Open access

The purpose of the ARC Open Access Policy is to ensure that research outputs arising from ARC funded research are made openly accessible and the metadata for those outputs are made available to the public.

The policy applies to all research outputs arising from ARC funded research supported under ARC Grant Guidelines and Grant Agreements undertaken from 1 January 2013.

This may include the following output types:

• scholarly books
• edited research books, including prestigious reference works
• scholarly book chapters
• refereed journal articles
• refereed conference papers only when the paper was published in full in the proceedings
• non-traditional research outputs

The policy does not apply to preprints or versions of manuscripts, journal articles or conference papers that have not been refereed or peer reviewed.

Written/printed non-traditional research outputs that have undergone an external review of an equivalent standard to traditional academic peer review are acceptable for the purposes of this policy.

Open data archiving of research data arising from ARC funded research is strongly encouraged, but not mandatory. More information can be found on the Research Data Management guide.

The project leader, fellow, awardee or director must ensure:

• all research outputs arising from ARC funded research are listed, together with a permanent DOI or URL link, in the final report for each project
• research output metadata are provided to an institutional repository as soon as possible but no later than three (3) months from the date of publication
• the appropriate version, recording, rendering or documentation of the research output is either:
  • provided to an institutional repository to be made openly accessible within twelve (12) months of the publication date; or
  • made openly accessible via publisher website or suitable public digital archive within twelve (12) months of the publication date.
• an explanation is provided in the final report for any research output that cannot, or will not, be made openly accessible, including how compliance options were investigated or attempted

Metadata for all research outputs arising from ARC funded research:

• must be made available to the public in an institutional repository, such as espace as soon as possible but no later than three (3) months from the date of publication
• must include the following information
  • ARC Project ID
  • acknowledgement of ARC funding
  • a permanent DOI or URL for the research output
• should include other relevant information as appropriate
  • author(s)/creator(s)
  • author(s)/creator(s) ORCID identifier(s)
  • title
  • type of research output
  • publisher
  • date of publication/public presentation
  • volume
  • issue
  • page numbers
  • ISBN/ISSN/other standard number
  • licence associated with an item

This metadata requirement applies in all cases, regardless of whether the research output itself can or will be made openly accessible.

Any research output arising from ARC funded research must:

• be made openly accessible within a twelve (12) month period from the publication date
• be made openly accessible through one of the following:
  • an institutional repository, such as espace
  • a publisher’s website, if the published version of the article is open access with an associated licence, such as a Creative Commons licence
  • an openly accessible public digital archive, such as PubMed Central (PMC) or Zenodo or OAlster
• include acknowledgement of ARC funding and the ARC project ID

Commercial social networking platforms such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu are not acceptable repositories for the purpose of the ARC Open Access Policy.

Written/printed research outputs

The following versions of a manuscript, journal article in a peer reviewed journal or refereed conference paper are suitable to be made openly accessible:

• Accepted version
  • The version of the article that has undergone peer review, incorporated referee comments, final author revisions and been accepted for publication, but has not yet been copy-edited and formatted for publication.
• Published version
  • The version of the article that has been peer reviewed, edited, formatted and typeset. It includes citation details, tagging and indexing by the publisher.
  • The published version is only acceptable if it is fully openly accessible, with an appropriate licence such as those available through the Creative Commons suite of licences.

Refer to Understanding journal article versions for further information.

Non-written/printed research outputs

The ARC requires a meaningful and enduring digital representation of the work to be deposited into an institutional repository or made available through an openly accessible public digital archive.

The Creative Works Clearance Checklist for Deposit to espace is designed to prompt Curtin Researchers to consider a range of issues such as confidentially, privacy and copyright and assist in making creative works openly available through espace.

The ARC strongly encourages the application of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC-BY) to all research outputs arising from ARC Funded Research. However, the ARC will accept any of the licencing options available through Creative Commons.

Making a research output openly accessible must be consistent with any copyright or licencing arrangements in place. Author(s) are encouraged to consider the open access policy of publishers and research outlets prior to contracting/licensing with the publisher.

If the copyright or licensing agreement does not allow the research output to be made openly accessible within twelve months (12) of the publication date, it must be made openly accessible as soon as possible after that date.

The aims of NHMRC Open Access Policy are to mandate the open access sharing and use of publications arising from NHMRC funded research.

The policy applies to publications reporting on original research arising from NHMRC grant funding:

• peer-reviewed journal articles from 1 July 2012
• peer-reviewed conference papers from 15 January 2018
• patent applications from 15 January 2018

While the policy does not apply to book, book chapters and other forms of research outputs, NHMRC encourages authors to make these openly accessible where possible. The policy does not apply to preprints. However, NHMRC encourages the posting of preprints on preprint servers with open licensing.

Open data archiving is encouraged, but not mandatory. NHMRC strongly encourages researchers to consider the reuse value of their data and take reasonable steps to share research data and associated metadata arising from NHMRC supported research. More information can be found on the Research Data Management guide.

