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CIHR Policy on Access to Research Outputs - Frequently Asked Questions
- What does the CIHR Policy on Access to Research Outputs say about publications?
- Why is open access important?
- When does this policy come into effect?
- Who is responsible for ensuring that a publication is freely accessible online?
- How do I know if a journal is open access?
- How do I pay open access publishing fees? (i.e. article processing charge)
- Where can I archive my publications?
- What is PubMed Central?
- What types of research papers does PubMed Central accept?
- I understand that some journals already deposit research papers in PubMed Central. Do I still need to deposit my peer-reviewed manuscript?
- Can research papers that have been written in French be deposited into PubMed Central Canada?
- What is PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada)?
- What is an institutional repository?
- What version and format of my paper must be deposited in these publication archives?
- Can I archive the published version (i.e. PDF)?
- When do I archive my peer reviewed manuscript?
- What if my journal of choice does not permit archiving of manuscripts within six months?
- How do I retain copyright of my research paper?
- Do I have to archive papers published before January 1st, 2008?
- Do the open access requirements within the Policy on Access to Research Outputs apply to CIHR training and salary awards?
- What are some examples of data that must now be deposited into public databases?
- What data does not have to be archived under this new policy?
- What is a Funding Reference Number (FRN)?
- How will CIHR ensure that research publications are open access within six months?
- Who can I contact for more information?
- I am not familiar with open access. Do you have a list of websites and resources that might be helpful?
1. What does the CIHR Policy on Access to Research Outputs say about publications?
Under this new policy, grant recipients are required to make every effort to ensure that CIHR-supported peer-reviewed publications are freely accessible online within six months of publication.
Authors are in adherence with the policy when:
- the published version is available through the Publisher's website. For example, papers published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) are freely available at the CMAJ web site; and/or
- the peer-reviewed manuscript is available in an online repository such as PubMed Central or PubMed Central International (PMCI) Canada when established.
CIHR has also prepared a simple flowchart to assist CIHR authors in ensuring that peer-reviewed publications are freely accessible online.
2. Why is open access important?
CIHR supports health research and its translation to improve the health of Canadians and strengthen the health system. In order to achieve this objective, CIHR supported research evidence must be available to researchers, trainees, health care providers, educators, policy makers and Canadians in a timely fashion. Growing evidence demonstrates that open access articles are cited more frequently than non-open access journal articles1 2. Such widespread diffusion and utilization of peer-reviewed research papers only serves to enhance the impact of CIHR-supported health research.
3. When does this policy come into effect?
This policy comes into effect on January 1st, 2008. Recipients of CIHR grants awarded after January 1st, 2008, must adhere with the requirements set forth in the CIHR Policy on Access to Research Outputs. However, CIHR does not anticipate that this policy will impact CIHR authors until the latter part of 2009. CIHR recognizes that following a typical one year grant, authors will require significant time for writing and submitting manuscripts, which would not be required to be open access until six months post-publication.
4. Who is responsible for ensuring that a publication is freely accessible online?
Generally the nominated principal investigator (NPI) would be responsible for ensuring adherence with CIHR policy. However, it is acceptable for the NPI to designate a co-author to ensure that manuscripts have been archived in a timely manner.
5. How do I know if a journal is open access?
The SHERPA/RoMEO database is a useful resource for locating publisher's copyright policies. However, it is recommended that you verify journal copyright policies by contacting the editorial staff directly. There are more than 3000 open access scientific and scholarly journals, which publish articles that are freely available for users throughout the world. A directory of open access journals can be found at the website.
6. How do I pay open access publishing fees? (i.e. article processing charges)
As stated in the section titled Use of Grant Funds of the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC & SSHRC) Financial Guide eligible expenses for the dissemination of research results include page charges for articles published. Consistent with CIHR's Grants and Awards Guide, funds can be used to cover any reasonable fee that an open access or hybrid journal may charge to evaluate submissions or publish accepted articles.
7. Where can I archive my publications?
CIHR encourages authors to deposit their publications into PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada), a stable and permanent online digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed research publications in health and life sciences. PMC Canada builds on PubMed Central (PMC), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature and is a member of the broader PMC International (PMCI) network of e-repositories. Furthermore, PubMed, PMC, and GenBank are just three of a suite of more than 25 such information resources that can be searched through the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information's Entrez system. The Entrez databases (the life sciences search engine) have become an integral resource for the health and life sciences research communities.
The following is a list of Canadian institutional repositories that are also open access: University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, Dalhousie University, University of Guelph, International Development Research Centre, Université Laval, University of Lethbridge, University of Manitoba, McGill University, McMaster University, Université de Montréal, University of New Brunswick, University of Prince Edward Island, Université du Québec à Montréal, University of Saskatchewan, Queen's University, Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario, University of Windsor, University of Winnipeg, York University.
