Summary
From June 2007 it is a condition of funding that Cancer Research UK funded researchers deposit an electronic copy of peer-reviewed, published papers arising from their Cancer Research UK funded work in the UKPMC database, as soon as possible and no later than 6 months after publication.This applies to research papers resulting from new awards made after 1 June 2007, as well as to existing grants. It also applies to researchers within our institutes.
Rationale
Cancer Research UK is introducing an open access policy because we believe that improving access to research papers will help scientists throughout the world to make the discoveries we need to beat cancer.
To ensure that the output of the research we fund is available to the widest possible audience, we believe it is necessary to provide open and unrestricted access to it.
We are one of the main funders of UK PubMed Central (UKPMC), an open access archive of journal literature. The UKPMC service will ensure that papers deposited in it will be freely available, fully searchable and extensively linked to other online resources.
As a Cancer Research UK-funded author you should ensure in advance of making any agreement with or commitment to a publisher that there is no conflict with your obligations under Cancer Research UK's open access policy. For details of compliant publishers visit the ROMEO database.
However, we accept that some Cancer Research UK-funded authors will wish to publish their research in journals that do not comply with UKPMC requirements, because these journals are the most appropriate for their subject matter.
Cancer Research UK's open access policy allows for publication in non-compliant journals in exceptional circumstances. If you wish to publish in one of these journals, you will need to make a case for this course of action in advance of submitting your manuscript by emailing ukpmc@cancer.org.uk.
Complying with the policy
There are two ways to comply with the policy:
- Submit your paper to a journal that offers an open access option, usually on payment of a fee. The publisher will then take responsibility for uploading the final, published version of your article into UKPMC.
- Submit your paper to a journal that does not offer an open access option, but will either allow a copy of your research paper to be deposited after the embargo period or permit you to self-archive in UKPMC.
Cancer Research UK will not make additional funds available to cover the costs of open access publishing at this stage. However, the situation will be closely monitored and actual costs to researchers will be reviewed in summer 2008.
Benefits of open access for authors and researchers
- Higher visibility
Your papers will be more widely disseminated - anyone with internet access will be able to read them without restriction. This will increase the impact of your research. - Extensive linking
UKPMC has a number of innovative IT tools that allow integration of research papers with a range of other online resources. - Access to more
As a reader of research you will increasingly be able to access all the research published in your area, not just the papers available to you via the subscriptions your institution offers.
Further information
A range of further information is available to help you understand how this policy and UKPMC will affect you:
These pages are also available to download in PDF format - see Resources box on right.
If you have any questions which are not answered by these documents, please email ukpmc@cancer.org.uk.
