REF open access policy

REF 2021 open access policy

The REF 2021 open access policy (paragraphs 105-114 and 223-255 in the Guidance on submissions) applies to all journal articles and conference contributions (with an ISSN). The University of Exeter expects all publications within this scope to comply with REF open access policy and therefore to be available for submission to the REF.

• The output must be deposited in an appropriate platform.
• The output must be deposited no later than three months after acceptance.
• The output deposited should be the accepted manuscript version‌.

REF 2029 open access policy

The REF 2029 open access policy has been published; the implementation date for requirement changes is 1 January 2026.  Outputs in scope for the policy are journal articles and conference contributions with an ISSN, published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2028. 

There is no open access requirement for monographs, book chapters or other long-form publications, working papers, creative or practice-based research outputs or data under REF 2021 or REF 2029 policy. An open access requirement for long form outputs will be in place for the next assessment exercise after REF 2029 i.e. from 1 January 2029 onwards.

Which policy applies?

For all in-scope outputs published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025, REF 2021 open access policy requirements (as outlined above) continue to apply. These are summarised in paragraph 5 of the REF 2029 open access policy. 

From 1 January 2026, the revised open access policy requirements for REF 2029 will come into force for all in-scope outputs, i.e. journal articles and conference contributions with an ISSN published between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2028. These requirements are set out in paragraph 7 of the REF 2029 open access policy.