Open access policy for REF 2029
To be eligible for submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029, in-scope outputs must be made open access in compliance with REF open access policy. The University expects all publications that are in scope of the policy to comply, and therefore to be available for submission to the REF.
Scope of the policy
Outputs in scope of open access policy for REF 2029 are journal articles and conference contributions with an ISSN, published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2028.
There is no open access requirement in REF 2029 for monographs, book chapters or other long-form publications, working papers, creative or practice-based research outputs or data. 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.
For in-scope outputs published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025, open access requirements for REF 2021 apply, summarised in paragraph 5 of REF 2029 open access policy.
In-scope outputs published between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2028 are subject to revised open access requirements, set out in paragraph 7 of REF 2029 open access policy.
How to comply
When publishing open access on the publisher website
Outputs that are published open access on the publisher website with a Creative Commons licence (or other licence meeting minimum standards for openness) immediately upon publication meet the REF 2029 open access policy requirements, and no further action is required.
When not publishing open access on the publisher website
Outputs that are not published open access on the publisher website as outlined above must comply by deposit in an appropriate platform as detailed in paragraph 4.0.5. of the policy; this includes institutional repositories such as Exeter’s repository Open Research Exeter (ORE). The deposited output should be the Author Accepted Manuscript (following peer-review).
Outputs published up to 31 December 2025 must be deposited no later than three months after acceptance. The policy permits publisher embargoes of up to 12 months for Main Panels A and B, or 24 months for Main Panels C and D.
Outputs published from 1 January 2026 must be deposited within three months of publication. The policy permits publisher embargoes of up to 6 months for Main Panels A and B, or 12 months for Main Panels C and D.
To ensure REF open access compliance, always include a Rights Retention statement in your manuscript at submission (this ensures you can make the accepted manuscript version open access without embargo). When you do not publish open access on the publisher website, upload your accepted manuscript, upon (within three months of) acceptance, via Symplectic to ORE.
The REF 2021 open access policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings (with an ISSN) accepted for publication after 01 April 2016. To be eligible for submission to REF 2021, the accepted manuscript must have been deposited in a repository within three months of acceptance for publication.