Open Access Policies

Purpose of the Tri-Agency and University of Windsor Open Access Policies

Open access is the practice of providing free and unrestricted online access to the products of research. Greater access to research results is expected to accelerate the progress of research, democratize access to knowledge world-wide, and ensure that publicly funded research is available to the public. Open access makes it possible for the results of research to have the greatest possible impact, enabling researchers from all sectors, scholars, policymakers, and the public to use and build on this knowledge. (NSERC)

Understanding the (A) Tri-Agency and (B) University of Windsor Open Access Policies

(A) All Tri-Agency (SSRHC, NSERC, CIHR) grant recipients, awarded May 1, 2015 and onward, are required to ensure that any peer-reviewed journal publications arising from agency-supported research are freely accessible within 12 months of publication (Policy). The policy provides 2 options for compliance:

1. An open access online repository, such as Windsor's Scholarship at UWindsor. This allows you to publish in a subscription journal that permits archiving, while placing an open access copy in Scholarship at UWindsor.
2. An open access journal that provides free access to their content through the publisher's website (i.e. BioMed Central).

(B) The University of Windsor's Open Access policy requires that a copy of all articles to which the Tri-Agency Open-Access policy applies be archived in Scholarship at UWindsor after the same 12 month period (Senate Policy). Again, this applies to grants awarded May 1, 2015 and onward. All researchers are strongly encouraged to deposit copies of their articles in Scholarship at UWindsor regardless of funding. 

• This is vital for creating a strong infrastructure for open access to Windsor research.
• Provides a clear structure for localizing the Tri-Agency policy through the cooperation of the Library and ORIS
• This ensures that a copy of all Tri-Council funded Windsor research is available and preserved in one place. 
• It enables authors to easily comply with the requirements of the Tri-Council while publishing in journals that matter to them.
• Provides authors with data about the impact and use of their work
• Authors are still free to share their work on any other OA platform.
• Articles published in Open Access journals may be dark-archived and link to the publisher if necessary.

For assistance in understanding or complying with these policies, please contact scholarship@uwindsor.ca.