Supporting information

  • Author. For the purposes of this Policy, a creator of intellectual property.
  • Author accepted manuscript (AAM). A draft version of the full-text research output that has been through the peer-review process (some publishers also call this a “postprint”). Many publishers allow the author accepted manuscript to be made publicly available in a repository after an embargo period, but not the final version which they have typeset and published.
  • “Diamond” open access. Where a research output has been licensed to a publisher, the publisher allows the final, published version of the work to be immediately made openly accessible without the payment of an “article processing charge” (APC). The publishing process is supported by donations from non-profit organisations, library consortiums or government agencies rather than by charging fees to specific authors or readers.
  • Full text. A full text deposit is the actual data or research output itself, e.g. a journal article, book, or paper. Full text objects are often mentioned alongside non-textual equivalents such as digital images, video or sound files.
  • “Gold” open access. Where a research output has been licensed to a publisher, the publisher allows the final, published version of the work to be immediately made openly accessible upon payment (usually by the institution) of an “article processing charge” (APC).
  • “Green” open access. Where a research output has been licensed to a publisher, the publisher allows a draft version of the work to be deposited in an open access repository without cost to the institution. Publishers usually impose an embargo that delays the release of the “green” open access version.
  • Institutional repository. An online database of research conducted at an institution, containing both metadata and full text records. Bath Spa University has two institutional repositories:- ResearchSPAce for research outputs and BathSPAdata for research data.
  • Licensed. In the context of publishing, where an author contractually permits a publisher to publish their work, usually with conditions that define how a work might be published, in what formats, in what territories, and for what period.
  • Metadata. Broadly, “data about data”. In open access terms this means descriptive information about a research output:- author, title, publisher, date of publication or exhibition, etc.
  • Open access. Making research outputs freely available online, instead of requiring payment in order to view them.
  • “Read and Publish” agreements. Library subscription agreements, normally with a specific publisher, that provide both institutional access to the publishers’ journal titles and the opportunity for the institutions’ authors to make their journal articles - where accepted for publication - immediately openly accessible at no additional cost.

Principles

Bath Spa University is committed to the principle that scholarly research is a public good and that, wherever possible, it should be made freely available online for the benefit of the academic community and wider society. Open access has been shown to increase citation rates for published outputs.

There are various open access routes available to academic staff, including “green” and “gold” open access publishing models.

Funder open access requirements are complex and frequently changing. Researchers should therefore seek advice from the Library’s Research Support team (repositories@bathspa.ac.uk) on the options available to them at the point when they are deciding where to publish their work. Many funding schemes, including REF2029, now require immediate, or near immediate, open access for certain types of publication. Compliance cannot be retrospectively achieved.

Scope

ResearchSPAce is the institutional repository for “final” (published, performed, or exhibited) scholarly research outputs, as defined by the repository’s Content Policy. A separate institutional repository, BathSPAdata, is available for the storage and dissemination of research data, including images of exhibited art or design work, printed music, video and sound files.

Policy

  1. Academic staff should enter a description (‘metadata’) of new scholarly research outputs in ResearchSPAce, in order to build a comprehensive institutional record of research activity. Online guidance explains the self-deposit process.

  2.  Ideally, the final published version of a journal article should be openly accessible at the point of publication (e.g. via a “read and publish” agreement). If this will not be the case, the author accepted manuscript should be deposited in ResearchSPAce as soon as possible after the article is officially accepted for publication by the editor. This will ensure compliance with the REF Policy for Open Access. Academic staff should check for any further requirements from their funders. For example specific Creative Commons licences may need to be applied and embargo periods checked.

  3. Where possible, or as required by funders, academic staff are encouraged to upload to ResearchSPAce the full text of research outputs other than journal articles. For example monographs, book chapters, reports or practice research portfolios.

  4. Outputs are uploaded to ResearchSPAce under a ‘non-exclusive’ licence, which protects authors’ rights to publish their material, in its present or future versions, elsewhere. Authors’ rights are further protected by the repository Data Policy.

  5. There is no compulsion upon academic staff to publish or register their work in ResearchSPAce. The University recognises there may be valid reasons for not doing so, including contractual restrictions, national security, concern about loss of income or control over intellectual property. However consideration should be given to the possible effect of opt-out. For example, exclusion from internal research reviews (if outputs are not registered in ResearchSPAce), inadmissibility to REF or breach of funding conditions.

Monitoring and responsibilities

  1. Academic staff are responsible for meeting the open access requirements of the Policy and, where applicable, funding bodies.

  2. The University will provide training and guidance to help academic staff meet the open access requirements of the Policy and of any relevant funding bodies whilst complying with the terms of their publisher agreements.

  3. The Library will liaise with academics to ensure that full text items (or non-textual equivalent) comply with publisher copyright agreements and ResearchSPAce Policies before items are made publicly available.

  4. The Library will review and standardise metadata.

  5. The Research and Ethics Committee (REC) will monitor compliance with the Policy through the University’s annual review of outputs. The Library will provide REC with key indicators of open access publication.

Further guidance

For more information about how to comply with funders’ open access policies, please see the Open Research Sharepoint pages (BSU login required) or get in touch with the Library’s Research Support team at repositories@bathspa.ac.uk.

Date of last approval: March 2021

Last updated: March 2025

Date of next review: January 2029