Oxford, funder and REF policies

Oxford University, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and major research funders all have policies that require researchers to make their work open access.


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Research funders and open access

Most major research funders now require research outputs to be made open access. When you accept a research grant, you are expected to provide open access to the publications arising from the funded research. 

If you don’t comply with your funder’s policy, your existing grant may be partially withheld, and you may not be eligible for future funding.

The Open Access Oxford team is here to help Oxford authors to understand the key funder requirements and how to comply. As a starting point, you can find details of each funder's specific policy through the links below.

Most funders also require that your supporting research data should be made open access wherever possible. For advice on research data management and sharing, visit the Research Data Oxford website.