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Open Access 4: > RGC and Open Access

RGC and Open Access

Grants from University Grants Committee (UGC) or Research Grants Council (RGC), though awarded to specific projects in the name of individual PIs / PCs / Project holders, are actually grants allocated to institutions. By accepting the grants and signing the grant undertakings, the institutions and PIs / PCs / Project holders agree to abide by all the relevant UGC / RGC guidelines on disbursement, accounting and monitoring arrangements. All Principal Investigators (PIs) are advised to take note of RGC's Open Access policies and Open Access Plan (the Plan).

To encourage open access to publications resulting from its funded research, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (RGC) requests all Principal Investigators (PIs) to take note of its Open Access policies.

RGC's Open Access (OA) Policy

  • The policy applies to all RGC projects funded in 2013/14 and thereafter as a condition of the grant, applicable to all journal and conference publications.

    RGC's OA Policy as stated in its Funding Schemes' application forms

  • Starting from 2016/2017 academic year, RGC also requires all PIs to include in their project completion reports the URL links to institutional repositories or publishers' websites (may require subscription) for access to the manuscripts or journal articles.

RGC's Accepted OA Versions

  • Postprint version
  • Final Published version

(More about Versions of Publications)

To Achieve Open Access:

After soliciting views and feedback from the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities in its Open Access Review (the Review) commenced in 2020, Research Grants Council (RGC) launched its Open Access Plan (the Plan) in February 2021 with different initiatives under a phased approach. The Library has been deeply involved since the Review stage and is proactively planning and developing services to help our researchers to fulfill RGC’s requirements under the Plan.

Here is a quick summary of the Plan*:

Phase I: Laying the Foundation (February 2021 to January 2024)

  1. Promulgation of the Plan
  2. Statistics Collection – RGC OA Reporting
  3. Statistical Analysis
  4. Gateway Construction – RGC Publication Gateway (launched in May 2023)
  5. Sectoral Training - Research Data Management Training (conducted from April to July 2023)
  6. Local and International Publicity and Promotion

Phase II: Target Enforcement and Monitoring (February 2024 to October 2026)

  1. Setting the Progressive Target – first university-based OA target, then sector-wide OA target
  2. Data Management Plan (DMP) as a Requirement for Application
  3. Data Sharing Pilot Scheme

*Click to view full details for Open Access Plan of the Research Grants Council (publicly released).

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