Open Research

Research Ireland’s Open Research Policy will take effect from 7th April 2025 and will apply to all research publications submitted for publication on or after this date.

This policy represents an interim position that is broadly aligned with the Open Access policies of the two legacy agencies (SFI and IRC). The policy will continue to support the goals of Ireland’s National Action Plan for Open Research. Research Ireland is committed to accelerating the implementation of open research practices across the Irish research system, and we will continue to develop policies and guidance to support this goal. While this policy sets out requirements mostly applicable to peer-reviewed journal articles, we intend to take a broader view of the scholarly communication landscape in future updates. As such, we aim to align these updates with international best practice by addressing a more diverse range of research outputs.

We are aware of current issues regarding open access publishing in American Chemical Society journals. As of 1 January 2026, IReL’s agreement with ACS does not include a provision to publish open access at no cost to the author. Authors affiliated with a participating institution may still make their works open access by depositing a copy of their Accepted Manuscript in a repository with no embargo period. For those not based at participating institutions, ACS may apply an Article Development Charge (ADC) for repository deposit without embargo.

ADCs may not be paid from Research Ireland grant funding as they are fees that support publication in hybrid journals. Only Article Processing Charges (APCs) for articles in fully open access journals may be paid from Research Ireland Grant funding.

Research Ireland strongly encourages all grant recipients to check journal policies before submitting a publication to ensure that they can meet the requirements outlined in our Interim Open Research policy. Research Ireland is a signatory of DORA and is committed to assessing research outputs based on the content of the publication and its reach, rather than the publication venue.

Please contact researchpolicy@researchireland.ie with any questions or concerns.