Open Access and foundations

How do foundations and funders regard Open Access?

In general, there is an increasing tendency for foundations and funders to support Open Access.

Some foundations and funders also provide the opportunity to cover the publication costs (article processing charge) to Golden Open Access. Others subscribe to "The Green Route", where the possibility of self-archiving/parallel publication exists.

What Open Access requirements do Danish public funds impose?

The Danish public sector research funds and foundations, the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Innovation Fund Denmark and Danish National Research Foundation, have a joint Open Access Policy.

  • The Open Access requirement only applies to articles.
  • Both the accepted manuscript and the final publisher version (VoR) are accepted.
  • A maximum of 6 months embargo for the research areas: Health Science, Natural science, Engineering Science, and Agricultural and veterinarian science. A maximum of 12 months embargo for the research areas: Social science and the humanities.
  • No requirement for a Creative Commons license.
  • The final publication – either the accepted manuscript or VoR – must be made available in an institutional or subject-specific repository.

Read the Open Access policy for public sector research funds and foundations.

What Open Access requirements do Danish private funds impose?

The Carlsberg Foundation 

The Carlsberg Foundation requires Open Access and follows the Open Access policy for public research councils and funds:

  • The Open Access requirement only applies to articles.
  • Both the accepted manuscript and the final publisher version (VoR) are accepted.
  • A maximum of 6 months embargo for the research area Natural science. A maximum of 12 months embargo for the research areas Social science and the humanities.
  • No requirement for a Creative Commons license.
  • The final publication – either the accepted manuscript or VoR – must be made available in an institutional or subject-specific repository.

Read the Carlsberg Foundation's Open Access policy.

The Danish Cancer Society

The Danish Cancer Society requires Open Access and follows the Open Access policy for public research councils and funds:

  • The Open Access requirement only applies to articles.
  • Both the accepted manuscript and the final publisher version (VoR) are accepted.
  • A maximum of 6 months embargo for the research areas: Health Science, Natural science, Engineering Science, and Agricultural and veterinarian science. A maximum of 12 months embargo for the research areas: Social science and the humanities.
  • No requirement for a Creative Commons license.
  • The final publication – either the accepted manuscript or VoR – must be made available in an institutional or subject-specific repository.

Read The Danish Cancer Society's Open Access policy.

TrygFonden 

TrygFonden encourages Open Access and applicants to seek coverage for APCs.

Read TrygFonden's Open Access policy (in Danish).

VELUX FOUNDATION and VILLUM FOUNDATION

The VELUX FOUNDATION and VILLUM FOUNDATION require Open Access and follow the Open Access policy for public research councils and funds:

  • The Open Access requirement only applies to articles.
  • Both the accepted manuscript and the final publisher version (VoR) are accepted.
  • A maximum of 6 months embargo for the research areas: Health Science, Natural science, Engineering Science, and Agricultural and veterinarian science. A maximum of 12 months embargo for the research areas: Social science and the humanities.
  • No requirement for a Creative Commons license.
  • The final publication – either the accepted manuscript or VoR – must be made available in an institutional or subject-specific repository.

Read VELUX FOUNDATION's and VILLUM FOUNDATION's Open Access policy.

Lundbeck Foundation and Novo Nordisk Foundation 

No requirements for Open Access.

What Open Access requirements do the EU and international funds impose?

EU Horizon Europe 

In Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation program for the period 2021-2027, there are requirements for free access to scientific articles. 

  • All publications must be made Open Access available.
  • Both the accepted manuscript and the final publisher version (VoR) are accepted.
  • Embargo is not allowed.
  • Articles must be published with a Creative Commons license CC BY. Monographs and anthologies can be licensed with more closed licenses, e.g., CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, etc.
  • The final publication – either the accepted manuscript or VoR – must be made available in a reliable repository for scientific publications, e.g., Zenodo.
  • APCs can only be covered if publications are published in journals that operate solely with Open Access (golden Open Access journals). Although Open Access publishing in hybrid journals is allowed, APCs for publishing in hybrid journals cannot be covered by EU funding.

Read Horizon Europe's Open Access requirements (p. 368).

EU Horizon 2020 

Horizon 2020 has Open Access requirements:

  • All publications must be made Open Access available.
  • Both the accepted manuscript and the final publisher version (VoR) are accepted.
  • A maximum of 6 months embargo.
  • No requirement for a Creative Commons license.
  • The final publication – either the accepted manuscript or VoR – must be made available in a reliable repository for scientific publications, e.g., Zenodo.
  • APCs can only be covered during the project's lifetime.

Read Horizon 2020's Open Access requirements (p. 69).

Plan S 

Plan S is an initiative from a group of research funds aimed at promoting free access to research articles. A grant from a Plan S funder requires that all scientific publications be published Open Access without embargo.

The Journal Checker Tool can be used to find journals that meets the Open Access requirements set by Plan S. Remember to read the "What options do I have?" section to see if the journal can meet the requirements and how.


You can find Open Access requirements from other international funds in the Open Policy Finder.

How do you handle embargo periods?

If foundations and funders have a requirement for Open Access publication, and if they are published within the framework of Green Open Access, it is generally the case that funders will allow a certain embargo period. An embargo period from when the article is published and when the published article is freely available to the public.

In cases where there is a discrepancy between the funders’ requirement for Open Access publishing and the rights that the publisher gives to the author, it is the author's responsibility to obtain the necessary rights. For example, there could be a discrepancy about the length of the embargo period, which could be dealt with by entering into a supplemental agreement or by only handing over to the publisher the rights needed to publish.

We recommend that you either use a supplemental agreement or a model agreement (in Danish) to ensure your rights to your own work (UVBA). The Danish National Research Foundation’s website contains such a contract agreement, which you can use in relation to the individual publishers to ensure Open Access publication.

If you upload your manuscript to PURE, you are able to specify an embargo period, to ensure that the content is not available to the public until after the end of the embargo period.    

Make your publication accessible via Open Access in Pure

Contact AU Library’s Open Access support

If you have any questions about Open Access, you are very welcome to contact AU Library's Open Access support: oa@kb.dk