Many research funders have an open access policy, where the funder defines how the research project it funds must take into account open access for research publications in its activities. When preparing your funding application, familiarise yourself with the funder's open access policy and guidance on the publication plan.
Check the research funder's up-to-date open science policy and guidance on its own website and on the possible funding decision.
Tampere University has adopted a prior licence model by the president's decision. It applies to peer-reviewed journal and conference articles and book chapters in edited volumes.
The prior licence model enables the immediate open access of scientific articles under a Creative Commons license in the University's institutional repository. This way, research funders' requirements for immediate open access and the use of a CC licence can always be fulfilled, regardless of the chosen publication channel. You can therefore publish in compliance with your funder's requirements even in hybrid publication channels where the publisher's terms do not allow immediate self-archiving under a Creative Commons licence and where paying an article processing charge (APC) is not possible due to the funder's policy.
A publication plan must usually be included with a research funding application. The publication plan often asks to describe how the applicant intends to implement the research funder's open access policies when publishing their research results.
Read the funder's call for applications and the related guidance carefully.
When drawing up your publication plan, take into account
Some research funders pay the costs associated with open access publishing when they have been prepared for when applying for research funding. In these situations, take the article processing charges into account in the budget proposal.
During the research process, make sure that your publication activities meet the funder's requirements and recommendations. For example, when choosing a publication channel, find out whether it meets the funder's requirements in terms of open access.
The Research Council of Finland requires the following from peer-reviewed journal articles for projects it has funded partly or fully
A journal that complies with the Plan S principles uses the CC BY 4.0 license and also
Please note that making the publication available through self-archiving in an institutional repository may be the only way to ensure open access to the article in accordance with the Research Council of Finland's policy on open access for scientific publications.
By decision of the President of Tampere University, the university has adopted a prior licence model that enables self-archiving and immediate open access of journal and conference articles and book chapters in edited volumes under a CC BY 4.0 licence, in line with the Research Council's policy - even if the publication channel's self-archiving policy does not allow it. Prior licence model applies to manuscripts submitted for review on or after 1 January 2026.
Always check before submitting your manuscript to a journal how you can ensure open access to the peer-reviewed article in compliance with the Research Council's requirements if your project is partly or fully funded by the Council. The Journal Checker Tool service helps identify Plan S-compliant journals but does not include information about Tampere University's prior licence model.
The Research Council's open access policy for scientific publications applies to projects that received a positive funding decision in the call for applications opened after January 1st, 2021. The funding conditions attached to the funding decision include a separate section regarding open access for scientific publications.
Before submitting a manuscript to a journal, always make sure that the publication channel you choose complies with the Research Council of Finland's policy if your project is partly or fully funded by the Research Council.
Check the research funder's up-to-date open science policy and guidance on its own website and on the possible funding decision.
The library covers the article processing charges (APCs) for peer-reviewed journal articles from projects funded by the Research Council of Finland, depending on when the manuscript was submitted. OA support funding criteria:
Please note that the library does not pay APCs for articles submitted on or after January 2026 if the chosen journal is a hybrid journal or if the edited volume is not fully open access. Articles published in these types of channels will be made openly available through self-archiving under the prior licence model.
You can take advantage of agreements the library has concluded with various publishers for open access publishing for researchers, as these agreements comply with Plan S principls.
The library does not cover any other publishing-related costs beyond APCs. OA support funding cannot be applied for image or page charges, or fees related to manuscript submission.
Horizon Europe requires the following from peer-reviewed journal articles for projects it funds
By decision of the President of Tampere University, the university has adopted a prior licence model that enables self-archiving and immediate open access of journal and conference articles and book chapters in edited volumes under a CC BY 4.0 licence, in line with Horizon Europe's policy - even if the publication channel's self-archiving policy does not permit it. Prior licence model applies to manuscripts submitted for review on or after 1 January 2026.
Always check before submitting your manuscript for review how you can ensure open access to the peer-reviewed publication in compliance with Horizon Europe's requirements if your project is fully or partly funded by Horizon Europe. The Journal Checker Tool service helps identify scientific journals that meet Horizon Europe's funding conditions, but it does not include information about Tampere University's prior licence model.
Horizon Europe's guidelines for research funding:
Check the research funder's up-to-date open science policy and guidance on its own website and on the possible funding decision.
The library covers the article and book processing charges (APCs and BPCs) for peer-reviewed publications from projects funded by Horizon Europe, depending on when the manuscript was submitted. OA support funding criteria:
Please note that the library does not pay open access costs for articles or book chapters submitted on or after 1 January 2026 if the chosen journal is a hybrid journal or if the edited volume is not fully open access. Articles published in these types of channels will be made available through self-archiving under the prior licence model.
You can take advantage of agreements the library has concluded with various publishers for free open access publishing for researchers, as these agreements enable immediate open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence in the institutional repository.
The library does not cover any other publishing-related costs beyond APCs and BPCs. OA support funding cannot be applied for image or page charges, or fees related to manuscript submission.
Open Research Europe is a fully open access publication channel where research articles are published without article processing charges. The publication channel is intended for research publications stemming from projects that have received Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe funding. You can also publish there when the relevant Horizon project has already ended. Open Research Europe meets Horizon Europe's requirements for open access publishing, and it uses open peer review.
According to the Plan S principles published by the cOAlition S consortium established by research funders, research publications must be immediately open access and available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. The journal used must also comply with the Plan S principles. The Research Council of Finland is one of the members of cOAlition S, and its policy on open access for scientific publications takes into account the Plan S principles.
Research funders' open science policies can be searched in the Open Policy Finder service. Always read the funding terms and conditions you receive from the research funder.
