Open access is unrestricted online access to peer reviewed and published scholarly research papers that are made freely available to the public community. There are two routes for OA:

• Green: Researchers deposit a version of their published work into a subject-based or institutional repository. This is then accessible to the larger community.

• Gold: Researchers choose to publish in an Open Access journal, where the publisher of the journal provides free online access to the full content of the journal. In some cases, the publisher charges the author or author’s institution an article processing charge (APC).

A*STAR has adopted the Green OA position. A*STAR is committed to facilitating access to publicly funded research to the larger research community and society. Hence A*STAR has established the A*STAR Open Access Repository (A*OAR) for all researchers funded by A*STAR to archive their research publications. Please note that A*STAR’s Open Access policy is regularly reviewed, and hence subject to change, to ensure that we are responsive to needs and requirements.

A*STAR requires that all peer-reviewed articles and conference proceedings published on or after 1 August 2013, arising from A*STAR staff or recipient of A*STAR fund, be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. A copy of the publication must be deposited in the A*OAR (or any other institutional/subject Open Access repository).

Articles that are published in open access journals or deposited in external OAR should be indicated in A*OAR.

Yes, applicable.

This also applies to grants awarded (Letter of Award date) before 1 August 2013 but paper published as a result of this funded research on or after 1 August 2013.

Yes, all forms of A*STAR research outputs are included.

Submission to an Open Access Journal is a different matter as A*STAR adopts Green OA position.

Researchers are expected to factor in publication costs in their budget preparation for a grant. Page charges for publication of manuscript in professional journals and Article Processing Charges (APC) for publication in Open Access journals are allowable for grant-funded research. Check with the RI management on support from core budget.

Whenever possible and especially in cases where A*STAR funding has been used to cover associated Open Access processing fees, A*STAR encourages publication in scientific journals that allow the maximum and unrestricted reuse of articles, such as those offering the Creative Commons Attribution license. We do not recommend paying fees for “hybrid” open access, i.e. making only selected articles OA in a subscription journal.

Yes, you can publish in the journal of your choice and then upload a copy of the article in the repository, as the mandate requires. However, if you choose to publish in a journal that does not comply with the mandate, you need to provide justifications which would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Note: Pre-prints server is not considered an open access repository: https://bit.ly/3gAmV41

Yes. Although this mandate applies to research publications on or after 1 August 2013, researchers are strongly encouraged to upload earlier articles on the repository as this would enhance the visibility of the published work and create a stronger impact to the research community.

• OA enables work published from researchers to be easily accessible and more likely to be read and cited by other researchers and people who may not have access to subscription-based journals.

• OA makes publicly funded research, conference proceedings, and out-of-print items available to all.

• OA signals to the community the importance of open knowledge and the value of publicly funded research to the large community.

More information are found at http://openaccess.ox.ac.uk/, http://aoasg.org.au, and http://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/openaccesspolicy/2013_uc_oa_policy_faq.html.

Some publishers have an embargo period for self-archiving or other commercial reasons. They may only allow a published article to be uploaded on an institutional OA repository after a certain period of time, typically 6 or 12 months (‘embargo period’). You need to check with the Journal/Publisher of question. Note that you have the option to set an embargo period in the upload, if this is a requirement of the publisher. The abstract and associated metadata can be made available upon publication and the full article will be available only after the embargo period.

A*OAR will accept the final published version if this is allowed by the publisher (Please check journal T&Cs) or the author’s final manuscript.

Author’s final manuscript: The researcher’s final manuscript of a peer-reviewed paper accepted for journal publication, including corrections resulting from the peer review process, but before copy-editing by journal.

Final published version: The journal’s authoritative copy of the paper, including all modifications from the publishing peer review process, copyediting and stylistic edits, and formatting changes.

More information on Journal T&Cs can be obtained from http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/

This is optional, but you MUST provide the article metadata (e.g. title, author list, journal name, DOI, etc.) and a link to the location of the article online.

Whenever possible and especially in cases where A*STAR funding has been used to cover associated Open Access processing fees, A*STAR encourages publication in scientific journals that allow the maximum and unrestricted reuse of articles, such as those offering the Creative Commons Attribution license.

Note: Pre-print servers are not considered OAR.

https://www.letpub.com/author_education_What_are_preprint_servers_and_what_is_their_role_in_scholarly_publishing

Yes. If the research was/is funded (partially or wholly) by A*STAR, or the author/co-author is from A*STAR, or the A*STAR affiliation is indicated in the paper, the publication must be deposited in the A*OAR, or any other Open Access repository.

The principal investigator or the first/last/corresponding author (“lead author”) is responsible for ensuring that a copy of the article has been submitted. The “lead author” is expected to discuss with all co-authors and get a clear understanding and consensus before publication.

Please refer to submission guide. You may also refer to the acknowledgment section of the publication.

Common mistakes in the submissions are: the sponsor (funding agency) is not properly acknowledged e.g. missing grant no., or a publisher’s copy/ pre-print version was submitted instead of the post print version (as required by OA mandate and Journal’s T&Cs).

All submissions need to be manually verified before approval. Upon approval, an automated email with the URL will be sent. Please contact the administrator if there is a need to expedite the process.

Please contact the administrator for any rectification required.

A search on the article title using the search bar will indicate this. Furthermore, any duplicate submission will be rejected by the administrator.

Users will be unable to generate the list. Please contact the administrator.

I. If the article is already published in an open access journal, please update A*OAR without uploading the PDF

II. If the article is published in a commercial journal e.g. Nature, the author-accepted manuscript can be published in OAR with 6 months embargo (this can be set in A*OAR, see submission guide).

See detailed information here for journal copyright/embargo requirements: https://bit.ly/2R4A33Q.

III. If the article is published in a commercial journal e.g. Nature, after 6 months embargo period, please submit to A*OAR without setting the embargo period

IV. If the embargo period is lifted and the journal allows submission of post-prints, please submit the post-print accordingly

V. If the article is a conference proceeding, please submit to A*OAR directly, following the terms and conditions of the conference

VI. If the article is already submitted to another OAR, please update in A*OAR and indicate accordingly

No, it should not. You must check the journal T&C on the “embargo period”, if any, and submit upon the expiry of the period. You also must check if the uploaded copy refers to the final published version or pre-copy-edited copy. If in doubt, check with the publishing editor directly. The A*STAR policy is to comply with the official journal T&C. You nevertheless reserve the right to upload a copy of your article on a repository when you are signing the publisher’s copyright form.

Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. Their copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use creative work — on the conditions of the creator’s choice. Please choose one of the available CC licences when you are uploading the author’s final manuscript.

For more information – see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/.

More information can be obtained from http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/.