The Blood Cancer UK OA policy has been updated to cover the end of Charities Open Access Fund (COAF).
The Blood Cancer UK OA policy applies to:
- Original research articles acknowledging Blood Cancer UK funding
- Peer-reviewed publications fully or partially funded by Blood Cancer UK
Blood Cancer UK require electronic copies of any original research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal to be made freely available through Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC) immediately on publication.
How do I comply?
You must make your work open access via publishing open access in a journal or publishing platform or self-archiving a version of the work (green open access).
- You are required to include funding information within the acknowledgement section of the paper.
- If applicable, you are required to include a statement on how underlying research materials, such as data, samples or models, can be accessed.
Publishing open access in a journal or publishing platform (gold open access)
Check the publishing open access information page to find out if you are eligible to publish OA in a journal or publishing platform (gold OA), and to make an application for funding.
If the chosen journal is not part of an institutional publisher agreement, Blood Cancer UK will facilitate OA publishing by making funds available to pay for article processing charges (APCs). This will be in the form of a separate budget, with funds for APCs awarded at Blood Cancer UK’s discretion. From December 2022, publication costs must not be charged to individual grants unless previously agreed by Blood Cancer UK.
The maximum contribution the funder will make towards a single APC is £2,000. If Blood Cancer UK agrees to pay an APC, the paper must become OA immediately upon online publication and made available through EuropePMC or PubMed Central by the publisher.
Written requests for support can be submitted to research@bloodcancer.org.uk when a manuscript has been accepted for publication and will be reviewed against the following criteria:
- A Blood Cancer UK grant holder or a researcher employed on the grant must be an author on the manuscript. Former grant holders can also apply within two years of the end date of their Blood Cancer UK grant.
- The article must acknowledge Blood Cancer UK as a funder.
- The Blood Cancer UK grant reference number(s) must be accurately cited on the manuscript.
- The proposed journal must support ‘gold’ OA publishing with a Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY). More information on Creative Commons licences.
On publication, you are also encouraged by the University to deposit a copy of the final PDF of your 'gold' OA publication into University of Birmingham Research Archive (UBIRA), using PURE.
Self-archiving (green open access)
Blood Cancer UK permits self-archiving (green open access) with a six-month embargo.
Use Sherpa Romeo to check your publishers’ policy is compatible with your funders self-archiving policy.
To self-archive, deposit the Accepted Author Manuscript (AAM) of your publication using Pure immediately on acceptance. Ensure your publication is linked to the grant using the ‘Projects’ link in PURE.
- The accepted version is also known as the authors final manuscript, or post print.
- It is the version after peer review and before final publisher formatting or copy-editing.
Ensure that you or your publisher has deposited to Europe PMC so it is freely available immediately or within six months on publication.
If your publisher is uncompliant with 'green' OA, you will need to email research@bloodcancer.org.uk to apply for an exception to the six-month embargo or gold OA funding.
More information