Open access reimbursement scheme

Open access fee reimbursement

Full eligibility criteria and further information on our process for reimbursing open access fees is detailed in the guidance below.  This fund is only eligible for grants awarded under the 2016/17 Research Innovation Awards & Travelling Prize Fellowships schemes, and for all grants awarded in 2017/18 or later (grants awarded earlier than this were able to include open access fees within their project budget and so are not eligible for this scheme). For more information about our open access policy please click here. 

An article is only eligible for support from Prostate Cancer UK if: 

1. It is an original article resulting from research directly funded by the charity. 
   
   
2. The paper is reporting primary research (review articles, editorials, book chapters etc. will not be accepted) and must have been accepted for publication in a recognised peer reviewed journal (as indexed in the PubMed journal list). 
   
   
3. Submission to Prostate Cancer UK for reimbursement of open access fees occurs immediately after the paper has been accepted and BEFORE it is published.  

Funding from Prostate Cancer UK must be properly acknowledged, and where multiple funders are acknowledged, we expect publication fees to be evenly shared between the relevant parties. 

Please check whether your institution can cover the open access fees as they may already have a fund set aside to cover open access costs or an agreement when publishing with certain journals. This is a limited resource and should only be used if you do not have another means to cover the open access fees. If funds are not available for open access via the Gold route, then it is our expectation that researchers publish their findings via the Green open access route instead (see accompanying guidance below). 

Open access fee reimbursement scheme application

To apply for open access fee reimbursement, please complete the application form (which can be downloaded below) immediately after your paper has been accepted and BEFORE it is published. You should then email your completed application form to [email protected] (with the subject heading “Open Access Publication Fee Request”), along with the accompanying documentation stipulated in the attachment checklist found at the start of the application form.

We will review your request and if your application to our scheme is accepted, we will reimburse your institution once a fee for open access publishing has been incurred. 

Guidance notes

Eligibility criteria 

• The paper must be an original article directly relating to a grant funded by Prostate Cancer UK in the following funding calls: 
  • 2016/17 Travelling Prize Fellowships  
  • 2016/17 Research Innovation Awards 
  • Any round from 2017/18 onwards 
• Papers must be primary research (review articles, editorials, monographs, book chapters etc. are not eligible). 

Journal requirements 

• Papers must have been accepted for publication in a recognised peer reviewed journal. 
• This scheme will only fund Gold Route open access fees.  If funds are not available for open access via the Gold route, then it is our expectation that researchers publish their findings via the Green open access route instead. When publishing via the Green route we ask that the embargo period is no longer than 6 months. 
• We encourage you to publish in journals that are fully open access, such as those listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Where this is not possible, we ask that you publish in a journal that has an open access option.  

Costs covered 

• Open access fees will not be reimbursed if the host institution has its own open access funding arrangements, so please do check with your institution before submitting an application form.
• Where multiple funders are acknowledged, we expect publication fees to be evenly shared between the relevant parties. 
• Open access fees will only be reimbursed if the request is received within 24 months of the project end date.  
• We will only reimburse the costs associated with making a paper open access at the time of publication (the actual article processing charge).  We will not reimburse any additional charges, e.g. additional page or colour charges etc. 
• Prostate Cancer UK will not pay invoices in any currency other than British Pounds (GBP).
• We will only reimburse article processing charges if the authors and publishers have licenced papers using a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC-BY). This means that the research papers can be re-used, shared and copies made, whilst also making sure the author is attributed. 

Submission requirements 

• Publications must acknowledge funding from Prostate Cancer UK using the appropriate wording. We will need to check that the acknowledgement of funding is correct so the manuscript must be sent to us BEFORE it is published.  
• Submission to Prostate Cancer UK for reimbursement of open access fees must be received immediately after the paper has been accepted and BEFORE it is published. Proof of acceptance by the journal must be provided.
• Reimbursement will be made on a case-by-case basis. It is our intention to fund all those that meet the criteria, but this is dependent on the budget available. Prostate Cancer UK will however continually review this scheme to ensure reasonable coverage across its research portfolio.

…and finally

Please note that we will continually monitor the cost and process associated with this open access reimbursement scheme. We reserve the right to withdraw this initiative or to change the eligibility criteria at any time. 

If you have any questions about the open access reimbursement scheme, please email us at [email protected] 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see answers below to some frequently asked questions about the open access reimbursement scheme.