Wellcome Trust open access policy

New procedure to request open access costs
From 1 March 2026 Wellcome will process applications using its online form (see below).

Changes in Wellcome Trust open access block grant funding
From April 2024, Wellcome will still support eligible costs to comply with their policy by supplementing individual research grants (see below).

Updated guidance
Please note the additional guidance below from Wellcome Trust on rights retention and using preprints to meet its policy requirements effective from January 2024.

Wellcome’s OA applies to publications that report original research, which has been supported in whole, or in part, by Wellcome. The policy applies to original published research, research articles, monographs and book chapters..

"Original published research that arises from our funding must be open and accessible to everyone."

See Wellcome Trust .

To meet the new policy requirements there are three options:

Route 1. Publish in a fully open access journal indexed in the . The journal must deposit the final published version in Europe PMC and publish the article under a CC BY licence. Many OA journals require a fee in order to publish, if this is the case Wellcome will cover the open access fee via reimbursement. (Wellcome will not pay for page, colour, or other editorial fees).
Route 2. Publish in a subscription journal (also known as hybrid) and deposit the accepted manuscript in PMC directly, by date of publication, with a CC BY licence. Follow the rights retention process to enable this route.
Route 3. Publish in a subscription (hybrid) journal that is part of a ‘transformative’ open access deal. Wellcome-funded researchers may need to ensure they are corresponding author to benefit from these deals. See the 精东传媒 publisher memberships page for current deals. Where there is no deal in place, compliance via Route 2 above may still be possible.

When selecting your venue and submitting publications, you should ensure the following:

That you have considered the route to compliance as described above and informed co-authors and collaborators. A ‘’ is available to assist researchers in choosing compliant journals.
If you opt for Route 1, inform openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk so that Article Processing Charge (APC) payment options can be discussed.
If following Route 2, include a a rights statement in your submission which will apply to the accepted manuscript. More information and example text is provided .
'This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust [Grant number xxxxx]. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.'
Always ensure that your in your paper, including the grant reference number.

See the Wellcome Trust which covers details of the policy and how to meet the requirements. If in doubt, contact openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk for advice in advance of your submission.

How to claim Wellcome Trust open access fees

Use the , which will show whether a specific journal publisher鈥檚 policy complies with Wellcome requirements or contact openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.
- If the tool shows the journal is compliant, proceed to Step 2
- If the journal is not compliant reconsider the routes listed above.
Application process for direct support
For direct support, you must apply to Wellcome. The Open Access Team will continue to assist you in determining coverage in our Read and Publish agreements or where costs may be partially covered by another funder – it may not be necessary to apply if your chosen journal is already included in an agreement.

Active grants
From 1 March 2026 Wellcome will process supplement requests for eligible open access publishing costs using its . If your grant is active please complete the form and wait for a decision from Wellcome.

Closed grants
Wellcome will reimburse the University for OA costs incurred after a grant has ended. If this scenario applies to you please send the details requested below to
openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk as soon as possible and preferably prior to submission:
- Current employing organisation
- Title of the paper
- Wellcome grant reference number
- Journal title
- Proposed publication date
- Cost of the open access fee
“We will supplement your research grant and your organisation will be able to claim reimbursement for these additional costs in the usual way.

We will also provide open access funding when a research grant has ended.”

Eligibility of publication costs
From 1 January 2025, Wellcome only fund publication costs in fully open access journals. This means they will not provide reimbursement for OA costs in hybrid (subscription-based) journals.

Licence selection
Where funds are used to pay an APC, Wellcome requires the use of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) Licence. See the Wellcome Trust's for more information.

Monographs and book chapters
The Trust open access policy includes scholarly monographs and book chapters. Monographs and chapters can be deposited using the Wellcome Trust's . Funding for monographs and chapters will be provided directly by the Trust. See more in the Wellcome Trust .
The Open Access team previously reported each year to the Wellcome Trust on the use of the block grant fund. This included details on compliance including PMC IDs and correct use of CC BY licences.

We no longer report directly, however Wellcome will monitor research publications authored by our funded researchers to make sure they comply with our policy. They do this when researchers apply for funding, and through end-of-grant reporting.鈥�

Europe PubMed Central deposit guidance

Use of preprints

From January 2024 researchers can use a CC BY licensed preprint to comply with the OA policy if they cannot make the Version of Record or the Accepted Manuscript compliant.

Preprints must be posted on a server indexed by Europe PMC before the final paper publication.

Preference remains for using the Version of Record or Author Accepted Manuscript, wherever possible and depending on the publishing options available.

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