Open Access

NHMRC Open Access Policy requirements

The NHMRC have recently updated their Open Access Policy. The new Policy requires all peer-reviewed publications arising from NHMRC-funded research to be made open access immediately upon publication, removing the 12-month embargo period from the previous policy.

The updated Policy applies to all new grants awarded under NHMRC Grant Opportunity Guidelines issued from 20 September 2022 and for older grants, it will apply to any research published from 1 January 2024. For previous grants, all publications produced up to 31 December 2023 must be made open access in a repository or other acceptable location within a 12-month period from the date of publication, consistent with the previous version of NHMRC’s Open Access Policy (November 2018; updated April 2020).

The new policy supports multiple routes to compliance: 

1. Version of Record (i.e journal-based ‘Gold’ or Hybrid’ OA): This can be achieved through paying article processing charges (APCs) in Gold OA journals or via publishing in the Hybrid journals available under Deakin Library's new Read and Publish Agreements
2. Author Accepted Manuscript (i.e repository-based ‘Green’ OA): This can be achieved by depositing a copy of the Accepted Manuscript in a subject or institutional repository such as Deakin Research Online (DRO). To use this option, researchers must include a CC-BY rights retention statement* when submitting to a journal to ensure the Accepted Manuscript can be made open immediately, without embargo.

Funding for APCs can, and should, be included in future grant applications where Gold OA journals are the most strategic publishing choice for your research. In considering your publishing options, you are encouraged to explore the no-cost options (via Read and Publish Agreements, or Green OA) where possible, unless funding for APC payments has been included in the grant.

Further information on these options are included in the Policy, and Deakin Library is available to answer questions on the publication options available.

*Note: The author must use the following statement when submitting the manuscript for publication: ‘This research was funded in whole or part by the National Health and Medical Research Council [Grant number]. For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission’. This ensures that licensing arrangements are in place prior to any publishing agreement.