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Open access publishing

This guide introduces open access, its benefits, the different models, article processing charges, policies and resources, and open access at RMIT University.

ARC and NHMRC mandates

ARC mandates

The ARC Open Access policy mandates that research outputs be made openly accessible within 12 months of publication under the following conditions:

  • Research outputs can de deposited in either an open access institutional repository or in other acceptable locations (e.g. the publisher's website where the published version of the article is open access with a Creative Commons licence, or public digital archives, such as PubMed Central, or in an OA journal).
  • Metadata must be made publicly available through an institutional repository within three months of publication.
  • All research outputs created since 1 January 2013 to be made publicly available, except for research data and research data outputs.
  • Book and book chapters differ slightly from those for journal articles and conference papers. The ARC’s open access mandate may require that you deposit your work in an institutional repository even if you are publishing with a commercial publisher.  This may require negotiation with the publisher.

NHMRC mandates

The NHMRC Open Access policy mandates the open access sharing and use of publications arising from NHMRC-funded research.

  • NHMRC mandates that all peer-reviewed publications produced from NHMRC grants awarded under Grant Opportunity Guidelines issued on or after 20 September 2022 be made immediately open access, without any embargo period. To comply with the policy, peer-reviewed outputs must be made open access with a Creative Commons CC-BY licence via one of the 2 routes outlined below.  
  • Other NHMRC grants for publications produced up to 31 December 2023 must be made open access in a repository or other acceptable location within a 12-month period form the date of publications (NHMRC, 2022, p.10-11). 
  • Metadata must be made publicly available through an institutional repository within three months of publication. 
  • Research outputs can be deposited in either an open access institutional repository or in other acceptable locations (e.g. the publisher's website where the published version of the article is open access with a Creative Commons licence, or public digital archives, such as PubMed Central, or in an OA journal).

 

There are two highlighted routes to open access required by the NHMRC, these are highlighted below:

Route One: Version of Record open access (journal-based open access)   

Making the Version of Record immediately open access with a CC BY licence.  This route can be used when an article is being published in an open access journal, described as 'Gold' or 'Diamond' open access depending upon the business model of the journal. 

Route Two: Author Accepted Manuscript open access (repository-based open access)   

The Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) is made immediately open access with a CC BY licence by depositing the Author Accepted Manuscript in an open online repository such as an institutional or other subject-based repository.  This route is sometimes called ‘Green’ open access. There is no fee or APC associated with this route (NHMRC, 2022, p.12). 


Research data

NHMRC encourages researchers to consider the reuse value of their data and to take reasonable steps to share research data and associated metadata arising from NHMRC supported research. Researchers are encouraged to adhere to the F.A.I.R Principles and CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. When sharing data, researchers must ensure that appropriate metadata accompany the datasets. This will allow users of the data to fully understand the data, the curation strategies, assumptions, experimental conditions, and any other details relevant to the interpretation of the data (NHMRC, 2022, p.16-17).


Books

NHMRC encourages authors of scholarly books, scholarly books chapters and edited research books, including prestigious reference works, and producers of other forms of research outputs to make them open access where possible (NHMRC, 2022, p.11).

References

National Health and Medical Research Council. (2022). Open access policy. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/nhmrc-open-access-policy-2022

Chief Investigator obligations

As a grant's Chief Investigator or Project Leader you are responsible for:

  • depositing the research publication in an open access institutional repository or another acceptable location (such as PubMed Central, publisher's website, or OA journal) within 12 months of publication
  • depositing the publication metadata in an open access institutional repository within 3 months of publication
  • ensuring that only the 'Accepted' or 'Published' version of your publication is available open access
  • ensuring in cases where there may be legal or contractual reasons that limit compliance with the mandate (e.g. publications that cannot be made open access or with an embargo period extending beyond 12 months) that you provide reasons for non-compliance to the funding body in the Final Report.

Plan S

What is Plan S?

Plan S is an European initiative aimed at making all publicly funded research freely accessible. It was launched in September 2018 by an international consortium of research funders called cOAlition S, which includes major European funders, supported by the European Commission and the European Research Council.

The core principle of Plan S is to ensure scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research are published in compliant Open Access journals or platforms, or deposited in compliant Open Access repositories.

Implications for Australia

The Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG) and the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL) released a joint statement broadly supportive of Plan S. However, they call for greater consideration of several key areas:

  • Repository-based green open access.
  • Infrastructure needs.
  • Financial impacts on early career researchers and developing countries.
  • Continued global consultation.

Funding

Plan S is not yet mandated by any Australian funders. However, international bodies endorsing Plan S may mandate compliance when funding Australian research.

Plan S compliance

To be Plan S compliant you must ensure that all scholarly articles that result from research funded by members of cOAlition S are made openly available immediately upon publication without any embargo period.

There are three routes to achieve this:

  1. Gold open access - Publish in a fully Open Access (OA) Journal where all the content of the journal is made OA at point of publication. This does not include a hybrid journal where only some of the articles have Open Access.
  2. Green open access - Publish in a subscription/hybrid journal that allows for the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) to be made openly available immediately at point of publication without embargo. Deposit your AAM in the RMIT Research Repository.
  3. Transformative - Publish in a hybrid/subscription journal that has a transformative arrangement. A Transformative journal is committed to transition to fully Open Access in an agreed timeframe.

Plan S also requires the use of open licenses and prefers the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

Check funder Plan S requirements

Check for journal Plan S compliance