• Which papers does the OA policy refer to?

Research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal or have been self published by the NIHR, and are supported in whole or in part by Wellcome funding

Where should these papers be placed?

In the PMC database, and any other PMC International sites such as UKPMC

• When should this be done?

As soon as possible and, in any event, within six months of the journal publisher’s official date of final publication.

• How can Authors comply?

The preferred option is to publish in an OA/hybrid journal.

Alternatively publish anywhere but self archive the author manuscript (including changes from the review process) and make that available from PMC/UKPMC within six months of publication.

Papers must cite the Wellcome Trust grant reference number(s)

• What if a publisher offers neither route?

If a publisher offers neither route then the author can suggest revision to the journal’s copyright agreement and see if the publisher will accept this. (see wellcome suggestion). Authors must ensure in advance of making any agreement with, or commitment to, a publisher at any stage, that this agreement or commitment does not conflict with the author's obligations under arc’s Conditions of Award. Specifically, authors should inform the journal that they have an existing obligation to make their papers available through UKPMC, and investigate whether the publisher's policy is in conflict with this obligation.

Authors are unlikely to be able to comply with the Conditions of Award if, without reaching a specific agreement with the journal about deposition of a copy of the final paper in PMC, they transfer their copyright (or undertake to do so in the future) to a journal.

If such a conflict exists, authors have a variety of options:

(a) Grant a licence of their copyright to a journal instead of assigning. Such a licence would have to deal with the rights granted to the journal in such a way as to allow the journal to publish but still allow the author to deposit in PMC. In this way, authors should be able to retain ownership of their copyright and still allow publication in a journal. This could be achieved, for example, through using the JISC SURF Licence to Publish.

(b) Agree to a journal's normal arrangements only on the condition that it be specifically agreed that deposition in PMC can take place. Copyright agreements can take many forms, but the following is an example of the sort of wording that could be included in an agreement with a journal that would still allow an author to comply with arc’s Conditions of Award:

Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this agreement, the journal acknowledges that the researcher will be entitled to deposit an electronic copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript into PubMed Central (PMC), or UK PubMed Central (UKPMC), and for this manuscript to be mirrored to all PMC international sites. Manuscripts deposited with PMC (or UKPMC) may be made freely available to the public, via the internet, within six months of the official date of final publication in the journal.

If not the author should look for an alternative publisher.

• How will the Open Access costs be met?

The University has been awarded additional funds to cover the costs of Open Access. To claim please follow the instructions here

• What is expected of your Publisher?

In return for meeting author side costs, Wellcome Trust expects the publisher to provide the following services:

• Deposit, on behalf of the author, the final version of the article in PMC where it must be made freely available at the time of publication.

• Licence the article so that it can be freely accessed and reused, subject to agreed limits.