Using RMS to comply with the new REF Open Access Requirement Betsy Fuller Research Repository Librarian Information Services

REF Open Access Research Policy The policy applies to research outputs accepted for publication after 1 April The requirement applies only to journal articles (and systematic reviews) and conference proceedings with an International Standard Serial Number. It will not apply to monographs, book chapters (including conference papers published as book chapters), other long-form publications, working papers, creative or practice-based research outputs, or data.

REF Open Access Research Policy The output must have been deposited as soon after the point of acceptance as possible, and no later than three months after this date (as given in the acceptance letter or from the publisher to the author). “The policy states that, to be eligible for submission to the post REF, authors’ final peer-reviewed manuscripts must have been deposited in an institutional or subject repository on acceptance for publication. Deposited material should be discoverable, and free to read and download, for anyone with an internet connection [...] The output must have been deposited as soon after the point of acceptance as possible, and no later than three months after this date (as given in the acceptance letter or from the publisher to the author).”

REF Open Access Research Policy The output must have been deposited as the author’s accepted and final peer-reviewed text, sometimes called Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) or the post-print. In other words, your final version post-refereeing but before copyediting or publisher’s template has been applied. Outputs that have been provisionally accepted for publication under condition that the author makes revisions to the manuscript that result from peer review, are not considered as the final text.

REF Open Access Research Policy REF will allow exceptions to their policy Deposit or Technical exceptions: If something interfered with your ability to comply, there is an exception that will allow the paper to be returnable for the REF. Access exceptions: If the full text of the paper cannot be made freely available in the repository within the acceptable time period [12 months for REF Main Panel A and B, 24 months for REF Main Panel C and D], there is an exception that will allow the paper to be returnable for the REF. As long as you add the full text of the paper to RMS within 3 months after acceptance, I will worry about applying any exceptions that might be required. If the 3 months have passed, let me know what happened and we can work out if an exception would apply.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) To access the RMS, log into the Portal. On the ‘My Staff Life’ tab, select ‘Access Research Management System’ from the ‘I Want to...’ panel RMS is also available from the ‘Researcher’ tab in the portal under ‘Research Management System’ and from the ‘University Links’ tab on the ‘Research & Enterprise’ panel.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) Select ‘Add New’ from the Publications panel on the Startpage.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) Enter the title of the paper. Be sure you are attached as author.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) Add the title of the journal by clicking ‘Select’ and typing in the search field. Enter the date of acceptance – this is now a mandatory field.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) If more than 3 months have gone by, explain why in the ‘Request for exception’ box. Fill in the mandatory Open Access fields.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) Navigate to 4. Upload File(s) by choosing the tab at the top left of the page. Select ‘Upload file’ and attach the PDF of your author’s accepted manuscript. Under ‘Full text upload’ select ‘Full text uploaded’.

Adding the paper to Stirling’s Research Management System (RMS) Save the record by clicking the large orange ‘Save and Done’ button Choose workflow status ‘For Processing by Library’*. You are done! *I will only check records saved to ‘For Processing by Library’

Any questions about Open Access at Stirling? You can contact me at