Chief Investigators A must ensure:

• research output metadata are provided to an institutional repository as soon as possible but no later than three (3) months from the date of publication
• publications arising from NHMRC grants awarded under Grant Opportunity Guidelines issued on or after 20 September 2022 are to be be made openly accessible immediately upon publication and published with a Creative Commons Attribution ‘CC BY’ licence
• publications arising from NHMRC grants awarded prior to 20 September 2022, and published prior to 1 January 2024, are to be made openly accessible within a twelve (12) month period from the publication date
• any non-compliance with the NHMRC Open Access Policy is documented in the NHMRC’s grant management system

Authors of publications arising from NHMRC grants awarded under Grant Opportunity Guidelines issued on or after 20 September 2022:

• must use the following statement when submitting the manuscript for publication: ‘This research was funded in whole or part by the National Health and Medical Research Council [Grant number]. For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission’.
• should refuse any publisher-requested delay or ‘embargo period’ for the Author Accepted Manuscript, as this does not meet NHMRC Open Access Policy requirements.

Metadata for publications arising from NHMRC funded research:

• must be made available to the public in an institutional repository, such as espace as soon as possible but no later than three (3) months from the date of publication
• must include the following information
  • NHMRC grant ID
  • acknowledgement of NHMRC funding
  • a permanent DOI or URL for the research output
• may include other relevant information as appropriate
  • author(s)/creator(s)
  • author(s)/creator(s) ORCID identifier(s)
  • title
  • type of research output
  • publisher
  • date of publication/public presentation
  • volume numbers
  • issue
  • page numbers
  • ISBN/ISSN/other standard number
  • other funding sources
  • access and rights information
  • experimental conditions
  • project descriptions

These metadata requirements apply in all publications, regardless of whether the research output itself can or will be made openly accessible.

Any publications arising from NHMRC grants awarded under Grant Opportunity Guidelines issued on or after 20 September 2022 must:

• be made immediately openly access, that is, without any embargo period at the time of first online publication
• be made openly accessible through one of the following:
  • an institutional repository, such as espace
  • a publisher’s website
  • other acceptable location such as a subject repository
• be published with a Creative Commons Attribution ‘CC BY’ licence

Regardless of whether an author chooses to make their research open access via a publisher’s website or institutional/subject repository, either the Accepted Version or the Published Version must be free to read and licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution ‘CC BY’ licence.

Any publications arising from NHMRC grants awarded prior to 20 September 2022, and published prior to 1 January 2024 must:

• be made openly accessible within a twelve (12) month period from the publication date
• be made openly accessible through one of the following:
  • an institutional repository, such as espace
  • a publisher’s website
  • other acceptable location such as a subject repository

Commercial social networking platforms such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu are not acceptable repositories for the purpose of the NHMRC Open Access Policy.

The following versions of a journal article or conference paper are suitable to be made openly accessible:

• Accepted version/Author accepted manuscript
  • The version of the article that has undergone peer review, incorporated referee comments, final author revisions and been accepted for publication, but has not yet been copy-edited and formatted for publication.
  • The accepted version is only suitable if it is fully open access, with a Creative Commons ‘CC BY’ licence.
• Published version/Version of record
  • The version of the article that has been peer reviewed, edited, formatted and typeset. It includes citation details, tagging and indexing by the publisher.
  • The published version is only acceptable if it is fully open access, with an appropriate licence such as those available through Creative Commons.

Refer to Understanding journal article versions for further information.

The Submitted version or ‘Preprint’ is not an acceptable version under this policy.

Please note publication in ‘hybrid journals’ do not meet the intent of the NHMRC Open Access Policy, unless these journals are included as part of a formal agreement between an institution or group of institutions and a publisher (for example, a ‘read and publish’ or a transformative agreement).

Hybrid journals require the payment of an article processing charge (APC) for an individual journal article to be made open access in an otherwise subscription journal.

Creative Commons CC BY is an internationally accepted licence widely used in scholarly publishing. It removes barriers to reuse of research outputs, such as uncertainty about how information can be used or the need to seek permission, while preserving the moral rights of authors in line with established scholarly norms. It ensures proper attribution to the author(s) and allows the publication to be:

• freely available to use and share
• copied and redistributed in any medium or format
• adapted, transformed, remixed and built upon.

For publications about research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities, Indigenous attribution must be considered.

Creative Commons licensing requirements do not apply to any materials included within a publication that are provided by third-party copyright holders.

Publications with a CC BY licence can include third-party materials (such as images, photographs or maps) that are subject to a more restrictive licence. NHMRC considers this approach compliant with the Open Access Policy.

The costs of publications and open access are not to be included as Direct Research Costs (DRCs) in grant application budgets.

However, over the grant lifetime, funds can be used to support costs associated with publications and open access such as article processing charges, which are the result of the research activity and which are in accordance with the DRC Principles outlined in the NHMRC Direct Research Costs Guidelines.