The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the system for assessing research excellence in UK higher education institutions. The REF outcomes inform the allocation of around £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research.
For the REF, research is defined as a process of investigation that yields new insights, which are effectively shared.
Key information
What does the REF Open Access policy cover?
Outputs in-scope for the open access policy are journal articles and conference contributions with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) that were published between 01 January 2021 and 31 December 2028.
These outputs must to be made open access to be eligible for submission to REF 2029, subject to any permitted exceptions and tolerance for non-compliance.
Open access is not required for other output types, such as long-form outputs like monographs, book chapters, and scholarly editions.
Other types of outputs, including but not limited to, datasets, code, protocols or artistic creations are welcomed as submissions to REF 2029.
How do you ensure your research outputs are REF-eligible?
University staff submitting journal articles and proceedings to the REF must self-archive their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) into Pure immediately on acceptance.
The Pure record may be amended later with an updated peer-reviewed manuscript or the final published Version of Record (if you have chosen to publish open access through your publisher or platform.)
For more information, see 'How to comply with the REF open access policy'.
Who can you contact for more information?
The Open Access team within Scholarly Communications Services will answer any questions regarding the REF open access policy.
For advice about using Pure, please contact the Pure team within Research Strategy and Services.