Open Access funding
The Open Access (OA) funds currently available at the University are:
- UKRI Open Access block grant 2024-25 (for papers acknowledging funding from AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC or Innovate UK) *
- The Wellcome Trust Open Access block grant 2024
- Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Open Access block grant 2022-25
- British Heart Foundation (BHF) Open Access block grant 2024-2025
- University Open Access Fund 2024-2025 (for papers not funded by any of the above)
*We also have our own guidance for UKRI funded authors on our UKRI Open Access policy webpage.
These funds are allocated to the University to enable researchers to pay for Gold Open Access.
Our funds can be used to support the payment of Open Access fees in fully Open Access journals only. For more information about this, please see our Hybrid Open Access statement. There is an exception for authors funded by CRUK and BHF. These funders permit their funds to be used for hybrid journals.
NIHR funded authors: The Library does not manage any NIHR Open Access funds. You can apply directly to NIHR for Open Access funding using the request form available on their website.
Requesting Open Access funding
Funded papers accepted for publication
If you are hoping to access funds from the block grants listed above, you should submit your Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) using the Open Access Gateway.
Funded research should include a full grant acknowledgement, including grant number/s.
Unfunded papers, or papers not yet accepted for publication
The Library currently has funding available for unfunded authors publishing in fully Open Access journals.
If you plan to publish in a fully Open Access journal, please contact us prior to submission. Authors should not submit papers to a fully Open Access journal, or request an invoice for Open Access fees from their publisher, before the Library approves their funding request.
Unfunded authors publishing in a hybrid journal do not need to request Open Access funding. You may be able to make use of one of our publisher Open Access agreements, or publish Green Open Access at no cost.
Publisher Open Access agreements
The Library has numerous Open Access agreements available, details of which are available on our OA agreements webpage.