Skip to Main Content

Research Publications and Copyright Policy: The policy and its benefits

A guide intended to raise awareness, provide a straightforward explanation of what rights retention is and guide researchers through what they need to do to take advantage of the new policy.

Research Publications and Copyright Policy

Goldsmiths’ new Research Publications and Copyright Policy takes effect from 1 January 2026. The policy updates how we deliver open access for peer-reviewed journal articles and papers published in conference proceedings and is designed to make REF and research funder policy compliance easier.

The new policy allows researchers to make their peer-reviewed journal articles and papers published in conference proceedings with an ISSN available on an open access basis without post-publication embargoes. Under the new policy, authors retain copyright in the papers they write, but license back to the University the right to make their Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAM)  available on Goldsmiths Research Online (GRO) without an embargo and with a Creative Commons licence. Previously the use of the AAM was controlled by publisher’s terms and conditions. The approach is particularly useful for situations when Gold Open Access publication is not an option as your chosen journal is not included in one of our Read and Publish agreements or cannot be funded through the payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC).

This policy is based on the principle of Rights Retention and supports authors at Goldsmiths to make their research outputs openly available in order to maximise the visibility, accessibility and readership of their work both within and outside academia. It will enable authors at Goldsmiths to retain the rights to re-use and re-distribute the accepted manuscripts of their research publications as widely as possible while also meeting REF and funder open access requirements. Authors will also be free to share their manuscripts among colleagues, use them in their teaching and promote them via their academic networks and social media without restrictions. 

Against a background of continuing financial pressure in the UK higher education sector, the policy supports efforts to develop a publishing landscape that reduces costs and academic inequalities. Rights retention supports this by allowing research to be made open access regardless of whether an institution can afford Article Processing Charges or Read and Publish agreements. It also allows for immediate open access publishing for Goldsmiths authors to continue if it is not possible for the UK Higher Education sector to negotiate agreements with publishers that cover open access costs.

The information on these pages is intended to raise awareness, provide a straightforward explanation of what rights retention is and guide researchers through what they need to do to take advantage of the new policy. The Open Research team in the Library will support you in meeting the requirements. If you have any questions or queries about the policy, please contact gro@gold.ac.uk

As an author, how do I benefit from the policy?

The benefits of this policy include:

  • Research articles will be immediately  available to read from the date of publication on Goldsmiths Research Online (GRO), even where no paid ‘Gold’ open access route is available (for example, through one of our Read and Publish agreements or the payment of an Article Processing Charge through our UKRI Block Grant).
  • Bypasses potential barriers to access introduced by publisher policies such as embargo periods or subscription paywalls.
  • As articles will be available to read immediately upon publication on GRO, the visibility and readership of research at Goldsmiths will increase as articles will be accessible to a wider audience both inside and outside academia.
  • Makes it simpler for researchers to meet funder and REF open access policies while retaining the option to publish in the journal of their choice.
  • The policy confirms that authors hold the copyright in the journal articles and conference papers they write, enabling them to share and reuse their own work as they see fit, including for teaching purposes, sharing with academic networks and creating derivative works without needing permission from the publisher.
  • Against a background of continuing financial pressure in the UK higher education sector, the policy supports efforts to develop a publishing landscape that reduces costs and academic inequalities. Rights retention supports this by allowing research to be made open access regardless of whether an institution can afford Article Processing Charges or Read & Publish agreements.