Support for the Research Publications and Copyright Policy
The University of Glasgow, along with many other research organisations and funders has adopted a rights retention approach to support open access. This facilitates the author retaining the right to post their accepted manuscript on a repository to meet open access requirements.
This is a mandatory policy and applies to all staff who produce outputs arising from their research activity during the course of their employment at the University.
Read the policy here:
Research Publications and Copyright Policy
What does the policy apply to?
- All original articles, research papers, review articles (including invited and commissioned), conference papers intended for publication. Rights retention is broadly designed to support open access to journal articles and conference proceedings.
- All other Scholarly Materials (as defined in the University’s Policy for Intellectual Property and Rewarding Participation in Commercialisation) where a funder of the relevant research has mandated open access in respect of the relevant Scholarly Material. This might mean books and book chapters.
It is recommended to add the rights retention statement to all manuscript submissions, even if the article will eventually be open access via the publisher website.
The policy could potentially be used as a tool to make other types of output open access, although there is little case history in this area. Authors would need to explore this possibility on a case-by-case basis.
What do authors need to do?
Authors should follow the standard open access process, which incorporates the rights retention approach. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
Authors should include a rights retention statement to the manuscript (and/or any covering documents if appropriate). This can be added to a dedicated section in the article template or in the acknowledgements:
For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.
Alternative wording with the same intended outcome can be used instead if required by the relevant funder.
This ensures full transparency for co-authors and publishers.
Main benefits:
- Increasing accessiblity to author works, maintaining author choice, and ensuring liberal sharing and reuse rights for authors and end users. Making research outputs more readily available increases the potential for community engagement, citation, reuse and impact.
- Enhancing compliance with open access requirements such as Research Excellence Framework exercises and funders, particularly given more stringent publisher embargo periods and reduced funding for publisher agreements that facilitate open access to the published version.
- Adopting open research practices leads to increased reproducibility and transparency of research through sharing.
- Reducing administrative time for researchers and research professional staff. The Library can deposit the AAM in the University repository Enlighten under a CC-BY licence, reducing the need to enter into discussions with authors and publishers in situations where the publishing agreement does not allow the manuscript to be shared CC BY.
Notifying publishers
The University will write to the top 100 publishers used by authors. If the paper is with one of those the library will be able to share the manuscript if another route to open access is not available.
A list of these publishers will be made available here soon.
If you have any concerns about a particular publisher please notify research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
Exceptions to the policy
If you wish to request that a paper to be opted out from the policy you must notify research-openacces@glasgow.ac.uk of the reason for this request as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than the point at which you send your accepted manuscript to the Library.
Exceptions to the policy will be considered but will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.
Alternative Options and Opt Out
The University recognises that there may be situations where a researcher wishes to opt out of the Research Publications and Copyright Policy requirement for immediate open access of the accepted manuscript upon publication, or the application of a CC BY licence.
In this situation, as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than the point at which they send the accepted manuscript to the Library, the author should contact the Library Open Access Team to request an opt-out from the relevant requirement(s) of the policy. Any such request will be reasonably considered by the University but will be granted only in exceptional circumstances and will not be granted where to do so would put the University (or the relevant researcher) in breach of a funder requirement.
It is incumbent on University researchers to comply fully with the terms of any funding which gave rise to the relevant work.
Scenarios where an opt-out may be appropriate
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A co-authors policy requires a different licence or they do not want to share the manuscript with a creative commons attribution (CC BY) licence at all, For example due to their institutional policy prohibiting it;
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The article contains a substantial amount of third party materials which cannot be licenced with a CC-BY. The redaction of third party materials will compromise the reading of the article.
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The author has already applied for a Wellcome Trust or UK Research and Innovation licencing exception.
Requesting an opt-out
To discuss a specific case contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk no later than the point at which the accepted manuscript is sent to the Library.
The Open Access team will advise authors on potential alternatives, and may seek legal or other expert input.
Options may include
- applying an embargo on the release of the accepted manuscript
- applying a more restrictive licence or complete removal of the Creative Commons licence.
- not sharing the accepted version of the manuscript on Enlighten
FAQs
1. How will the process work when I am not the lead author and am one of many co-authors on a paper, particularly when the co-authors are from different countries?
Where a University of Glasgow author has a requirement to make an article open access, this should be discussed with co-authors in advance of submission. Authors can seek advice on compliance options from the Open Access Team if needed.
It is acknowledged that research works are frequently the result of collaboration with researchers who are not employed by the University of Glasgow and who are not therefore subject to the terms of the Research Publications and Copyright Policy, funder, or Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercises requirements. Wherever reasonably practicable, UofG authors must ensure that the requirements of the Research Publications and Copyright Policy and any funders are met. You should therefore bring the requirements to the attention of your co-authors as early as possible and send appropriate text to the corresponding author. If strict compliance turns out not to be feasible, please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
Similar policies and processes relating to open access and rights retention are in place at some of our peer institutions across the UK, and in countries where Plan S principles are in effect.
