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Papers funded in whole or in part by Blood Cancer UK must meet Blood Cancer UK's open access requirements. Find out how to check whether your chosen journal complies, and what funding is available.
The Blood Cancer UK open access policy applies to peer-reviewed original research papers funded by Blood Cancer UK. These outputs must be made open access in PubMed Central within six months of publication.
Complying with the policy
Use Sherpa Fact to check whether your chosen journal offers a compliant Green or Gold option. For additional clarification, check the journal website. If you are unsure whether your journal complies, contact UCL's Open Access Team before submission.
Green open access
If you are publishing in a subscription journal, provided that the journal's embargo on Green open access is no longer than 6 months you can comply by uploading your final accepted manuscript to Europe PubMed Central, using Europe PMC plus. Papers should also be uploaded to RPS.
Gold open access
If you are publishing in a subscription journal with a Gold open access option (known as a hybrid journal), or you are publishing in a fully open access journal, you can comply through Gold open access.
Open access funding
UCL does not receive an open access grant from Blood Cancer UK. The Charity Open Access Fund (COAF), which was previously able to pay the open access charges for some Blood Cancer UK-funded papers, no longer exists.
UCL can pay open access charges for peer-reviewed research articles and uncommissioned reviews funded by Blood Cancer UK where the paper:
- has a UCL corresponding author and the journal is included in UCL's transformative agreements; or
- is eligible for funding from UCL's Wellcome Trust, UK Research Council (UKRI), CRUK and/or BHF funds.
The Blood Cancer UK open access policy advises that Blood Cancer UK grantholders may use unspent grant money to pay open access charges, or contact Blood Cancer UK to discuss their situation. While certain papers may be eligible for UCL's central open access funding (see the Unfunded publications section of our Open access funding page), authors should approach Blood Cancer UK in the first instance.
Conditions of payment
Some journals offer a choice of open access licences. If you are paying open access charges from your Blood Cancer UK grant, you must choose the CC BY licence.