REF 2029 Open Access Policy: what you need to know

Just before Christmas, REF announced their new open access policy for REF 2029, and they are currently rolling out information about the new policy, including FAQs and eventually guidance on how the policy should be applied at an institutional level.

How did we get here?

The idea of an open access policy for publications first arrived on 1 April 2016 during REF 2021. It tied eligibility to submit a publication to the REF to compliance with open access sharing. The policy only applied to peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers published with an ISSN, which make up the bulk of REF submissions.

The impact of this policy saw big changes in practice around open access. Not least was an increase in the number of papers being deposited in digital repositories, like WIRE, but also it affected journal policies on self archiving (also known as green open access) shifting them to be more open. It has also led to greater use of gold open access publishing.

The REF 2021 policy set the following requirements for publications in the scope of the policy:

• Publications needed to be deposited in a repository within 3 months of acceptance by the publisher with the metadata about the publication released publicly
• Publications needed to be shared under the equivalent of a CC BY-NC-ND licence (or something more permissive)
• The full text of the publication could be embargoed, but only for a limited period of time. For REF panels A & B the maximum embargo was 12 months, and for REF panels C & D, 24 months.

Journal policies usually define what version of a publication can be shared, as well as the licence and the length of the embargo period. Many journals changed their policies to fit with these requirements.

With a lot of schedules thrown off by the Covid pandemic, the first part of the REF 2029 period (which covers outputs published between 1 Jan 2021 and 31 Dec 2028) continued to follow this policy while a new policy was being prepared, and it will still have an effect for anything published before 1 January 2026.

What changes?

As the previous policy had an undeniable success in making UK research more accessible, REF 2029 policy aims to advance open access even further. Initial consultations suggested radical changes, but once current issues for higher education institutions were taken into account, a more modest set of changes were put in place.

For articles and conference papers published from 1 Jan 2026, the following requirements will apply:

• Publications must be deposited in a repository within 3 months of publication
• Publications continue to be shared under a licence that allows sharing and copying of material, but are made as open as possible
• The allowable embargoes are halved from the 2021 policy. So REF panels A & B now have a maximum embargo of 6 months, while REF panels C & D have a maximum embargo of 12 months.

If you are an author who might be contributing to the REF, these changes do not require a major change in practice.

Requirement 1 will actually give you more time to deposit, and Requirement 2 is the same as before.

Requirement 3 may require you to think about where you plan to publish and to try to select a venue that does not have an embargo that exceeds the maxima set out by REF. However, if the most appropriate place to publish does not meet the requirements, it may be possible to claim an exception to the REF requirements.

Contact the Scholarly Communications Team as early as possible to discuss the situation.

If you publish on a gold open access basis you are automatically compliant with REF policy without the need to deposit to a deadline, so take advantage of our range of read and publish deals to be REF ready (but also don't forget to deposit the article in WIRE for safekeeping).

Beyond 2029

While other publications are not currently mandated to be open access to be submitted to the REF, as part of the development of an open research environment, it is encouraged that where possible for book chapters, monographs, research reports and more. WIRE is available to do this, where publishing agreements allow it. There is a commitment for long form publications like books and monographs to be included in the next Research Assessment Exercise after REF 2029, and the policy around this should be announced before 31 December 2028.