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Minor changes to the REF 2029 Open Access policy

04 Aug 2025

Research England has published some minor clarifications – the Library’s REF Open Access policy guidance has been updated to reflect these changes.

Research England has published some minor clarifications to the REF 2029 Open Access policy. The Library’s REF Open Access policy guidance has been updated to reflect these changes.

Manchester researchers will be unaffected by the majority of the amendments and clarifications, as:

  • our guidance already makes clear that researchers and institutions are not expected to pay additional Open Access fees (e.g., APCs) to comply with REF 2029 requirements;
  • our institutional Rights Retention policy already enables immediate Green Open Access, and the Library provides a mediated deposit service to manage this on behalf of authors;
  • researchers are already required or encouraged to select the CC-BY licence when arranging Gold Open Access.

It is worth noting that Diamond Open Access is now explicitly recognised as compliant for both REF 2021 and 2029, alongside Gold Open Access.

Actions for authors

The Library’s Office for Open Research provides a mediated deposit service, supporting University of Manchester researchers to openly share their research outputs in an easy, efficient way. When you have a journal article or peer-reviewed conference proceeding accepted for publication, use the Open Access Gateway to send us a copy of your Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM). The Office for Open Research will:

  • verify the manuscript version;
  • check applicable journal and funder policies;
  • arrange Green Open Access upon publication of your article.

Find out more