The University of South Wales open access policy, at a minimum, requires:
The Research Excellence Framework assesses the quality of research in UK universities. The last REF submission took place in 2021, the next assessment is likely to include research from the period 01/01/2021-31/12/2027 but that is to be confirmed. Details of USW's successes in REF 2021 can be found here. The full REF 2021 results from all UK HEIs are available here.
Open Access & OA Compliance
We run a session, ‘Introduction to Open Access’, as part of the Research and Innovation Development Programme and a similar session is also part of the Graduate School Training for PGRs. You can book via iTrent to attend the Research & Innovation Development Programme session and PGRs can book for that session via PhD Manager. If you prefer to have an individual appointment to discuss anything related to OA and compliance please get in touch with Nicholas Roberts, the USW Research Librarian to arrange a 1-to-1 session.
There is also an ‘Introduction to Pure’ session available as part of the Research and Innovation Programme where we cover the basics of OA compliance.
We have several pre-recorded sessions available online covering topics related to OA, those are available to all USW staff and students at any time if you want to go through them online (only available to USW staff and students).
There is also a section for Open Access resources on the OA and RDM area of the Research webpages, this includes the USW Open Access Policy.
Plus if you have any specific queries or need any assistance related to Open Access or compliance please contact Nicholas Roberts, the USW Research Librarian.
Contact: Nicholas Roberts, Research Librarian,
01443654051 (Internal ext. 654051),
nicholas.roberts@southwales.ac.uk | openaccess@southwales.ac.uk
Research output types in Pure
Pure allows you to create a record to represent many types of research outputs that are relevant to your work. This covers ‘traditionally published’ research such as journal articles, book chapters or conference proceedings, but it also includes many other types of research output, such as patents, protocols, performances, exhibitions and other non-textual outputs.
Staff access to Pure: https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/admin (login with your normal username and password)
USW Research Explorer: https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/
Research outputs you should add to Pure
You must add open access compliant versions of journal articles and published conference papers which have been accepted for publication.
These are the most important because they are the ones covered by the REF Open Access policy. This policy states that you must deposit an open access compliant version of the paper in a repository within three months of their acceptance for publication. If you do not comply with this policy your paper will be ineligible for submission in the REF.
For journal articles and published conference papers - the author’s accepted and final peer-reviewed text MUST be deposited in Pure within 3 months of acceptance. If you have any concerns about what version is the correct one that must be deposited, please contact the USW Research Librarian.
For all non-journal/published conference paper outputs you should create a record in Pure as soon as it is published or scheduled for release.
It is important that authors and researchers understand what constitutes ‘OA compliance’. When you create a record for a journal article in Pure the information on compliance is displayed but if you require assistance do contact the USW Research Librarian.
While not currently a requirement of the USW OA Policy we encourage authors to deposit the accepted manuscripts of book chapters and longform outputs, where the publisher allows this under their Green Open Access Policy. Further advice can be sought from the USW Research Librarian. We also encourage USW staff and researchers to add the details your other publications and non-journal research outputs so that they appear on your Profile page of the USW Research Explorer.
Three ways to add research outputs to Pure
Click on the green ‘Add content’ button on your Pure profile page, select ‘Research output’ and choose one of the following options:
Filling in the template
Publication status definitions
Authors and affiliations
To add additional authors to an output, click on ‘Add person …’ and either select a name from your previous co-authors in the suggested authors list, search for a USW author, or create an external person.
If you notice an existing record that lists you as an ‘External Author’ get in touch with the USW Research Librarian and they will switch it over to your internal author record.
Visibility
Definitions of visibility categories
For most records the default setting is ‘Public - No restriction’. If you want to change the visibility once something has been validated please contact the USW Research Librarian with the details of the record you want to limit access to.
Open Access Guidance
The USW institutional information on what you need to deposit to be OA compliant is displayed in every Journal record you create in Pure. The information is displayed in large text in the section between the Journal information and the section labelled ‘Electronic Version(s) related files and links’.
Adding full text documents
For journals and published conference papers - to meet the USW Open Access Policy you must attach the author’s accepted manuscript within three months of the article’s acceptance date.
In the section labelled ‘Electronic version(s) and related files and links’
Output validation process
All research outputs and the attached documents for open access are validated by the USW Research Librarian. They aim to validate the records within 7 working days, but it can take slightly longer during busy periods.
For journal articles and (published) conference papers - If the paper has been accepted and you do not deposit a compliant version of the paper you will be notified by email within 10 working days after creating the record in Pure. This email will outline what you need to do to be compliant.
General email for reporting general issues with Pure – puresupport@southwales.ac.uk