Open access

The University of Twente is in strong favour of open access to the results of its research. UT authors must make all their publications open access, preferably immediately with a licence for re-use. In all cases, UT-affiliated publications must be open at the latest six months after the first publication date.

There are many ways to make your publications open access (OA) at no cost, both immediately and after six months. Below, you’ll read all about it.

  • Why publish open access?

    Your closed publications can only be read by those who pay. Publishing behind a paywall means transferring copyrights to the publisher, so you are not allowed to share your closed publication as you please.

    Your open access publications can be read by anyone with an internet connection. Publishing OA means retaining copyrights so you are allowed to share your publication as you please. It also means choosing a licence for re-use that shows others how they can share your publication.

    The University of Twente believes that the results of publicly funded research should be available as soon as possible, preferably with a licence for re-use. This ensures equal access to scientific results – regardless of institutional affiliation – and it accelerates innovation. For you as a researcher, publishing OA increases the visibility, downloads, citations, and impact of your research.

    SPARC Europe | studies on the citation advantage of open-access publications
    openaccess.nl  | pros, cons and misconceptions about open-access publishing

  • UT Policy on open access

    The University of Twente is in strong favour of open access to the results of publicly funded research, and its goal for open access is in line with the policy of the Dutch government.

    UT authors must make all their publications open access, preferably immediately with a licence for re-use. In all cases, UT-affiliated publications must be open at the latest six months after the first publication date.

    Below, you’ll find a one-page summary of the UT policy on open access. It expresses the responsibilities of UT authors, the University Library, and faculty boards to make 100 percent OA publishing the norm at the University of Twente. You’ll also find the full 17-page policy document.

  • Flowchart: Publishing articles open access as a UT author

    Before you submit your article to a journal, visit the UT Journal Browser and follow the steps in this flowchart. It will lead to an open version of your article, no matter what journal you publish in.

  • Immediate open access: Options for UT authors

    Journals often charge costs for OA publishing, but UT authors can publish OA immediately with a licence for re-use and at no cost:

    • in over 10.000 high-quality journals that let submitting UT authors publish OA at a 100% discount, thanks to agreements between the Universities of The Netherlands (UNL) and publishers, and
    • in over 13.000 high-quality journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) that don’t charge costs for OA publishing.

    The UT Journal Browser presents almost 47.000 scholarly journals. It lets you search for journals in your field, and select journals in which submitting UT authors can publish OA at no cost:

    UT journal browser logos

    The open-access logo on the right indicates the type of journal:

    • an orange logo (‘OPEN ACCESS’) means that you automatically publish OA in this DOAJ journal;
    • a blue logo (‘OPEN REQUEST’) means that you can choose to publish OA in this journal.

    Underneath this logo, you’ll see costs and discounts for OA publishing. For instance, ‘100% APC discount for UT authors’ means that the journal offers a 100% discount on the cost of OA publishing to submitting UT authors.

    To find out how to make use of the discount, click on the journal’s title, and then click on ‘More information on this [name publisher] deal’:

    UT journal browser discount

    Important note!

    Most publishers only allow the submitting author, so the author who submits the article to the journal and corresponds with the publisher during the publication process, to receive the discount. That’s why you should always use your utwente email address when you submit your article, make sure that your affiliation on the article contains ‘University of Twente’, and when asked, indicate that you do want to publish open access. Have you already left the UT but are you publishing about UT research? Then ask a UT co-author to submit your joint article with their utwente email address to get the discount. You can still be the first author.

    Notify-me service

    Some publishers use caps for the agreements, which means that per year, only a limited number of articles can be published OA at the 100% discount for all Dutch universities combined. You can sign up for a notify-me service that will send you a maximum of two emails about the expected and final date that a cap will be reached. If you’re not sure if you’ll publish in time to get the discount, please contact the information specialist of your faculty so you can look at your options together.

    If the journal of your choice does charge for OA publishing, then you may be able to get funding (e.g., from NWOEU, or your faculty such as BMS and EEMCS). Lastly, if your research is funded by NWO, you can make the accepted version of your publication immediately available with a licence for re-use, based on the Rights Retention Strategy.

  • Open access after six months: By default open in UT Research Information

    Thanks to Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, the final published pdf of UT-affiliated articles, conference papers, and chapters in edited collections can become openly available in UT Research Information six months after the first publication date. Your eligible publications in UT Research Information will by default become open after six months, unless you opt out for one or more publications. Of course, as a UT author, it is your responsibility to make sure your publications are uploaded to Pure. The University Library does the rest.

