Open Access and the 
Research Excellence 
Framework
Ben Johnson
Research Policy Adviser
FOSTER OA Good Practice Exchange Workshop
7 July 2015
Image: CERN
The Internet makes it easy to 
share research outputs freely.
Motivations for OA
So let’s subvert the current 
system…
…to deliver an 
unprecedented public 
good!
Images: Princeton (Harnad); Suber/Twitter (Suber)
“The principle that the 
results of research that has 
been publicly funded should 
be freely
accessible in the public 
domain is a compelling one, 
and fundamentally 
unanswerable.” 
Motivations for OA
Image: Public Domain
The current system of journal 
publishing is too expensive, 
unsustainable, and in crisis.
Motivations for OA
Image: Public domain
Growth of serials expenditure in the UK
Total expenditure on serials (2002=100) CPI uplift on 2002 baseline (2002=100)
Academic staff numbers (2002=100) PG students (2002=100)
Data: SCONUL statistics (expenditure); ONS (CPI); HESA (other data)
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices
Image of Willetts: BIS
Image: Public domain
gratis
libre
APCs
CC BY
hybrid
copyright transfer
green
gold
double-dipping
embargoes
decision tree
AAMs
compliance
metadata
repositories
Image: Public domain
Gratis Libre
Green Gold
Some concerns…
• Quality?
• Ability to pay? 
• UK “going it alone”?
• Double-dipping?
• Licensing?
• Learned societies?
• “Academic freedom”?
And is it even necessary?
Image: Osborne/University of Cambridge
●Open research is 
excellent research
●Mandates are 
successful 
●£1.6 billion
And now the REF
http:/is.gd/OAREF
● Maximising the reach and impact of research 
we fund
● Delivering a future that is ‘open by default’
● Not ‘distorting’ the system unilaterally and 
ideologically
● But fixing some of the problems in the 
system
Our aims
● Author engagement is essential
● We must set clear and straightforward rules
● We must be ambitious, but reasonable and 
flexible
Our aims
● To be eligible for the next REF, journal 
articles and conference papers accepted 
after 1 April 2016 must be:
● Deposited in a repository as the 
peer-reviewed manuscript (or better)
● Made accessible for read and download 
after 12 months or 24 months
The minimum requirements
  Full policy: http:/is.gd/OAREF
Will publishers allow authors to 
deposit their papers in 
repositories?
Yes!
How many journal articles are 
published in venues with permissible 
embargoes?
96%
0 25 50 75 100
Source: HEFCE analysis of REF2014 submission
How many papers are being 
deposited today?
12%
0 25 50 75 100
Bjork, B. C., Laakso, M., Welling, P., & Paetau, P. (2014). Anatomy of Green Open Access. Journal of the 
Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(2), 237-250.
●Exceptions apply where deposit not 
possible / open access not possible etc
●Benefits of OA should be extended 
beyond journals and conferences
●Libre OA is a desirable ‘end game’
A few more details…
  Full policy: http:/is.gd/OAREF
● Implementation and monitoring
●Stability vs. harmony
●Ambition vs. realism
●Long-term trajectory for UK OA: are we 
seizing the golden opportunity?
Challenges
The future is open, and the 
benefits are substantial
Thank you for listening
b.johnson@hefce.ac.uk
openaccess@hefce.ac.uk