If you are a doctoral researcher funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) you need to be aware of the UKRI Open Access and research data policies and what you have to do to comply with them when you:
- deposit an electronic version of your thesis in CentAUR, the University's institutional repository; or
- publish your research.
This page tells you what you need to know about these policies and the University and external services that you should use in order to comply with their requirements. The information provided here is also available for download as a PDF: UKRI Information for UKRI-funded doctoral researchers.
Does this apply to me?
UKRI requirements apply to you if you receive any UKRI funding, either directly or indirectly. These policies apply if you are:
- fully funded by UKRI under a studentship award
- funded by UKRI under a CASE studentship
- funded by the University using UKRI Doctoral Training Centre, Partnership or Grant funding.
When do the UKRI policies apply?
These policies apply when you publish the outputs of your research, both during the course of your doctorate at Reading and after you graduate, if the published work is based on your doctoral research. Publication – in this context – may be understood as:
- depositing an electronic version of an awarded PhD thesis (e-thesis) in CentAUR such that it is publicly accessible (in accordance with University requirements: visit the Electronic deposition of theses: guidance for supervisors page for more information); or
- being a named author on a peer-reviewed paper published in a scholarly journal or in conference proceedings.
Publication in either of these senses carries obligations under the UK Research and Innovation Training Grants: Standard Terms and Conditions, the UKRI Policy on Open Access, and the research data policies of the individual Research Councils. By meeting these obligations students will also satisfy several aspects of the University policies on Open Access and Research Data Management.
Conditions of UKRI Training Grants
The UK Research and Innovation Training Grants: Standard Terms and Conditions require that in the case of PhD theses funded by UKRI:
- metadata describing the thesis should be lodged in the institution's repository as soon as possible after the award
- a full text version of the thesis should be available online within a maximum of 12 months following the award
- students must publish the results of their research in accordance with the UKRI Policy on Open Access (see below).
UKRI Open Access policy
The UKRI Open Access policy applies to.
- peer-reviewed research articles submitted for publication on or after 1 April 2022
- monographs, book chapters and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024.
It supersedes the RCUK Open Access policy for articles submitted before 1 April 2022.
The UKRI Open Access policy requires peer-reviewed papers arising from UKRI funded research to be published on an Open Access basis, i.e. made freely available via the internet for users to access, copy, use, modify and distribute.
How to comply
Doctoral researchers can comply with the Policy by publishing papers as Open Access journal articles (gold Open Access) and/or by depositing the author final manuscripts accepted by publishers in CentAUR (green Open Access). Guidance on how to do this is provided in the University's Open Access web pages.
- To publish as gold Open Access, students should apply for funding to cover article processing charges (APCs) to oarequest@reading.ac.uk.
- To publish as green Open Access by depositing in CentAUR, students should contact centaur@reading.ac.uk.
The funding Research Council must be acknowledged in the article. The acknowledgement statement must include the full name of the funder and the training grant number, using the format followed in these two examples provided in the Acknowledgement of Funders in Scholarly Journal Articles guidance for research funders, authors and publishers (PDF, 0.04 MB) (paragraphs 7 and 8):
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [grant number xxxx].
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Natural Environment Research Council [grant number zzzz]; and the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number aaaa].
This funder information should also be included in the metadata record in CentAUR.
Research councils' policies on research data
The UKRI Open Access Policy requires all papers to 'include […] if applicable, a statement on how the underlying research materials - such as data, samples or models - can be accessed.'
It is expected that data will be made openly available, unless there is a legitimate reason for restricting access, for example, to protect commercial or individual confidentiality. Where reasons for restricting access to data exist, these should be included in the statement.
These expectations are consistent with the UKRI Common Principles on Research Data, which state:
Publicly funded research data are a public good and produced in the public interest. They should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner.
This is so that research claims may be verified and the data may be re-used for further research and other purposes. Individual research councils enact these principles in their own research data policies.
How to comply
Doctoral researchers can meet these expectations by depositing the data that have been collected in the course of the research, along with supporting documentation, in the University's Research Data Archive or a suitable alternative data repository. There is a variety of subject and data-type specific data repositories and general data sharing services which may be suitable, depending on the type of data to be preserved and shared.
A reference to the data, known as a data availability statement or data access statement, should be included in the related publication.
The University's research data management website provides information about preserving and sharing data, including guidance on choosing a suitable data repository, how to prepare data for archiving, and how to include a data access statement in the research output.
Help and further information
If you require assistance or have further questions please address enquires as follows:
- UKRI Open Access Policy, Open Access publishing, CentAUR and e-thesis deposit: centaur@reading.ac.uk.
- Research data management and the University's Research Data Archive: researchdata@reading.ac.uk.