    Opening your publications after six months is possible thanks to the Open Access Procedural Regulations for publishing short academic works by UT staff members:

    Do you have any questions about these regulations? Check our FAQ.

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  • How to assess the quality of open-access journals

    Before submitting your article to any scientific journal, it is wise to evaluate the journal and publisher. Think. Check. Submit. offers a checklist for identifying trustworthy journals for your research.

    Additional criteria apply to open-access journals and publishers. As a rule of thumb, publishers belonging to the Open Access Scholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA) and journals listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) are reputable. DOAJ is an online directory that indexes peer-reviewed open-access journals. Journals are only indexed when they meet the DOAJ requirements.

    Be extra careful when you receive an invitation to publish in an unfamiliar journal: You may be dealing with a predatory publisher that won’t properly peer review your work, but will charge APCs for publishing your work open access. The journal names often sound familiar, but are usually of very low quality. To find out if a publisher is predatory, do the check on Think. Check. Submit. and see if the publisher is listed on Beall’s list of journals and publishers that are potentially predatory. If you’re still in doubt after these checks, please don’t hesitate to contact the information specialist of your faculty. They’ll gladly help you determine the integrity of a journal or publisher.

  • Publishing your book open access

    The OAPEN OA books toolkit is a free toolkit for authors of academic books. It offers trustworthy and easily findable answers, and guides authors in the process of publishing a book open access.

    The international, informal OA BooksNetwork is a community for authors, publishers, University Libraries, and everyone else who is interested in publishing books open access. The network uses Humanities Commons, a non-profit Academic Social Network.

    When you publish an open-access book based on NWO funding, NWO’s Open Access Book Publication Fund can cover the cost (up to €10.000).

  • Choosing a re-use licence for your open-access publication

    When you publish open access, you need to choose a Creative Commons (CC) licence to inform readers under which terms they can share your publication. For practical guidance on what licence to choose, visit the national page on Creative Commons Licences.

    Would you like some more guidance on choosing a licence? Please send us an email. We’ll gladly help you.

  • Funder policies on open access: Plan S

    Plan S is an initiative of cOAlition S, an international group of research funders including NWO and the European Commission. Publications that result from funding given by cOAlition-S members as of 2021 must meet Plan S’s demands for open-access publishing. For more information, visit the national page on Plan S.

    Do you have any further questions? Please send us an email. We’ll gladly help.

  • Sharing your work as a preprint

    Preprints are [academic] manuscripts that have not been peer-reviewed or published in a traditional publishing venue. By posting preprints, academics can rapidly share their findings and build upon each other’s work.

    But, to what extent do preprints differ from articles published in an academic journal? How to post a preprint yourself and in which preprint archive? How to interpret the research results published through preprints? 

    This Practical Guide to Preprints answers these and other questions through sharply defined chapters and frequently asked questions.

    Would you like some more guidance on posting a preprint? Please send us an email. We’ll gladly help you.

  • FAQ Open Access Procedural regulations

    UT authors must make all their publications OA, preferably immediately with a licence for re-use. In all cases, UT-affiliated publications must be open at the latest six months after their first publication date.

    To help you, the University Library will automatically make your publications in UT Research Information openly available after six months, unless you opt out for one or more publications. This is possible thanks to the Open Access Procedural Regulations for publishing short academic works by UT staff members, based on Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act.

    Below, we present answers to possible questions you may have, divided in three sections: 

    Background

    What these regulations are based on and why we use them

    Practical

    How it works exactly and what you should do as a UT author

    What if…

    Situations that may apply to you

    Is your question missing? Please send us an email. We’ll gladly help.

    Background info

    • What is Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act?

      Article 25fa of the Copyright Act – also known as the Taverne Amendment – gives researchers the right to make short scientific publications, that describe research that was at least partially funded by the Dutch government, freely available after a reasonable period of time after these were first published, regardless of the terms and conditions imposed by the publisher. This means that you have the right to make your closed articles openly available in our university repository UT Research Information following a reasonable period of time after its first publication.

    • What does Article 25fa mean in practice?

      The Universities of The Netherlands (UNL) and the National Programme Open Science (NPOS) started the project ‘You share, we take care’ in 2019 to practically implement the Article’s potential. To do so, they have established concrete guidelines based on the amendment, of which the most important ones are: The final published version of an article will be made freely available in the university repository six months after the first (usually online) publication.

    • Why does the UT use a procedure to apply Article 25fa?

