.
• If the article acknowledges MRC or BBSRC funding, make sure that it is also archived in Europe PubMed Central in accordance with MRC's Additional Terms and Conditions and/or BBSRC's Safeguarding Good Research Policy.
• Include a data access statement in the article.
• Check the library's current deals with publishers - the journal of your choice may be covered by one of our publishing agreements which can be used to cover the open access publishing costs.