Open access policies are adopted by research institutions, funding agencies, or governments. Generally, they require authors (e.g., faculty or grant recipients) to deposit the postprints (post peer review versions of articles) of their published journal articles in an open access repository, institutional (e.g., eScholarship) or discipline specific repository (e.g., PubMed). Below is information on open access policies of interest to UC authors. For assistance meeting the requirements of an open access policy, please consult with a Scholarly Communication Librarian.
Open Access Policies of Interest to UC Authors
University of California Open Access Policy Website
In March 2012 the University Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication (UCOLASC) circulated An Open Access Policy for the University of California: Materials for Discussion and Consultation to spur discussion about establishing a university-wide open access policy at the University of California. In May 2012 the UCSF Academic Senate voted unanimously to adopt an open access policy. The system-wide faculty Senate is now considering an Open Access Policy for the University of California. Based on discussions of the March 2012 materials, a Final Draft of Proposed Open Access Policy for the University of California, Questions and Concerns, Additional Frequently Asked Questions and accompanying documents were published in July 2012. The primary goal of a UC wide Open Access Policy is to increase the availability and impact of research produced by the University of California.
On October 23, 2012, Rich Schneider (UCSF Professor of Orthopedic Surgery), one of the architects of the proposed UC Open Access, discussed the siginificance of the policy at the UC Berkeley Open Access Week event Open Access: Maximizing the Reach, Visibility & Impact of Your Research, which was attended by scholars from across the disciplines. The program was moderaterd by Molly Van Houweiling (UCB Professor of Law), who contibuted valuable comments regarding copyright and managing one's intellectual property.
National Institutes of Health
The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. It requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. To help advance science and improve human health, the Policy requires that these papers are accessible to the public on PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication.
Additional resources for understanding and following the NIH Policy:
National Science Foundation
Beginning January 18, 2011, proposals submitted to NSF must include a supplementary document of no more than two pages labeled “Data Management Plan.” This supplementary document should describe how the proposal will conform to NSF policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results.
The Californnia Digital Library can help with data management plans.
Directories of Worldwide Open Access Policies
“To maximise the dissemination of the research they fund, the grant conditions of funding organisations increasingly require peer-reviewed research outputs to be made freely available to the public in full at the earliest possible date. These aims can be achieved either by archiving publications in an Open Access repository, or by publishing in an Open Access publication” (Juliet web page).
Juliet shows policies relating to open access publishing and data archiving from a variety of governmental and private funding agencies from around the world.
ROARMAP is the Registry of Open Access Repositories Mandatory Archiving Policies. It lists policies from funding agencies around the world.
