Guide: RCUK Funding & Open Access: RCUK Block Grant & How to Apply

SRUC will allocate funds to RCUK-funded researchers (grant holders and researchers employed on RCUK grants) where:

1) An APC must be paid as there is no other method to make the paper open access to comply with funder terms e.g. where publishers place an embargo on making a paper freely available and this embargo is longer than that acceptable to the funder. Where an APC has been paid, re-use rights must be unrestricted. Typically this involves a CC-BY licence. For more details on this form of licencing see the 'Creative Commons' website (link below).

For BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC or STFC funded work, RCUK will accept a 6 month embargo.

For ESRC or AHRC funded work, RCUK will accept a 12 month embargo.

These embargoes are extended to 12 months for Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine and 24 months for Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities should our RCUK block grant expire.

2) The journal is an Open Access journal and if the Open Access publishing fee is not paid, the article will not be published

3) The fund may be used to support the payment of other article charges, such as the costs of illustrations, colour figures or excess pages, for RCUK grants that started after 1 April 2013.

4) In exceptional circumstances, a special case is made that it is vital your paper be available immediately to readers who do not have access via a subscription to the journal. These applications should be accompanied by a supporting statement and authorisation from the author’s group manager.

Where costs for the above categories exist, these will be met from the block grant until such times as it is depleted.

If your article is not accepted for publication please contact the OA team on  openaccess@sruc.ac.uk so that we can keep our records up-to-date.

If you choose to resubmit to another journal you should let us know the new details so that we can manage the fund properly.

Our FAQs on RCUK OA funding answer the most common questions on this topic.

Take a look at  'FAQs' and see if your questions is already answered.

For other questions on RCUK OA requirements, compliance, applying to the fund or open access in general, please contact  openaccess@sruc.ac.uk.

Once you have a completed manuscript ready to send to the publisher, please download, complete and return this form to openaccess@sruc.ac.uk to apply for OA publications charges funds.

Applications should not be made to the fund until you have a completed manuscript ready to be sent to the publisher.

1. Prior to applying to the block grant fund, you as the author should check:
   1. The funder is correctly acknowledged in the paper, using the format: "This work was supported by the xxxx Research Council [grant number xxxx]."
   2. If applicable, the paper includes a statement on how the underlying research materials – such as data, samples or models – can be accessed.
   3. Check if your chosen journal is compliant with the RCUK policy using the online 'SHERPA/FACT' service (link below).
2.  Email openaccess@sruc.ac.uk  with a completed application form, containing the following information. The application form can be downloaded from the box above:
   • Applicant’s Name
   • Manuscript title
   • Journal title and publisher
   • Funding council
   • Grant award number
   • Name of principal investigator
   • Anticipated cost of publication
   • Contact email
3. Upon receipt of your application, the OA Team will double check the requirements of the funder as well as the policies of the chosen journal before contacting you via email with the outcome of your application.
   1. Based on your funder and journal choice, if compliance can be achieved through the green route (self-archiving), you will be informed that no-cost ‘green’ open access is available to you therefore your request for funds will be declined and you will be asked to proceed as normal, unless a special case* has been granted, submitting a copy of your accepted manuscript for deposit in the 'SRUC Repository' (link below) at the point of acceptance.
   2. If your funder compliance in your chosen journal can only be achieved through gold open access, dependent on funds being available, your request for funds will be granted and you can proceed to publish in your chosen journal.
4. When you receive an invoice, pass it to the OA team, via email to  openaccess@sruc.ac.uk or via the internal mail to Rachel Atkinson, SRUC Edinburgh Library, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh. Payment will be arranged.

* If you wish to make a special case for immediate open access where green OA compliance is available, you will need to supply a supporting statement and authorisation from your group manager -please contact  openaccess@sruc.ac.uk to obtain a RCUK Block Grant Special Case form