On 11 December 2024, the steering group for REF2029 published its final Open Access policy relating to research outputs submitted for assessment. The policy follows an initial set of proposals and an accompanying consultation phase over the summer. REF’s assessment of the consultation was also published on 11 December.
This post offers a brief summary of key responses to the consultation; decisions drawn from these; and the resulting terms and extent of the Open Access policy for REF2029.
The post closes with a note on REF plans to extend the Open Access mandate for future assessment exercises, and what form work to this end might take.
This summary is primarily intended for historians but we hope will also be of use to others publishing in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
On 11 December 2024, the steering group for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF2029) published its final policy on Open Access relating to research outputs submitted for assessment. The policy follows an initial set of proposals, circulated in the summer, and an accompanying consultation phase, which saw universities, publishers and learned societies respond to these proposals. REF’s formal summary of the summer consultation was also published on 11 December.
The following post summarises the key responses to the consultation, the decisions drawn from these by the REF steering group, and the final terms and extent of the Open Access policy for REF2029. Early decisions on the Open Access policy, following the consultation stage, were first communicated by REF in August 2024. These have now been extended and finalised.
The full reports for the following are now available on the REF website:
This post concludes with a note on what’s expected in terms Open Access policy for the assessment exercise to follow REF2029. Clearly stated is the steering group’s intention to include books, scholarly editions and book chapters (in REF parlance ‘longform’ publications) in the exercise after this.
Work on developing a viable model for an extended OA mandate will begin early in the new year. Hints as to what this work might entail appear in the recommendations set out in last week’s ‘consultation and engagement summary’.
1. Headlines from the 2024 consultation on Open Access for REF2029
REF2029’s Open access consultation and engagement summary is available in full here.
279 responses to the summer 2024 consultation were received, including from the Royal Historical Society among other learned societies. At this stage of the process, the proposed Open Access policy for REF2029 was to extend the mandate from journal articles to include books—primarily monographs, edited collections, book chapters, and scholarly editions. Respondents to the consultation raised serious concerns about this proposed extension.
Criticisms of the proposal, voiced most forcefully by those in the arts, humanities and social sciences (REF Main Panels C and D), highlighted the absence of funding to support OA book publishing; the relatively underdeveloped environment for OA books, compared with that for articles; and the risk that OA longform publications, with insufficiently restrictive licensing, would be vulnerable to misuse and exploitation with AI technology. The latter concern was also raised in connection with articles, for which less stringent forms of licensing—including the removal of the NC (non-commercial) license option—were likewise proposed.
Responses to the consultation also questioned a proposal to reduce embargo periods for journal articles, from the current 24 to 12 months after publication for outputs submitted for assessment in Main Panels C and D. Particular concerns were raised over the negative consequences of shorter embargo periods for titles in the arts and humanities. Respondents were also critical of the proposed implementation date, of these and other new requirements for journal articles, which was initially set as 1 January 2025.
Following review of the consultation responses, REF has amended or dropped some of its proposed extensions to the OA mandate for REF2029. Of these, the key changes are:
- no extension of the REF OA mandate to include books in 2029,
- moving of the implementation date for new policies, for journal articles, from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2026,
- a change—from one to three months—as the maximum timeframe in which eligible content, following publication, must be deposited in an OA compatible repository. As for REF2021, deposit of those articles (which are not immediately published fully OA) should be made no more than three months after publication.
- REF’s stated preference for the licensing of OA content remains, as in the proposal, CC-BY; however, following consultation, alternative licenses which include the NC (non-commercial) and/or ND (no-derivatives) elements will remain permissible for REF2029.
- despite calls not to change embargo periods, REF2029 will see a reduction for articles in Main Panels C and D (including History) from 24 to 12 months, while those in Main Panels A and B will reduce from 12 to 6 months.
2. Headlines from the REF2029 Open Access Policy
REF2029’s Open Access Policy is available in full here.
The following section is divided into two parts: the first covers the requirements for eligible publications which appear up to the new transition date (31 December 2025), while the second covers new requirements that will apply for eligible titles published from 1 January 2026 until the end of the submission phase for REF2029, in late 2028.
2.1. For eligible publications up to 31 December 2025
Eligible content (journal articles) submitted for assessment as part of REF2029, and which is published between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025, will be required to comply with the terms for OA publication as used for REF2021.
2.2. For eligible publications from 1 January 2026 to the REF submission deadline in late 2028
Changes to REF2029’s OA mandate, announced on 11 December, take effect for eligible content published from 1 January 2026 and run to the end of the submission period in late 2028. Given the removal of books from REF2029, these changes relate to journal articles. The principal Open Access requirements for articles published* from 1 January 2026 are as follows:
- no further action is needed for content which becomes fully Open Access at the first date of publication (for example, for journal articles published ‘gold’ open access),
- other forms of content must be deposited in a suitable repository (on which further details are provided in the 11 December policy statement) within 3 months of publication; deposited content may be the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) or Version of Record (VoR) when this is permitted by a publisher,
- the embargo period for eligible content will be 12 months from deposit (for submissions for Main Panels C and D, including History), after which publications should be made fully accessible,
- the preferred Open Access licence for eligible content will be CC-BY though the use of alternative licences (CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-ND and CC-BY-NC-ND) are also permitted,
- the Open Access Policy statement of 11 December also provides details of ‘tolerance levels’ for the submission of non-compliant content for REF2029, and exceptions to the policy (relating to the deposit and access of submitted content) for both the period up to and after 1 January 2026.
*Publication date is defined in the December policy document as that on which ‘the final “version of record” (VOR) is first made publicly available (such as on the publisher’s website). This will usually mean that any “early online” date, rather than the print publication date, should be taken as the date.’
3. What’s planned for the exercise after REF2029
The funding bodies who make up REF2029 have been clear that the non-inclusion of books / longform publications in 2029 is a postponement rather than the abandonment of their plans to extend the Open Access mandate.
The Open Access Policy document restates REF’s commitment to OA and the need for its extension (see page 2). The consultation summary likewise states an intention to extend the mandate for future (post 2029) research assessments to include books, more open licensing options, and closer alignment between REF and UKRI’s current OA requirements for publications arising from its research funding.
The summary concludes: ‘As previously communicated, work will be taken forward to develop an open access policy for longform outputs for implementation on the 1 January 2029, at the end of the REF 2029 publication period. This will be published well in advance of these changes to give researchers and institutions time to adapt.’
What form this work takes is to be confirmed. However, the consultation summary refers to further research to enable development of a more extensive OA mandate.
These references are many and varied; they include suggestions of future work that will:
- address the place of trade and crossover books,
- consider the unintended consequences, for research, from extended OA mandates,
- more closely engage academic publishers to understand their views on proposed changes, including publishing’s international context,
- assess the impact and viability of embargo changes, especially for those learned societies heavily dependent on income from publications.
You can find more on planning for REF2029, and the Royal Historical Society’s engagement with this, on the RHS website: Research Excellence Framework 2029