Part of the broader global open access movement, the UKRI open access policy is an active step taken by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to ensure that there are no barriers to accessing important and publicly funded research and data. The policy applies to peer-reviewed research articles and long-from scholarly outputs such as monographs, book chapters, and edited collections. In this article, we’ll be focusing on what the UKRI open access policy is exactly; what it means for academic book authors wishing to publish a monograph, book chapter, or edited collection; and how to apply for funding.

UKRI open access policy: what is it?

The UKRI open access policy is an official mandate set out by UK Research and Innovation. It requires that publicly funded research findings are made freely and immediately accessible for others to read, use, and build upon. The aim of the policy is to increase transparency and accessibility in academic research in the long term.

The policy means that in-scope monographs, book chapters, and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024 which acknowledge funding from UKRI must be published as open access within 12 months of publication. The only exception is if the book contract was signed before 1 January 2024.

What it means for academic book authors

For UKRI-funded authors, any published monographs, book chapters, and edited collections must be published under a Creative Commons (CC BY) license. This is the most open copyright license offered by Creative Commons. It will enable your research to be freely shared, remixed, adapted, and built upon. This maximises long-term visibility and accessibility of your scholarly output.

To ensure compliance, you can either:

• Publish your research as open access via a publisher’s website or publishing platform;
• Deposit your research in an institutional or subject repository.

The full list of requirements and definitions of in-scope types of publications is available in the UKRI open access policy.

How to apply for UKRI funding

During Stage 1 of applying for URKI funding, your organisation/institution first needs to make an application on your behalf. This is to check that your project is eligible for funding.

The URKI database will then ask you which publisher you’re choosing. MDPI Books can give an initial expression of interest based on you providing us with a simple outline. This is to give you confidence that your book will be a good fit for our programme (see our pre-submission guide for more information). Conversely, you can go straight to the full proposal and review process. At this stage, we will approve to publish your book subject to you acquiring funding and passing peer review (see our guidelines for submitting book and chapter manuscripts).

Stage 2 of the UKRI application process asks for more details about the author and publication details. MDPI Books can support the author with as much technical information as required.

Our compliance with the UKRI open access policy

MDPI Books ensures that authors funded by UKRI will have their research made immediately open access upon publication and hosted in our online library.

We are compliant with all the basic UKRI policies, such as:

• Gold open access;
• No embargo period;
• Fully OA with no restrictions on institutional or regional access;
• Any Creative Commons license can be applied according to the author’s preference;
• Available electronically immediately and in printed format.

MDPI Books will fully acknowledge the funder in the book and the website entry. We will also confirm that the funding has been received so that the institution can send UKRI a ‘final expenditure statement’ as required to close the process.

Normally we ask for funding to be paid after the manuscript has been received and before publication, but we can receive it afterwards to be flexible, so long as we know it is secured.

Publishing with MDPI Books

Looking to publish a monograph, book chapter, or edited book with UKRI funding? Want help with the funding process and to rest assured that your published research will reach a global audience? Send a proposal to MDPI Books today.

For more information on long-form scholarly outputs, see our article on what a monograph is, its importance, and how to write one.