Research sector split over UKRI’s new open-access policy

Open-access groups cheer while publishers air “significant concern” over policy’s support for repository route

UK Research and Innovation’s newly published open-access policy—which demands that any peer-reviewed articles funded by UKRI submitted from April 2022 onward be made openly available immediately—has been met with a mixed reaction from the research sector.

The policy determines which routes to publication the funder will support with its annual budget of almost £8 billion. UKRI will provide up to £46.7m annually to implement it, with funding ringfenced for also transitioning monographs to open access from 1 January 2024.