City Research Online and REF

Research outputs exempted from meeting Open Access requirements

In some cases it will not be possible for a publication within the scope of the policy to meet the requirements set out by the policy. These exceptions are listed below.

Deposit exceptions

The following exceptions can be applied to research outputs that are unable to meet the deposit requirements. These outputs do not need to meet any of the open access criteria (deposit, discovery and access requirements). 

Publication period 1 January 2021 - 31 Dec 2025

• At the point of acceptance, it was not possible to secure the use of a repository.
• There was a delay in securing the final peer-reviewed text (for instance, where a paper has multiple authors).
• The staff member to whom the output is attributed was not employed on a Category A eligible contract by a UKHEI at the time of submission for publication.
• It would be unlawful to deposit, or request the deposit of, the output.
• Depositing the output would present a security risk.  

Publication period 1 January 2026 - 31 Dec 2028

• It would be unlawful to deposit, or request the deposit of, the output or to otherwise make this available.
• The publication actively disallows open access deposit in a repository and was the most appropriate publication for the output.
• Subject to delay in securing the final peer-reviewed text for deposit – for instance, where a paper has multiple authors.

Access exceptions

The following exceptions can be applied to research outputs that can be deposited, but cannot meet the access requirements of the policy. In these cases, the outputs must still meet the deposit and discovery requirements. A closed deposit, where allowed, will be required.

Publication period 1 January 2021 - 31 Dec 2025

• The output depends on the reproduction of third-party content for which open access rights could not be granted (either within the specified timescales, or at all).
• The publication concerned requires an embargo period that exceeds the stated maxima, and was the most appropriate publication for the output.
• The publication concerned actively disallows open-access deposit in a repository, and was the most appropriate publication for the output.

Publication period 1 January 2026 - 31 Dec 2028

• The publication requires an embargo period that exceeds the stated maxima and was the most appropriate publication for the output. Outputs will not need to meet the embargo requirements in this case.
• Third-party content was included for which licences could not be obtained at a reasonable cost. The output will not need to meet access and/or licensing requirements (as relevant) in this case.

Technical Exceptions

The following exceptions can be applied where the output has not been able to meet the open access policy requirements due to a technical issue. In these cases the output does not need to meet any of the open access criteria (deposit, discovery and access requirements):

Publication period 1 January 2021 - 31 Dec 2025

• At the point of acceptance, the staff member to whom the output is attributed was employed at a different UK HEI, and it has not been possible to determine compliance with the criteria.
• The repository experienced a short-term or transient technical failure that prevented compliance with the criteria (this should not apply to systemic issues).
• An external service provider failure prevented compliance (for instance, a subject repository did not enable open access at the end of the embargo period, or a subject repository ceased to operate).

Publication period 1 January 2026 - 31 Dec 2028

• Output has a demonstrable and substantive connection to the submitting institution but was published following the end of the author’s period of employment, and it has not been possible to determine compliance with the criteria.
• Outputs were authored in whole by one or more staff who are or were ineligible to be included in the volume measure for REF 2029. The funding bodies have agreed this exception across the publication period for REF 2029 in order to support submission of a wide range of eligible outputs.

Further Exceptions

Further exceptions to the policy are outlined below:

Publication period 1 January 2021 - 31 Dec 2025

• Other exception. Other exception should be used where an output is unable to meet the criteria due to circumstances beyond the control of the HEI, including extenuating personal circumstances of the author (such as periods of extended leave), industrial action, closure days, and software problems beyond those listed in the technical exceptions. If ‘other’ exception is selected, the output will not need to meet the open access criteria (deposit, discovery or access requirements).
• The output was not deposited within three months of acceptance date, but was deposited within three months of the earliest date of publication. In this instance, the output will need to meet all other policy requirements. This exception does not need to be applied retrospectively to outputs compliant with the policy from 1 April 2016 to 1 April 2018 which fulfilled the policy requirements within three months of publication.

Publication period 1 January 2026 - 31 Dec 2028

• Other exception. Other exception should be used where an output is unable to meet the criteria due to circumstances beyond the control of the HEI, including extenuating personal circumstances of the author (such as periods of extended leave), industrial action, closure days, and software problems beyond those listed in the technical exceptions. If ‘other’ exception is selected, the output will not need to meet the open access criteria (deposit, discovery or access requirements).

There will be publications identified by the system as within the scope of the open access policy that will not be included in the REF submission.

These can be, but are not limited to:

• Editorials
• Conference abstracts only
• Corrections
• Book reviews

How to tell us about these publications? 

• Email the Publications Team to let us know