      As a researcher, you are entitled to invoke this Article to make your short academic works freely available after six months. The UT wants to facilitate UT authors to exercise this right. Until now, you could only do so by signing a licence. As of December 20, 2021, thanks to the Open Access Procedural Regulations for publishing short academic works by UT staff members, we can make your eligible publications openly available after six months with your tacit approval, so you don’t need to invest time or effort yourself. If you don’t want to use this right, you can opt out. (See ‘Practical How can I opt out?’ below)

    • What’s in it for me?

      By making your publications openly available in UT Research Information, they will be available to everyone. UT Research Information is harvested by widely used search engines, so your open publications in our repository will be easily findable. This increases the visibility, citations, and impact of your research. It may also be an easy way to meet your funder’s requirements. Finally, you will contribute to the Dutch universities’ joint objective to publish all short academic works in open access. If you don’t want to use this right, you can opt out. (See ‘Practical How can I opt out?’ below)

    • Are publishers aware of this?

      The publishers that have a contract with the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) were informed in a letter in 2019. The Dutch Media for Subject-Specific Information and Science sector association (Media voor Vak en Wetenschap, MVW) has also been informed.

      We hope and expect that publishers will see this as an opportunity to accelerate the transition towards 100% open access. However, if necessary, the UT will provide all necessary support and take on any legal or financial burdens that result from this. There have not been any legal cases since the Dutch universities started opening publications this way in 2019.

    • Does this procedure mean that I shouldn’t aim at immediate open access anymore?

      No. Immediate OA publishing with a licence for re-use remains the primary open-access ambition in the Netherlands, and the University of Twente’s preference. The procedure based on Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act is purely a back-up in those cases where immediate OA publishing with a licence for re-use is not possible.

    • Does this procedure meet my funder’s requirements for open access?

      It depends. If your funder requires immediate open access and/or a licence for re-use, then it does not meet your funder’s requirements. If your funder allows publications to be open after six months without a licence for re-use, then this procedure does meet your funder’s requirements. (See ‘What if… I have to abide by Plan S’ below)

    practical

    • When will the Open Access Procedural Regulations come into effect?

      On December 20, 2021. The University Library will implement the regulations as of January 1, 2022, by opening eligible publications in UT Research Information that were published as of July 2015, when Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act came into effect. They will open the most recent publications first and work their way back to publications from 2015.

    • Does this procedure apply to all UT authors?

      No. The current regulations only cover UT-employed authors. We aim to extend this in the near future, to also include external UT authors who are affiliated with the UT and publish as such, but who are not on the payroll.

      The regulations apply to any UT-employed author of a publication, so it doesn’t matter if you were the corresponding author, the first author, or a co-author.

    • Do I need permission from my co-authors?

      No. Since this is your personal right, you don’t need permission from your co-authors, but we do advise you to inform them.

    • What do I need to do to open my publications after six months?

      Keep doing what you have been doing: As a UT author, you must register and upload the final published pdf of your publications in Pure. The University Library does the rest.

    • What will the University Library do for me?

      The University Library will:

      • make eligible publications in UT Research Information openly available (or set an embargo after which they will automatically become openly available),
      • attach a Taverne licence (not for re-use) to your publication,
      • notify you when your publications (have) become openly available, and
      • notify you when a co-author of your publication opts out.
    • What publications are eligible to be opened this way?
      • It must be a short academic work.
        Academic articles, conference papers, professional publications, and chapters in edited collections are eligible. Monographs and chapters belonging to monographs are not eligible. Books are also not eligible.
      • The research described in the publication must be funded at least partially by the Dutch government.
        Publications that state the University of Twente as the author’s affiliation are eligible.
      • The UT author must have an employment contract with the UT.
    • What version of my publications will become openly available?

      If there is no open version in Pure yet, then the University Library will make the final pdf openly available in UT Research Information six months after the first publication date. This is the final published version in the layout of the publisher, also known as the version of record (VOR). This is the version that was ‘made public’. This is also the version that UT authors must upload to Pure, to be presented in UT Research Information. This makes UT-affiliated publications sustainably available in the National Library of the Netherlands, and more visible because widely used search engines will now find them in UT Research Information.

      Some publishers allow you to make the accepted version openly available in UT Research Information within six months after the first publication date. This is the accepted version without the layout of the publisher, also known as the accepted author manuscript (AAM). If that version is already open in Pure, then the University Library will not make the final published version openly available as well. The Open Access Procedural Regulations only cover publications without an open version in UT Research Information. If the AAM of your publication is already open in Pure, but you wish to make the VOR openly available after six months, then please send us an email. We’ll gladly open that version for you as well, but only at your request.

