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Open Access Policy

Open Access Policy

All researchers supported in whole or in part through Arthritis Society Canada are required to make the published results of their work publicly available as soon as possible, but must do so no later than 12-months after the final publication date. 

Archives such as PubMed Central*, researchers’ Host Institution websites and/or open access journals are all acceptable ways to make research findings publicly available.  For example: 

  • Publish your article in an open access journal that will make articles immediately and freely available on the publisher’s website.  
  • Publish in any journal that allows for a copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript to be deposited into a freely accessibly, digital archive.  
  • Publish in any journal that allows for the article to be made available on the researcher’s personal and/or institutional website.  

This policy is not designed to compromise the ability of any researcher to publishing research results in the most widely read and respected scientific journals. Nor is the open access policy designed to operate in a manner that in any way violates copyright law. Increasingly, however, many publishers are supportive of open access and have policies in place to allow open access without infringing their copyright. 

Arthritis Society Canada believes strongly, however, that unrestricted public access to research findings is a crucial part of upholding the values and responsibilities of Arthritis Society Canada. Major funding bodies around the world have progressively adopted open access as a means of increasing the public availability and transparency of the research they fund. Open access allows for broader dissemination of knowledge and ultimately promotes research advancement, crucial to Arthritis Society Canada’s mission. 

As part of this policy, Arthritis Society Canada will provide support for charges levied by publishers that are required to comply with this open access process. They may be included as legitimate research expenses (fully justified as with all other expenses) in the budget of a research grant submission. 

*PubMed Central is a free digital archive of full-text biomedical and life science journal articles, developed and maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the National Library of Medicine (NLM). PubMed central seeks to preserve and maintain unrestricted access to electronic literature. More information about PubMed Central can be found at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/about/faq.html  

The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is an example of an open access journal that allows for all publications to be immediately and freely available online. 

For a list of journals that automatically deposit articles in PubMed Central visit http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process_journals.htm.  

For more information please contact us at research@arthritis.ca