Policy Summary

Beginning January 1, 2008, researchers awarded new or renewed funding from CIHR are reminded to adhere with the following new responsibilities:

• ensure that all research papers generated from CIHR funded projects are freely accessible through the Publisher's website or an online repository within six months of publication;
• deposit bioinformatics, atomic, and molecular coordinate data into the appropriate public database (e.g. gene sequences deposited in GenBank) immediately upon publication of research results;
• retain original data sets for a minimum of five years (or longer if other policies apply);
• and acknowledge CIHR support by quoting the funding reference number in journal publications.

Over twenty research funding agencies worldwide, including the U.K. Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust, have implemented policies that call for funded researchers to provide free online access to supported research publications. Most recently, the U.S. National Institutes of Health mandated open online access to its funded research through the National Library of Medicine's online archive, PubMed Central.

Rationale

CIHR believes that greater access to research publications and data will promote the ability of researchers in Canada and abroad to use and build on the knowledge needed to address significant health challenges. Open access enables authors to reach a much broader audience, which has the potential to increase the impact of their research. Only when research findings are widely available, enabling open scrutiny, will this evidence be translated into policies, technologies, health-related standards and practices, and new avenues of research that will benefit the health of Canadians and others. From a Knowledge Translation perspective, this policy will support our desire to expedite awareness of and facilitate the use of research findings by policy makers, health care administrators, clinicians, and the public, by greatly increasing ease of access to research.

Adhering with the new policy - Open access publications

For journal publications, there are two ways to adhere with the policy:

1. Submit your manuscript to a journal that offers immediate open access (e.g. CMAJ, PLoS) or offers open access to the paper on its website within six months (e.g. NEJM).
2. Submit your manuscript to a journal that does not offer open access, but will permit you to archive the peer-reviewed manuscript in a central or institutional repository within 6 months of publication.

The SHERPA/RoMEO database contains a searchable listing of journal publisher's copyright and self-archiving policies which will help researchers to determine journal's that adhere with CIHR policy.

Additional information and resources

CIHR has developed a suite of tools and resources that will help clarify this new policy and how it will affect grant recipients:

• Frequently asked questions
• Flowchart for open access publications
• Adhering with the CIHR Policy on Access to Research Outputs - Selected Journals

For further information, please contact access@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.