    • Publications from which years will become openly available?

      The University Library will ensure that all your eligible publications in UT Research Information, published as of 2022, are made openly available in UT Research Information six months after their first publication date.

      Subsequently, the University Library will do the same for your eligible publications that were published as of July 2015, when Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act came into effect. We will start with the most recent publications, so your eligible publications from 2021 will be opened first, followed by your publications from 2020, and so on.

    • Will the University Library give my publications a re-use licence?

      No. The University Library will attach a so-called Taverne licence to publications that become openly available based on Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act. This licence does not allow re-use, so you and others are not allowed to share the publication on a website, platform, or for educational purposes. If you want others to access your publication, then link to your open publication in UT Research Information instead.

    • Will I be notified when my publications become openly available?

      Yes, but you may not always be notified before your publications become openly available. If they were first published more than six months ago, then you’ll be notified after they have become open in UT Research Information. If your publications are registered in Pure immediately after they are first published, then you’ll be notified before they become open in UT Research Information.

      Every year, the University Library will send an overview to UT authors whose publications became openly available in the previous year and/or will automatically become open within the next six months, when their embargo ends.

    • Will I be notified when one of my co-authors opts out?

      Yes. If an opt-out concerns a publication with multiple UT-employed authors, then the University Library will inform UT co-authors about the opt-out. (See ‘What if… My co-author opts out for our joint publication’ below)

    • How can I opt out?

      You can opt out for one or more publications by filling out this form. Your opt-out request will always be granted. If your opt-out concerns a publication that was co-authored by other UT-employed authors, then the University Library will inform those authors about the opt-out.

    What if ...

    • I signed a Copyright Transfer Agreement with the publisher

      It doesn’t matter if you signed a copyright-transfer agreement: The Dutch law outweighs such agreements.

    • I published with an international publisher

      It doesn’t matter if the publisher is Dutch or international: Your eligible publications can be made openly available in UT Research Information.

    • My publisher asks me to close my publication again

      Your publisher may approach you with questions or a request to remove access to your open publication in UT Research Information. In that case, contact the University Library immediately. When your publications in UT Research Information are open based on Article 25fa, you have the guarantee that the UT, together with its national partners, will determine what steps to take and how to respond to the publisher. All you have to do is forward the correspondence from the publisher to the Open Access Team.

    • I have to abide by Plan S

      For calls as of 2021, cOAlition-S funders like NWO and the EU require you to abide by Plan S. This means that at least the Accepted Author Version of your publications must become available in open access immediately with a licence for re-use. The Open Access Procedural Regulations make your publications openly available after six months without a licence for re-use, so opening your publications this way does not meet the requirements of Plan S.

    • I want to share my publications on other platforms as well

      This is your personal right, so you are allowed to share your publications on other platforms as well, provided that you make them freely available. This means that you are not allowed to make your publications openly available on commercial platforms such as ResearchGate. You are allowed to share a link on ResearchGate to your open publications in UT Research Information.

      Please keep in mind that the UT will only take on any legal or financial burdens that result from making your publications open in UT Research Information.

    • I want to make my previous publications open in UT Research Information

      The University Library will ensure that all your eligible publications in UT Research Information that have been published since July 2015 (when Article 25fa came into effect), are made openly available six months after their first publication date. If you want to make older publications openly available this way, then please send an email to the Open Access Team.

    • My co-author opts out for our joint publication

      If your co-author opts out, then the University Library will grant the request. This means that your joint publication will not be openly available in UT Research Information, even if you want it to be open. If your co-author opts out, then the University Library will inform you about the opt-out. If you want your joint publication to be open in UT Research Information, then contact your UT co-author. He/she can undo the opt-out if they want to.

    • I leave the University of Twente

      The publications that you produced during your employment at the UT will remain in the repository (Pure). After you have left, your researcher profile will no longer be visible in UT Research Information, but your publications will be. You can still link to them from other sites.

      If your publisher approaches you with questions or a request to remove access to your publication in UT Research Information after you leave the UT, please contact the University Library immediately. The UT, together with its national partners, will determine what steps to take and how to respond to the publisher. If necessary, the university will also take legal action. This guarantee also applies after your employment with the UT has ended.

  • Podcast Open Talks – Episode 1: Open access at the UT

    The Open Talks podcast series is a space where researchers, students, and support staff at the University of Twente meet to talk openly—without restrictions—about the most influencing, exciting or concerning trends and practices in academia and science. The first episode was, of course, about open-access publishing at our university. Check it out and subscribe!

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