2. How will the process work where my output has multiple co-authors and is funded by more than one funder?
Wherever reasonably practicable, you must ensure that the Open Access requirements of your funder and of the Research Publications and Copyright Policy are met. UK Research and Innovation guidance emphasises that, when agreeing collaborations, award holders should be clear to their collaborators on the funder requirements they are subject to. You should therefore bring the requirements of your funder to the attention of your co-authors as early as possible and send appropriate text to the corresponding author. If strict compliance turns out not to be feasible, please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
3. Does the Research Publications and Copyright Policy apply to honorary staff or students?
The policy is not mandated for honorary staff or students. The Research Publications and Copyright Policy applies to staff publishing the outputs from their academic research activity at the University .
Students, emeritus professors, and those with honorary or affiliate positions are strongly encouraged to follow this policy and to include a rights statement when submitting work for publication. Their outputs may still require to be made open access e.g. where this has been mandated by a funder of the relevant research or where a co-author is under an obligation to make the output open access. Or the authors may wish to use a rights retention statement as an option for sharing their work.
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the policy, please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
4. What if an author claiming affiliation to the University of Glasgow has left the University?
If an author held a staff post at the University, and has recorded this on the output, then wherever reasonably practicable they must ensure that requirements of the Research Publications and Copyright Policy are met. If strict compliance turns out not to be feasible, please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
5. What if the holder of an award granted to the University of Glasgow has left the University?
If the award is still held by the University then the University has responsibility for compliance with the funder's terms. Wherever reasonably practicable, authors must ensure that the Open Access requirements of the funder are met. If strict compliance turns out not to be feasible, please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
If the award has been transferred to another organisation, or has ended, then the University is generally not held responsible for open access compliance. However, we recommend that, wherever reasonably practicable, authors ensure that the Open Access requirements of the funder are met.
6. Are outputs published via preprints servers compliant with the Research Publications and Copyright Policy?
An output published via a preprints server is only compliant with the Research Publications and Copyright Policy where the author verifies that the output is equivalent to the author accepted version and that they have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to the output. Earlier non peer-reviewed versions of outputs are not compliant. Some publishers do not allow sharing of preprints on public servers.
7. Where can I find help to check if a publication outlet might have a compliant route which will enable me to comply with the Research Publications and Copyright Policy?
You can check the publisher website or ask research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk to check for you.
Some publishers have explicitly stated that they will not object to researchers using rights retention strategies to share accepted manuscripts. In addition, many publishers are adopting open access policies that are aligned with current open access requirements thus extending the benefits of open access to more researchers across the globe regardless of institutional or funder policies.
An updated list of all the publishers the University has written to notifying them of our Research Publications and Copyright Policy will be made available in autumn 2026. We will will have a process to write to additional specific publishers to put them on notice of UofG’s policy so they can be added to that list.
Should you require advice on open access compliance in relation to your publication, please contact Research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
8. What should authors do if publishers insist on them signing an agreement that does not comply with the Research Publications and Copyright Policy?
Should an author be concerned that a publisher insists they sign an agreement that suggests they are not allowed to share the accepted version with a CC BY licence they should contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
9. My work is unfunded. Does the Research Publications and Copyright Policy apply to me?
If you are a member of staff the Research Publications and Copyright Policy applies to you regardless of the funding status of your research.
10. If I include a rights retention statement in my submitted manuscript, might that make it less likely that the publisher will accept the manuscript for publication?
It is now common practice across the sector for Universities to have rights retention policies. This means that a large number of publishers will already be used to authors including rights retention statements in their submitted manuscripts. Based on our experience so far, both within UofG and the wider sector, we think that it is unlikely that the inclusion of a rights retention statement will be detrimental to the chances of your manuscript being accepted for publication. If you have any concerns, you can contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk for advice and support.
11. Would I be personally liable as copyright holder if a publisher were to take legal action against me?
If a claim is made by a publisher against you personally, support will be available from the University and its legal team (which, in most cases, will mean the University adopting and accepting liability for the claim), provided that University policy, relevant funder open access policies, and this guidance, have been followed. Should you receive a communication from a publisher referring to the possibility of legal action, please immediately inform research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk.
It is good practice, in your dealings with potential publishers, for you to make them aware of the University's policy, and therefore, the restriction on your ability to grant publishers unrestricted rights to the copyright in your submitted work. You should also read the relevant publisher's terms and conditions and consider whether there is a concern. By taking these steps, you will reduce the likelihood of a claim arising. If you are unsure about whether or not there is a conflict, or about any of the publisher’s terms, help is available: please contact research-openaccess@glasgow.ac.uk
12. Does the policy apply to outputs other than publications, for example code and data?
The policy applies specifically to the text in articles and conference proceedings and is is not mandated for the underlying data. The University's policies around the deposit and sharing of research data can be found in the Code of Good Practice in Research.
There are well-established routes available for making data, code and other outputs available with open access licences. For advice and guidance, please see the Research Data Management webpages or contact research-datamanagement@glasgow.ac.uk.
13. Is a rights retention statement still needed under the new policy?
Whilst it is no longer mandatory for authors to include a rights retention statement in the original submission, it is recommended that they do so. This will minimise the risk of challenge to the University, and to the author, in a situation where UofG hasn’t written to that particular publisher to put them on prior notice of the University’s policy. It will also make transparent to all stakeholders, including publishers and co-authors, the rights that the author has retained in their work.
14. What if the University has not written to the publisher and there is no rights retention statement?
In this situation, routes to making an output open access would be considered on a case-by-case basis. This may involve a discussion between the author, the Library and Legal & Governance.