Getting Your Research Funded and Compliant

Various funding bodies have different criteria and requirements; however, whether you are publishing a journal article, book chapter, full journal, or book project, many funding bodies have policies on the following: 

• Publication Type: There will likely be a mandate as to which type of publication the funding will cover. Typically, funders will specify whether there are funds available for journal article, book chapter, or full book publishing. Some may go even further to stipulate the type of manuscript (reviews, research articles, proceedings, etc.).
• OA Model: Many funding bodies will stipulate which OA model is acceptable to publish under. Here, it is important to understand the different types of OA and to ensure that the journal selected for the research publishes under that type. The most common policies are to publish in Gold OA publications or Green OA publications, though Hybrid OA models ma
  be allowed.
• License Restrictions: They may allow the research to only be published under a specific license. Usually if this policy is in place, it is because the funder wants to ensure that the research is being published under one of the creative commons licenses that has more freedoms and less restrictions such as CC BY.
• Ethical Considerations: All funding bodies will insist that funding only be used to support research that is included in publications that follow strict ethical publishing guidelines. Oftentimes this includes some type of mandatory peer
  review process.
• Embargoes: Some funding bodies will only allow researchers to use their funding in journals that will immediately publish the work upon acceptance without any publisher embargo of any kind that would delay the timing of its free dissemination.
• Indexing Restrictions: Indices can play a role in funding policies, particularly for journal article publishing. Oftentimes, the funder will require that the journal the researcher is submitting to be indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), thus ensuring that it is a credible and ethical publication. Other indices the funder requires can include Web of Science™ and Scopus®. On the book side, some funders may require that the book be submitted and accepted in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).
• Membership Restrictions: Rarer but still of note, some funding bodies may require that a journal or publisher is recognized/partnered with a specific association such as the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) or the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• Archiving/Preservation Requirements: Funding bodies may require that the publication’s content is archived or preserved. Oftentimes, the publication or publisher will note the type of archival system they use. For example, IGI Global
  uses CLOCKSS.
• Repository Requirements: Some funding bodies will require that the publication be included in a specific OA repository upon completion and may have a limited amount of time by which the researcher must submit the published work for inclusion.

It is extremely important to review the list of criteria that your funding body requires because if your content or publication does not meet these requirements, they will not provide funding for your OA work. When determining whether the funding body has any OA policies or restrictions, there are sites that can support, including Sherpa Juliet, which is comprised of a searchable database of specific funders’ OA policies. Additionally, they offer the tool Sherpa Fact, where researchers can select their funding body and enter the journal of interest to see if they are compliant.