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Open Access Policy

Reykjavik University (RU) emphasises the importance of making the outcomes of its research and teaching activities as widely accessible as possible. To this end, RU has established the following open access policy:

  • RU academic staff should endeavour to publish the results of their research and teaching activities in open access. RU encourages the publication of academic articles, educational materials, and other works authored by its academic staff, individually or collaboratively, under the university's name (RU-affiliated), in open access repositories on the internet, ensuring availability to all without cost or licensing restrictions.
  • RU encourages its academic staff to retain the copyright to their work, grant journals a non-exclusive publishing licence, and mark publications in open access with a "Creative Commons" licence.
  • RU aims to ensure that all academic articles published by its staff under the university’s name are available in open access or open digital repositories free of charge. RU does not cover the costs of open access publishing.
  • RU has established a repository in collaboration with all universities in the country, known as the CRIS system (Current Research Information System), to enhance the visibility, utilisation, and impact of academic staff and doctoral students' work while ensuring long-term access. The IRIS research portal (Icelandic Research Information System), based on the CRIS system, has been developed to showcase the research activities of Icelandic universities and institutions participating in the portal. Academic staff and doctoral students are encouraged to register their academic articles, published under the university’s name, in open access via IRIS. In general, open access materials should be available on IRIS upon publication or with a maximum embargo period of 12 months.
  • Undergraduate and master’s students submit their final theses to the Skemman.is repository. Doctoral students submit their final theses to the IRIS repository and should make them openly accessible whenever possible. The electronic submission of final theses/projects follows the guidelines set by RU’s Curriculum Council and Executive Council.

RU encourages academic staff to work towards making older publications available in open access by registering them in IRIS.

RU encourages students to make significant projects available on the internet in open access and to apply a "Creative Commons" licence to their work.

RU will provide educational materials and services to support academic staff and students in implementing this policy and publishing their work in open access.

Approved by RU’s Executive Council on 11 February 2025

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