Open Publication and Dissemination Policy

Introduction

This policy replaces the previous Open Access Policy (2016). This policy implements Author and Institutional Rights Retention in line with funder and sector best-practice. It is aligned with IP and Spin Out policy as approved at Senate (14/02/2024).

The policy

1. The University of Leicester wishes to protect employees and academic works ensuring appropriate rights are retained. The University of Leicester IP and Spin Out policy 2024 is the authority on IP and related rights as applied to any form of research products. Through that policy, Section 5, the University generally waives its rights to ownership of copyright in Scholarly Works (except in specific circumstances) while retaining the rights necessary to enable the University to fulfil its academic, research and charitable objectives:
   • The University retains the following rights to use Scholarly Work on the following terms:
     • The University may use, adapt and reproduce any Scholarly Works for the following purposes:
       • academic and research purposes; and/or
       • any other purpose relating to the University’s charitable activities, including for the purpose of Open Access publishing.
     • These retained rights shall, for the avoidance of doubt:
       • Permit use and reproduction of the relevant works (or part of the works) worldwide, in all formats (now known or yet to be devised);
       • Be royalty-free (except in cases where the agreed revenue sharing arrangements under the IP and Spin Out policy apply);
       • Be non-exclusive;
       • and apply in perpetuity, on an irrevocable basis.
2. All peer reviewed research outputs published in journals (venues with an ISSN) must be deposited in the University’s Research Information System:
   • Metadata will be deposited immediately on acceptance for publication
   • The full-text Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM), or the Version of Record (VoR) if this is permitted by the publisher, must be deposited, immediately or as soon as possible after the date of acceptance, with a CC-BY  licence.
3. The publisher must be notified at the point of submission  of the retained rights, and licensing conditions, by including the following, or an equivalent, statement:
   • “For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to the Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.”
4. A Data Access Statement (DAS) or equivalent, outlining access to any data underpinning the research must be included within publications and in the Research Information System.
5. Data underpinning research should be made available whenever possible.
6. Research datasets, code, figures, podcasts, etc. can also be made available through the Research Information System.
7. Any longform research output  with a publishing contract signed after 1 January 2024 must be deposited in the Research Information System:
   • Metadata will be deposited immediately on acceptance for publication
   • the full text Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM), or the Version of Record (VoR) if this is permitted by the publisher, must be deposited. A CC BY licence should normally be applied, but alternative licences are sometimes permitted by funders.
8. Research outputs must appropriately acknowledge all research funding and support received as required by any and all relevant research funders
9. In the occasional situation where it is not possible to follow this policy in relation to a publication, in full or in part, it will be possible for authors to opt out of any or all specific requirements of this policy in consultation with the School Director of Research and Enterprise, ensuring that any impact on funder and REF compliance or wider Open Access performance and environment has been considered. Opt-out might be used, for example, where:
   • The journal refuses to publish the output with rights retention
   • An author does not have co-author permission
   • The output contains a substantial amount of third-party materials which cannot be licensed openly
   • A funder or REF exception is valid.
10. This policy applies to all employees of the University of Leicester.
11. The University address format must be used for all research outputs as defined in the Institutional Affiliation policy.
12. It is strongly recommended that all authors register and use their ORCID with the University and for all outputs. ORCIDs enable author disambiguation and help more accurate author, publication and citation tracking.

A PDF version of the policy is available for download (PDF, 218kb).

Date of issue: 14/02/2024.
Review date: 01/03/2026.