Open Access funds update – January 2026

Open Research Digest links

• Looking for information on Research Data Conversations? Book your place at the next event via our MRE page.
• If you're looking for information on the Re:Collect project, please see this news article.

Apologies for an error in our recent OR Digest which means you've been directed to this blog post instead of the above information!

Open Access Funds

As we start the new year, we’re providing an update on current Open Access (OA) funding available to help you prepare for submission and publication of your research in 2026.

Wellcome

Wellcome (formerly The Wellcome Trust) has renewed its institutional Open Access block grant for 2026. If your work acknowledges funding from Wellcome, you can request funding to publish your research articles Gold Open Access via our Open Access Gateway. OA publishing for Wellcome-funded monographs is managed directly with the funder – please see our knowledge base for more information.

The Library facilitated just over £40k of OA payments for Wellcome-funded articles last year. In addition, we made strategic use of the Wellcome block grant to support several initiatives exploring more sustainable options for OA publication, and to increase access to research collections of potential strategic and research importance to the University. These include:

• Knowledge Unlatched’s SDG collection;
• JSTOR’s Path to Open scheme;
• PLOS’ Community Action Publishing model for Medicine and Biology;
• White Rose University Press’ Diamond OA Monographs OA community framework;
• Open Library of Humanities membership.

You can find out more about how we seek to support innovation in scholarly publishing and community-led infrastructure via our knowledge base.

Cancer Research UK (CRUK)

CRUK is in the process of undertaking a review of its current grants expenditure, and has enabled an extension of the current institutional block grant until this review is concluded. If your work acknowledges funding from CRUK, you can request funds to publish articles Gold OA via our Open Access Gateway.

UKRI

Institutions are awaiting confirmation from UKRI on OA funding provision once the current institutional block grant closes in March 2026. For now, UKRI-funded authors can continue to request funds for Gold OA publication via our Open Access Gateway.

More information

• Please see our knowledge base for full details of all Open Access funds available for UoM researchers.
• We provide guidance on OA publishing for authors whose work does not acknowledge funding eligible for institutional block grants.
• UoM authors are able to publish papers Gold OA with a number of publishers via our institutional publisher agreements.
• UoM authors are also able to share articles Open Access immediately on publication via our institutional repository without paying any Gold OA fees, through our institutional Rights Retention policy.
• You can use our Open Access Journals Guide to find journals and Open Access options for your research
• You can also contact us if you have any specific questions on Open Access and options for your research.