8. What is PubMed Central?
PubMed Central (PMC) is the NIH digital repository of full-text, peer-reviewed biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research journals. It is a publicly-accessible, stable, permanent, and searchable electronic archive. PubMed Central was developed and is operated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the National Library of Medicine at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. More information can be found here.
9. What types of research papers does PubMed Central accept?
PubMed Central accepts only peer reviewed journal publications from the biomedical and life sciences fields. PubMed Central's homepage contains links to a Quick Guide that provides detailed information on submitting manuscripts. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions section that may contain useful information for grant recipients.
This policy does not apply to editorials, book chapters, or invited reviews.
10. I understand that some journals already deposit research papers in PubMed Central. Do I still need to deposit my peer-reviewed manuscript?
It is true that many publishers voluntarily deposit journal content into PubMed Central (PMC). Please refer to the PMC Journal list to see if your journal of choice deposits content into PMC. If you see "Immediate" or "After 6 months" next to your journal then you do not need to deposit your manuscript. However, if you see "After 12 months" or "After 24 months" then you make arrangements to ensure that your peer-reviewed manuscript is deposited and openly accessible within six months.
11. Can research papers that have been written in French be deposited into PubMed Central Canada?
At this time, PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada) contains primarily English content; however some journals that deposit content into PMC Canada, such as the Canadian Medical Association Journal, publish articles in French and English. In this case, only the English material appears in PMC's primary presentation of an article - the HTML full-text display. However, the journal's PDF version of the article, which is also available in PMC Canada, may contain material in French as well as English.
Additionally, CIHR supported researchers looking to archive French research papers may wish to consider their Institutional Repository (see question 13 for more information).
12. What is PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada)?
PMC Canada is a national web-based repository of health sciences literature. CIHR has partnered with the National Research Council's Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information - Canada's national science library - in the creation of PMC Canada to develop a stable, permanent, and freely accessible digital archive of the full text of peer-reviewed research publications arising from research funded by CIHR.
PMC Canada is a part of the PubMed Central International network - a starting point for exploring Canadian health research. This network allows national versions of PMC to share content; the vast majority of US PMC and UKPMC content will therefore also be available through PMC Canada. The development of PMC Canada follows several stages, beginning first with the addition of a basic bilingual interface for PMC Canada. Authors have the option to deposit their CIHR-funded articles into PMC Canada and those articles automatically become part of the US and UK PMC repositories. An advisory committee consisting of Canadian health researchers and other stakeholders will guide the future development of PMC Canada.
13. What is an institutional repository?
An institutional repository (IR) is a digital collection of a university's intellectual output. Institutional repositories centralize, preserve, and make accessible the knowledge generated by academic institutions. Please visit the Canadian Association of Research Libraries Institutional Repository Project: Online Resource Portal for more information.
14. What version and format of my paper must be deposited in these publication archives?
If an article isn't already open access through the journal website, the author(s) must archive the final full text peer reviewed manuscript (i.e., postprint), or the published version where allowable. Furthermore, the final full text peer reviewed manuscript must include all tables, figures, images, appendices and any supplemental information.
Prior to deposition, grant recipients should review the PMC journal list, which comprises journals that automatically deposit published articles in PMC on a routine basis. For example, the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) deposits its entire published contents into PMC upon publication, thus authors of articles in JCI do not need to archive their peer reviewed manuscripts. Authors are also reminded to refer to the publishing policy of the journal of choice.
15. Can I archive the published version (i.e. PDF)?
Yes. CIHR would prefer if grant recipients archived the published version or PDF paper. However, this practice will often depend on publisher policies. If you are not sure, consult the journals website or contact the editorial staff.
16. When do I archive my peer reviewed manuscript?
CIHR grant recipients are encouraged to deposit the final peer-reviewed full text manuscript immediately upon publication. However, grant recipients may delay open access to the manuscript to abide by publisher embargo periods, but this delay must be no longer than six months following the publication date.
Grant recipients can find a summary of publisher copyright policies and self-archiving here. However, CIHR recommends that grant recipients speak directly with the journal's editorial staff to verify whether they have permission to archive the postprint within six months after the publication date.
17. What if my journal of choice does not permit archiving of manuscripts within six months?
There are a relatively small number of publishers with policies that require authors to assign and transfer copyrights to the publication to the publishers. CIHR has prepared a chart called Adhering with the CIHR Policy on Access to Research Outputs - Selected Journals that presents a sample of high-impact journals that are adherent with CIHR's policy.
CIHR respects the authors' right to choose the appropriate journal for publishing their research results, however we would encourage authors to make an effort to retain key rights (e.g., archiving manuscripts). See Q. 18 for more information on retaining key rights. If authors are unsuccessful in retaining the right to archive, CIHR will view this as a reasonable exception, however some authors may wish to reconsider where they submit their manuscript in the future.
