Self-archiving in ORE
You can make your work open access in an institutional or subject repository, without the need to pay open access charges. This is referred to as self-archiving or green open access.
University of Exeter researchers can self-archive their work in the institutional repository Open Research Exeter (ORE). Items in ORE are highly discoverable, appearing high up in popular search engine results. Sharing your outputs in ORE can increase visibility of your research. Your work will be freely available, increasing readership and contributing to the knowledge base.
What is ORE?
Open Research Exeter (ORE) is the University of Exeter’s open access repository for storing, preserving and disseminating the research outputs of the University. Each publication in ORE has a unique persistent identifier (URI or handle), providing secure and permanent access.
All research outputs in scope of the University of Exeter Open Access Policy must be uploaded to ORE. ORE is also available for secure preservation of research data, read more about data preservation.
Uploading to ORE
Upload via Symplectic to ORE. This guide depositing publications to ORE takes you through the process of creating a manual record in Symplectic and depositing to ORE.
University of Exeter open access policy requires that in-scope outputs produced whilst employed at the University are uploaded via Symplectic to ORE.
Upload your author accepted manuscript (following peer review and amendments) upon (within three months of) acceptance, to comply with REF open access policy, to be eligible for submission to the REF.
Upload as a PDF, this must be a clean version, i.e. with all markup, corrections, comments etc. removed. If you have the accepted manuscript as a Word document, save it as PDF/A (under the file format selection box, click ‘More options…’ > ‘Options…’ > tick the ‘PDF/A compliant’ checkbox > click ‘OK’).
To enable correct citation and attribution (should the publication be discovered online independent of the ORE record), the file must include:
- Author name(s) and affiliation(s)
- All tables, figures etc. If the formatting means that combining the files with the main text is not possible, instead:
- include a full citation to the publication in each file
- upload all the files from the same Symplectic record
If appropriate, upload any appendices and supplementary information:
- combine the files into one PDF with the main text
OR, if this is not possible
- include a full citation to the publication in each file, and upload all the files from the same Symplectic record
When not publishing open access on the publisher website, publishers often allow you to upload the author accepted manuscript but not the final published PDF. You can check that the version you are uploading complies with the publisher policy in Symplectic at the point of uploading, or using Open Policy Finder.
When you publish open access on the publisher website with a Creative Commons licence, you no longer need to upload to ORE, unless required by your funder. Publishing open access meets the requirements of University and REF open access policy. All peer-reviewed outputs arising from European Commission funding must still be deposited to ORE, including when you publish open access, as the funder requires this.
All peer-reviewed articles and conference papers (with an ISSN) with a University of Exeter author on are covered by Exeter's Institutional Rights Retention Policy, which applies a CC BY licence to the accepted manuscript version. Providing the publisher has been notified of the policy (either by inclusion of a Rights Retention statement at submission, or by notifications sent by the Library to publishers), your paper will be made open access in ORE immediately upon publication with CC BY licence.
If your paper is not covered by Rights Retention, the publisher may impose an embargo (a period of time before your output can be made available in ORE). You should still upload upon acceptance; the Library will apply any embargo that's required in ORE. While your publication is under embargo, the item record - including the abstract - will be discoverable but the full text cannot be viewed or downloaded. The embargo will run from the date of publication and lift automatically once the embargo period has passed.
Self-archiving and the REF
Open access policy for REF 2029 applies to journal articles and conference contributions (with an ISSN) published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2028.
When your work is published open access on the publisher website immediately upon publication under a Creative Commons licence, this complies with REF open access policy. You should still "claim" your outputs in Symplectic but you no longer need to upload to ORE.
When you don’t publish open access on the publisher website, comply with REF policy by depositing the Author’s Accepted Manuscript via Symplectic to ORE. For outputs published up to 31 December 2025, deposit upon (within 3 months of) acceptance.
Always include a Rights Retention statement in your manuscript at submission; this ensures you can make the accepted manuscript version open access in ORE without embargo.
ORE deposit licence
Open Research Exeter (“ORE”), on behalf of the University of Exeter (“the University”), supports the long-term preservation of research outputs produced by staff and students of the University of Exeter.
In order for the University, via ORE, to reproduce, re-format, and disseminate your submission worldwide, your agreement to the following terms is necessary. Please take a moment to read the terms of this licence in respect of your submission, being material that you submit to ORE including but not limited to a journal article, dataset, thesis, and/or corresponding metadata. By depositing your submission and ticking the box at the end of this licence, you agree to the terms of the licence.