The revised Research Publication and Open Access Policy to incorporate Rights Retention (RR) was approved by the University's Academic Board in January 2024. The Policy provides the principles to allow staff and students at the University to:
a. ensure publications are available to a global audience.
b. comply with funder Open Access (OA) requirements.
c. allow authors to retain their rights to their own publications.
d. allow authors to publish their work with integrity.
The key points from the policy are below in addition to a link to the full policy.
With the exception of the Rights Retention aspects of the Research Publication and Open Access Policy the revised requirements are effective from 25th January 2024.
The Rights Retention aspects of the Policy are effective from 1st October 2024.
The Research Publication and Open Access Policy applies to all employees, students, and visiting researchers of the University, including persons holding honorary University appointments and students on placements who author or co-author any research publication.
The Research Publication and Open Access Policy provides the principles which will underpin the publication of any research output associated with the University of Derby.
This Policy includes submission of Doctoral and Masters by Research theses and critical appraisals for Research Degrees by Published Works. Any scholastic works submitted for publication or accepted for publication prior to 1st October 2024 should refer to the previous version of this Policy, which was valid at the time of submission for publication.
From 1st October 2024 the Rights Retention principles of the Policy apply to all journal articles and conference proceedings, regardless of how the output was funded or if it is being considered for inclusion in the REF. The Rights Retention principles do not currently apply to monographs, scholarly editions, textbooks, book chapters, collections of essays, datasets, theses, dissertations or other outputs that are not journal articles or conference proceedings. However, the University strongly encourages researchers to make all outputs as open as possible. Where a funder or research assessment exercise (e.g. REF) requires the retention of rights for long-form publications, this must be strictly adhered to.