Publishing open access requires early planning

Make informed publishing choices early to retain copyright and meet funder open-access requirements.

Why open access matters to funders

Funders require open access because it ensures publicly funded research is publicly available. This includes the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the Australian Research Council (ARC) and many philanthropic funders such as the Wellcome Trust.

For most grants, open access isn’t just encouraged – it’s required. Meeting those requirements starts well before you publish, with informed choices about where to submit, how to retain your rights, and understanding how these decisions affect your ability to share your work.

Five pathways to make your research open access

Each option has benefits and considerations. It’s important to choose the pathway that works best for your research, balancing your funder’s requirements, your faculty quality journals list, and your dissemination goals.

1. Publish in a fully open-access journal

   Choose a journal in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and check the journal’s quality using the Think. Check. Submit. website.

2. Publish in a journal covered by the University's Read and Publish agreements

   Monash University has agreements with major publishers that allow Monash authors to publish open access with reduced or no article processing charges (APCs). These are often called transformative agreements.

   See the Read and Publish agreements for the current list and details on how to use them.

3. Pay the article processing charge directly

   If your chosen journal isn’t covered by a Monash agreement, you’ll need to cover the APC yourself – be sure to include this in your project budget.

4. Upload your author-accepted manuscript to Pure

   If you are publishing in a closed journal, you can deposit your author-accepted manuscript in your Pure profile, provided you included a rights retention statement when submitting your article to your chosen journal.
   
   Pre-prints can also be uploaded under the new guidelines in the NHMRC and MRFF joint Open Science Policy.

5. Upload non-traditional research outputs or datasets to Bridges

   Bridges is Monash’s open-access repository and can be used for open-access publishing of data sets and non-traditional research outputs.

Protect your open access publishing rights

Always include a rights retention statement when submitting your article to a journal. It is typically added to the funding or acknowledgements section of your manuscript.

Including a rights retention statement ensures you can legally share your work, even if the published version is behind a paywall. With this statement in place, you'll be able to deposit your author-accepted manuscript in a repository such as Pure.

Without a rights retention statement, this option is lost – and when it’s time to report your research outputs, you may not be able to meet your grant requirements.

Always check the fine print of any publishing agreement you sign. If the language is confusing, you can always reach out to librarians@monash.edu for support.

Understand the requirements of your funders

Different funders and grants have specific conditions around when and how you publish. Some require immediate open access, while others allow an embargo period. Reviewing these conditions carefully will help you choose a publishing pathway that aligns with both your funder obligations and your research goals.

You can find details about open access requirements for ARC and NHMRC on our Meet funder requirements page.

Align with responsible research and industry standards

Open-access publishing is more than meeting funder requirements – it reflects a commitment to ethical, inclusive, and impactful research. It supports transparency and equity in scholarly communication, in line with national and international standards.

Monash Responsible Research Culture Framework highlights the need for sustainable and fair open-access models, especially for researchers with limited resources.

“Researchers, institutions and nations with more limited resources may be disadvantaged in accessing the latest research and sharing their own findings, reinforcing global hierarchies of power and knowledge.”

Open-access practices help address these imbalances by enabling wider access to research outputs, including non-confidential data, creative works and non-traditional research outputs.

In the interests of transparency and integrity, you can also share the data that underpins your publication, provided confidentiality and ethical requirements are met. Many funders and publishers encourage or require this. Such practice also complements the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and the CARE principles, which promote ethical, respectful, and beneficial data practices when working with Indigenous communities.

Get help early

If you’ve been awarded a grant or are planning to publish, the Library can help you understand your options and make informed decisions.

Explore Read and Publish agreements or learn more about meeting your funder's open-access obligations.

For expert help:

• Before you publish, you can seek help with drafting your rights retention statement – email librarians@monash.edu.
• Once published, you can seek help with importing your publication into Pure – contact Research Outputs Collection Service (ROCS).

Remember to reach out early to get one-to-one support if you need in-person help and advice.