Open Access

Mediated Deposit Service launch

The Mediated Deposit Service reduces the administrative burden of adding research outputs to Pure.

Just tell us about your new publications via a simple web form, and we will handle the rest, ensuring they are added to Pure in line with the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment, and made live on your Research Portal profile.

What is open access?

In scholarly communications, open access refers to various strategies that facilitate the circulation and use of research outputs. It allows your research to be freely accessible to everyone, permanently and universally.

Open access journal articles and conference papers

University of Birmingham-affiliated authors have a range of options available to ensure short-form research outputs are available on an open access basis. See our dedicated pages for further information.

Open access monographs and book chapters

While long-form open access is less common than open access for journal articles, our pages on open access monographs and book chapters outline the options available to authors affiliated with the University of Birmingham.

Open access support and training

You can get direct support for open access questions anytime by email. Library & Learning Resources hosts regular drop-in sessions, and open access features prominently in our Research Skills programme. For more details, visit our open access support and training page.

Further information:

Funder open access policies

Information on the open access policies of the most frequently acknowledged funders of University of Birmingham research can be found on our Funders and open access pages.

REF open access requirements

A summary of the open access requirements for research outputs to be submitted to the 2029 Research Excellence Framework is available on our REF and open access pages.

Publisher open access agreements

Our Publisher agreements page displays all publishers with library-funded agreements, allowing University of Birmingham-affiliated authors to publish open access without additional open access fees. Use our Library OA agreement search tool to find journals covered by these agreements.

Rights Retention and the Research Publications Policy

Our rights retention approach enables researchers to comply with both funder and local mandates for immediate open access to research outputs. The conditions are detailed in the University of Birmingham Research Publications Policy (DOCX - 96 KB).

Self-archiving

All research publications should be ‘self-archived’ in Pure. This ensures they are considered for the REF, are made open access as early as possible, and ensures the University’s research output is preserved in perpetuity. Staff may now use our mediated deposit service, and our library team will handle the rest.

Copyright and publishing

Our Copyright and publishing page provides detailed guidance for researchers on copyright, including advice on suitable licences for open-access outputs.

University of Birmingham Institutional Research Archive (UBIRA)

Our repository infrastructure extends beyond making published research outputs open access. It also supports the sharing of Theses, Research Data and unpublished reports and working papers. Check out our introduction to UBIRA and learn how your work can be included.

Where can I find open access materials?

You can find guidance and resources for finding open access research outputs on our Discovering open access materials pages.