18. How do I retain copyright of my research paper?
CIHR encourages grant recipients to publish in journals that are open access or permit authors to deposit their peer-reviewed manuscript in an open access archive, such as PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada). For example, the journal Nature permits authors to archive their peer-reviewed manuscript in PubMed Central Canada.
For journals that do not allow archiving of peer-reviewed manuscripts, CIHR encourages authors to retain key rights through the use of a publication addendum or by inserting the following text into the publishing agreement:
Journal acknowledges that the researcher will be entitled to deposit an electronic copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript for inclusion in PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada), and for this manuscript to be mirrored to PMC and all PMC International sites. Manuscripts deposited with PMC Canada (and PMC and PMC International sites) may be made freely available to the public, via the internet, within six months of the official date of final publication in the journal.
CIHR encourages authors to use one of these two options to retain the right to deposit peer reviewed manuscripts in a non-commercial openly accessible digital archive or repository.
19. Do I have to archive papers published before January 1st, 2008?
CIHR encourages but does not require grant recipients to archive articles published before January 1st, 2008. Grant recipients are only required to archive papers that are based on grants awarded after January 1st, 2008. See Q.3 for more information.
20. Do the open access requirements within the Policy on Access to Research Outputs apply to CIHR training and salary awards?
At this time, the open access requirements apply to CIHR Grant programs (i.e. research projects) and not our training and salary awards.
We recognize that training and salary awards may support research publication, however most awards are not designed to fund research projects or dissemination activities. As such, researchers and trainees who publish while holding a CIHR salary/training award do not have to adhere with the open access requirements unless the research being published was funded by a CIHR grant.
CIHR does however, encourage CIHR researchers and trainees to consider archiving all their research papers in open access repositories, including PubMed Central Canada in order to increase the dissemination of research findings.
21. What are some examples of data that must now be deposited into public databases?
Examples of data that should be deposited into public databases includes: genomic data, DNA sequences, protein structures, protein sequences, protein interaction data, nucleic acid structures, nucleic acid behaviours, factors and motifs, plasmids, atomic coordinates, and molecular interaction data. A sample of public databases and archives, including their web sites, is provided in the ANNEX accompanying the Policy on Access to Research Outputs.
22. What data does not have to be archived under this new policy?
Research data sets that do not have to be archived include: personal or sensitive data, administrative, clinical, and longitudinal data. Data that can be archived is biomedical data that is typically archived in a public database. See Q. 20 for more information.
23. What is a Funding Reference Number (FRN)?
The Funding Reference Number is a number that identifies unique research grant. You can find this number in the letter sent to you from CIHR that acknowledges your successful grant application. When acknowledging CIHR support in peer-reviewed publications you are required to cite this number.
24. How will CIHR ensure that research publications are open access within six months?
We believe that many researchers are already adhering with this policy given the growing number of high-impact open access journals combined with the fact that a large number of journals make their content freely available after a six month embargo. Researchers are reminded that when accepting CIHR funds they have agreed to the terms and conditions of the grant as set out in the Agency's policies and guidelines. CIHR may take steps outlined in the Tri-Agency Process for Addressing Allegations of Non-Compliance with Tri-Agency Policies to address adherence issues.
Over the long-term, it is our intention to integrate this policy into current and future CIHR processes such as the Research Reporting System (RRS), which is being developed by our Evaluation and Analysis Branch. The RRS is intended to systematically collect, synthesize and report on research results following the end of the grant. Through this process researchers will be asked to provide the URL (uniform resource locator) or DOI (digital object identifier) linking to the full-text publication as well as reasons why publications are not open access. CIHR may also cross reference the unique funding reference number (See Q. 22) with MEDLINE, the National Library of Medicine's bibliographic database.
25. Who can I contact for more information?
For further information, please contact access@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.
26. I am not familiar with open access. Do you have a list of websites and resources that might be helpful?
- BioMed Central - Online publisher of free peer-reviewed scientific articles in all areas of medical research and biology.
- Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) - Institutional Repository Program
- CARL/SPARC Canadian Author Addendum - A tool for authors in Canada to retain key rights to the journal articles they publish.
- Directory of Open Access Journals - A comprehensive list of free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals.
- Open Access: A SPARC Brochure - Makes the case for the open access model of scholarly communication and how it benefits authors, readers, teachers, scholars, and scientists.
- Open Access Overview - Peter Suber offers a brilliant overview of open access to scholarly research.
- OpenDOAR - Directory of academic open access repositories
- Public Library of Science - A nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource.
- PubMed Central - U.S. National Library of Medicine's digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, providing free access to the full text of articles.
- Science Commons, Scholar's Copyright Project - Offers a spectrum of tools and resources catering to both methods of achieving Open Access.
- SHERPA/RoMEO - Provides a searchable database of publisher policies on copyright and archiving
- SHERPA/JULIET - Summaries of research funder open access policies.
