We would like draw your attention to the rules concerning the requirement to publish in Open Access that the National Science Centre (NCN) has introduced for funding starting from the calls for proposals announced in June 2020.

We provide a brief overview of the three dedicated publication routes recognized by NCN:

1. Open Access journals: Publication in Open Access journals or platforms that are either registered or in the process of registration in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) - meaning that these journals adhere to Open Access standards.
2. Subscription journals (hybrid journals): Publication in subscription journals, containing both Open Access and subscriber-only articles. The article must either be published in Open Access, or Version of Record (VoR) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) must be published in an open repository immediately upon the article’s online publication (without any embargo period), with a unique persistent identifier (e.g. DOI, URN, UUID, Handle or other). A list of acceptable repositories can be found in the Open Directory of Open Access Repositories - OpenDOAR.

Note: not all scientific journals allow the final version of a manuscript with journal branding to be made available in public repositories. It is less often the case of so-called Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) - the final version of the author's manuscript after review and accepted for publication. The legitimacy of these concerns raised by journals is the subject of legal controversy.

        3.  “Transformative journals”: Publication in journals that are Open Access licensed under transformative agreements, inscribed in the ESAC-registry. This applies to transformative journals aiming to publish in a full open access model.

For more information on the publication routes presented above, please see the Order of the Director of the National Science Centre.

These changes are crucial during planning process of new research projects, especially in the context of publications, their funding and the selection of scientific journals. Importantly, the requirement to publish in Open Access should be considered at the application stage. In particular, it may be necessary to provide funding (outside NCN project) to cover Article Processing Charges (APS) in hybrid journals (route No 2).

Please find below potential funding sources:
•    Microgrants UW - offered by the University of Warsaw to fund open access publications as long as they are published in recognized scientific journals. As announced by the Rector, there will be no limit on the annual number of such microgrants per author. More information can be found here: https://inicjatywadoskonalosci.uw.edu.pl/en/actions/microgrants/rules/
•    Project indirect costs - funding for the project can also derive from indirect costs of the project, within the amount at the Principal Investigator’s disposal.
Please keep in mind the abovementioned regulations, and take the NCN policy into consideration when planning your publications. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Prof. Mikołaj Czajkowski, the Vice-Dean for Research. The Research and Publications Office can also support you in this matter.