The Open Access team are getting ready for the end of Charity Open Access Fund (COAF), which is due to dissolve on 30th September 2020.
From 1st October 2020 onward, there are going to be changes to the block grants that we receive, and as a result, there will be a change in our policies on whether or not we can cover researchers’ article processing charges (APCs).
We have outlined how researchers should go about securing funding for the APC’s below:
| Funder name | Are article processing charges covered by a block grant? | How do I pay for my article processing charge? |
| UKRI | Yes | No change: researchers should continue to upload their paper to us for a funding decision. |
| Wellcome Trust | Yes | No change: researchers should continue to upload their paper to us for a funding decision. |
| Cancer Research UK | Yes | No change: researchers should continue to upload their paper to us for a funding decision. |
| British Heart Foundation | Yes | No change: researchers should continue to upload their paper to us for a funding decision. |
| Blood Cancer UK | No- authors must include cost in their grant application | 1. For payment, contact research@bloodcancer.org.uk. 2. Upload your paper to ensure REF compliance. |
| Parkinson’s UK | No- authors must include cost in their grant application | 1. For payment, contact researchapplications@parkinsons.org.uk, 2. Upload your paper to ensure REF compliance. |
| Versus Arthritis | No – authors must request support direct from funder | 1. Use funder’s Grant Tracker for OA support, 2. Upload your paper to ensure REF compliance. |
| Multiple funders acknowledged | If your paper includes funding from UKRI, Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK or British Heart Foundation then we may be able to help with the APC. Researchers should upload their paper to us for a funding decision. |
There is no change in the funder’s open access policies for the rest of 2020. However, there are significant changes due in 2021, specifically to Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK.
We have outlined the policy changes in the table below:
| Funder name | Change? | Outline of policy |
| Wellcome Trust | Change: see new policy document | 1. Policy covers original research articles, 2. Policy applies to papers submitted for publication after 1/1/2021, 3. Papers must be made immediately open access (no embargo allowed) in Europe PMC, 4. Papers must be published with a CC BY licence, 5. Papers must be published in a journal that is indexed in DOAJ (Wellcome will no longer cover APCs for subscription journals) 6. The authors must retain their copyright. |
| Cancer Research UK | Change: see new policy document | 1. Policy covers original research articles, 2. Policy applies to all papers after 1/1/2021, 3. Papers must be made immediately open access (no embargo allowed) in Europe PMC, 4. Papers must be published with a CC BY licence. |
| Multiple funders acknowledged | Any papers acknowledging Wellcome Trust or Cancer Research UK must be compliant in order to access funds. |
To summarise:
From 1 October 2020, authors should continue to submit their papers to the Open Access Team as usual via our website. The Open Access Team will continue to advise on the best course of action to meet funder requirements, but we may not always be able to pay APCs.
The funders’ policies remain the same until 1st January 2021. We advise authors covered by Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK to familiarise themselves with the changes to their funder’s open access policies, which are outlined in COAF’s table.