Instructions Open Access for project leaders

All scientific articles resulting from research funded by ZonMw must be directly available according to Open Access. In addition, ZonMw encourages making available other types of scientific publications via Open Access (such as monographs, books, conference proceedings and grey literature). ZonMw aims to achieve 100% Open Access.

Read below what this means for your project during 1) the creation of an article or a presentation, 2) the submission of the article and 3) the publication of the article. 

Step 1: Creating scientific articles or presentations

For every publication or presentation, project leaders must acknowledge the grant received from ZonMw according to the following convention: 

• Funded by the Dutch Organisation for knowledge and innovation in health, healthcare and well-being (ZonMw): <file number> for example 08391062310002. 

Step 2: Submitting scientific articles

When submitting your article to a journal, you must take account of the following conditions:

• ZonMw accepts Open Access journal articles published via the gold, green or hybrid route (read more about the various routes here). Scientific articles published via the golden route may be eligible for financial support.
• Scientific articles must be made directly available (without embargo) Open Access. The embargo period is the period between the date on which the article in the published version first becomes available online on the publisher’s platform (which is often prior to the publication date of the volume/issue) and the Open Access availability online. With this in mind, carefully read the copyright conditions of the publisher for possible compulsory embargo periods.
• Scientific articles must be published according to the Creative Commons Citation (CC BY 4.0 licence). If the author considers it necessary to deviate from the CC BY 4.0 licence, the alternative choice with supporting arguments must be submitted to ZonMw for approval. You can submit your background material to the programme mailbox of the project in question and openscience@zonmw.nl.
• Authors or their institutes must retain their copyrights.

Step 3: Publication of the scientific article

• Citation of publications
  Up to 4 years following the end date of the project, project leaders must cite their products (including publications) in My ZonMw.
• Depositing in Europe PubMed Central (EPMC)
  In addition, ZonMw requires that for all grant rounds published since 1 April 2021, at least a copy of the manuscript (Version of Record or the Author Accepted Manuscript) is deposited in Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC). In certain cases, the publisher deposits a copy of the manuscript in Europe PMC.
  
  To deposit the article, project leaders must create a Europe PMC Plus account. You can create your personal EPMC Plus account via the registration page. For instructions on using the account / submitting manuscripts, please refer to https://plus.europepmc.org/user-guide.

For certain projects from grant rounds published after 1 April 2021, ZonMw offers financial support for the costs of the Article Processing Charges (APCs). This is only possible if these costs were included in the budget and if the article is published according to the ZonMw, Plan S and ‘Golden route’ requirements:

1. In the publication or presentation ZonMw and the file number  are named.
2. The journal or platform can be found in the Directory of Open Access Journals.
3. The Plan S requirements have been met:

• Free access to the publication for anyone
• Direct Open Access: no embargo period between publication date in a journal and fee access online
• Publication under an open Creative Commons licence (ZonMw requires the CC BY licence).
• Retention of copyrights

Tip: when the journal can be found in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the DOAJ shows an overview of all (Plan S) requirements of that journal.

To be eligible for this financial support, you must complete the following steps:

Step 1: project budget

The costs must be specified in the project budget as ‘Open Access’. The call text specifies whether Open Access costs may be included in the project budget for the specific project.

Step 2: claim

Following publication, send the name of the journal and the official invoice (proof of payment of APCs) to the programme mailbox of the project in question and to openscience@zonmw.nl.

The earmarked amount for Open Access publication costs will be made available as soon as ZonMw has received and approved the invoice. The maximum period within which this amount may be claimed is 12 months following the official end date of the project.

Read more about the ZonMw Open Access policy here.

Scientific articles from projects from grant rounds published before 1 January 2021 must also be published Open Access. The policy for these projects differs from the current policy, in the following respects:

• Scientific articles must be published Open Access as quickly as possible, but with a maximum embargo period of not more than 6 months.
• Publication via the Creative Commons Citation (CC BY 4.0 licence) is strongly preferred, but not required.
• ZonMw requires a copy of the manuscript to be deposited in an Open Access repository. ZonMw encourages opting for deposit in Europe PubMed Central.

In specific cases, it is possible to receive payment for Open Access costs. Because this scheme is retroactive, this is only possible if there is sufficient financial capacity. Possibilities can be discussed with both the ZonMw Open Access team (openscience@zonmw.nl) and the programme team of the project in question.