Author: Heather

I provide support for Open Access at Newcastle University as part of the Library Research Services team.

Cancer Research UK Open Access funding changes

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) have changed how they are supporting Open Access (OA) publishing. From the 1st of October 2026, CRUK no longer provide financial support to institutions to pay any publishing costs. CRUK-funded research must continue to be made openly available, with unrestricted access.

CRUK requirements

For any research paper accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, CRUK researchers are expected to:

  • Make the work available (either author accepted manuscript or version of record) through Europe PMC, immediately on publication or no later than six months after publication (where an embargo is applied).
  • If published open access, use a CC BY 4.0 licence.
  • Acknowledge funding on the format “This work was supported by Cancer Research UK [Cref./A ref. OR XXXX\123456]’)” and, for trial results, the Cancer Research UK trial number.
  • If patient data used, use the patient data citation: https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/data-citation.
  • Include a data availability statement.

Options for open access

All researchers should consider their publishing options before they submit a manuscript, or if their publication is delayed or transferred to a new journal or publisher.

Authors can self-archive their author accepted manuscript, at no cost, under a CC BY licence, through the Newcastle University Research Publication and Copyright Policy, also known as our Rights Retention Policy (RRP).

Our publisher agreements allow Newcastle University staff and students who act as corresponding authors to publish OA without additional charges, or receive a discount on article processing charges (APCs). Be aware that agreements vary and are subject to change.

If authors choose to publish in a journal that charges an APC and is not covered by an agreement, any fees would need to be paid by the author(s). Newcastle University does manage open access block grants from UK Research and Innovation, British Heart Foundation and Wellcome, where these funders are acknowledged, see the individual pages for more details.

Library Research Services are here to help you understand your options. For any questions, contact us at openaccess@ncl.ac.uk.

What’s on in Library Research Services: October 2026

The Library Research Services (LRS) team continue to be available to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

Open research events happening in October:

At Newcastle:

Elsewhere:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates happening in 2026.

What’s on in Library Research Services: September 2026

As we move into autumn, the Library Research Services (LRS) team continue to be available to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

Open research events happening in September:

At Newcastle:

Elsewhere:

If you missed the Open Research Conference held at Newcastle in June, see our blog post for details of the day, the sessions and links to some of the presentations.

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates happening in 2026.

Drop-in support 2026: Open access and beyond

Are you looking for advice and information on open access or managing publications? Do you have questions about copyright or how to comply with REF? Come to one of our monthly drop-in sessions and meet members of the Library Research Services team, who will be happy to answer questions on:

Whether you’re a seasoned researcher, student or simply keen to explore the possibilities within open access, the session offers a welcoming space to ask questions, gain insights and delve deeper into the realm of open access.

These are informal sessions, however, registration is required for you to receive the online teams link. 

All are welcome!

What’s on in Library Research Services: June and July 2026

The Library Research Services (LRS) team are here to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

The following Open Research events are happening at Newcastle University in June and July:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2026.

What’s on in Library Research Services: April and May 2026

Members of the Library Research Services (LRS) team are here to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

Open Research events happening at Newcastle University in April and May:

Open Research events happening elsewhere in April and May:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2026.

REF 2029 Open Access Policy – updates for 2026

The REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2029 Open Access (OA) policy details the requirements for making eligible research outputs open access during the REF 2029 assessment period between 2021 and 2028.

Open Access Policy

The OA policy applies to journal articles and conference proceedings with an ISSN that are published after 1 January 2021. It does not apply to any other research outputs, such as chapters, books, data, etc, although REF encourages researchers to move beyond the minimum requirements and apply open practices where possible to all outputs.

For inclusion in the REF OA submission, a version of the published article must be made open access, i.e. deposited, made accessible and discoverable, within the expected timeframes. The guidance for outputs published after 1 January 2026 has been updated, and the table below summarisies the key details.

 REF 2021 Open Access Policy guidanceREF 2029 Open Access Policy guidance
Published between1 January 2021 to 31 December 20251 January 2026 to 31 December 2028
Depositthe author accepted manuscript (AAM) must be deposited in a repository within 90 days of acceptancethe author accepted manuscript (AAM) or version of record (VoR) must be deposited in a repository or suitable platform within 90 days of publication
Accessiblewithin 30 days of publication or of an embargo period once published or at end of embargo period
Licenceminimum requirement CC BY-NC-NDCC BY, but CC BY-NC or CC BY-ND or equivalent permitted
Permitted embargo period12 months for papers submitted to Panels A & B 24 months for papers submitted to Panels C & D6 months for papers submitted to Panels A & B 12 months for papers submitted to Panels C & D
ExceptionsSpecific exceptions are definied in the REF 2021 exceptions sectionSpecific exceptions are definied in the REF 2029 exceptions section

Outputs made immediately open access on publication, provided they meet the deposit, access and licence criteria, will meet REF OA requirements. Note, there is no expectation that additional open access publication costs are required to meet REF 2029 OA policy requirements.

Newcastle University Guidance

We advise that Newcastle University authors continue to deposit their AAM in our institutional repository as soon as possible after acceptance. Following deposit, the open access team will review uploaded manuscripts and contact authors to discuss any issues in meeting the open access requirements for REF. In line with the University Research Publications & Copyright Policy, for any articles published after August 2023, the AAM will be made available open access in the University’s repository under a CC BY licence, on the article publication date, unless an embargo is required (see above for permitted embargo periods).

Detailed instructions of the policy requirements and how to make your paper REF eligible are available on our Open Access for REF page. Some exceptions to the policy are permitted for outputs that do not meet the OA requirements, details of how to apply for these are also shown on that page.

For more information or to arrange a discussion, please contact openaccess@ncl.ac.uk.

*The author accepted manuscript (AAM) is the version after peer review and containing all academically necessary changes, but before publisher copy-editing, proofing and typesetting of the peer-reviewed accepted manuscript.

What’s happening in Library Research Services: March 2026

Members of the Library Research Services (LRS) team continue to be on hand to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

Open Research events happening at Newcastle University in March:

Open Research events happening elsewhere in March:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2026.

What’s happening in Library Research Services: February 2026

Members of the Library Research Services (LRS) team continue to be on hand to support you with any Open Research, Research Data and Open Access training and queries you might have. Get in touch at lrs@ncl.ac.uk.

Open Research events happening at Newcastle University in February:

Open Research events happening elsewhere in February and beyond:

Check out the library calendar for further courses and dates in 2026.

Open Access Help Drop-in Sessions 2026: Jan to June

Are you looking for advice and information on open access or managing publications? Come to one of our monthly drop-in sessions and meet members of the Library Research Services team, who will be happy to answer questions on:

Whether you’re a seasoned researcher, student or simply keen to explore the possibilities within open access, this session offers a welcoming space to ask questions, gain insights and delve deeper into the realm of open access.

These are informal sessions, however, registration is required for you to receive the online teams link. 

All are welcome!