Open Access Publication Policy
1. BHF, as a member of the consortium of major
UK biomedical and health research funders, contributes to the
funding of UK PubMed Central (UKPMC), with the intention of
ensuring that the complete versions of publications derived from
their funded research are available freely. UKPMC was launched on 8
January 2007: see www.ukpmc.ac.uk/funders
2. As a Condition of Grant the BHF
requires that a copy of the final version of each peer-reviewed
research paper accepted for publication, supported in whole or in
part by BHF funding, shall be deposited in UKPMC, to be made freely
available within 6 months of publication. BHF will provide
the names and contact details of the Grantholders to third parties
in connection with the administration of the UK PubMed Central
database and website, and they may contact Grantholders directly
for such purposes.
3. Many journals will deposit the article on behalf of the
authors directly into UKPMC to be available on publication or after
an embargo period (or into US PubMed Central, from where they are
mirrored to UKPMC). In some cases, journals will not deposit the
article but will allow the authors to deposit a copy. UKPMC
contains an author manuscript submission system for these
papers.
4. All BHF grant holders submitting manuscripts to journals
should find out in advance whether the publisher supports open
access and how they can comply with paragraph [2] above.
5. If extra publication costs are required for open access in
UKPMC, BHF will reimburse valid fees, or a proportion in the case
of multiple funders, on full papers acknowledging BHF with the
grant number. The University should pay the open access
charge in the first instance and then submit a claim stating the
BHF grant number to BHF with a copy of the journal’s open access
invoice and a copy of the published paper.
6. A small number of journals
remain non-compliant with this open access policy. If a
researcher wishes to publish a paper in a journal that will not
allow deposition in UKPMC and open access within 6 months of
publication, a case must be made in advance to BHF, which will
grant the request only in exceptional circumstances.
7. Useful information on which publishers are compliant with the
BHF policy can be found on the SHERPA/RoMEO website at
www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php
8. For more general information about open access publication,
the Wellcome Trust has a well-developed website to guide authors,
at www.wellcome.ac.uk/node3302.html
9. Further updates will follow as needed on our website.
Specific queries can be emailed to the address below.
BHF Research Funds Department
020 7554 0434
research@bhf.org.uk
August 2008
