New UG Open Access Regulations

On 6 May 2026, the Board of Deans approved new Open Access Regulations, which will take effect on 1 September 2026. Building on the university’s strong open access record, the regulations mark a shift towards fostering a more diverse, sustainable and community-driven scholarly publishing system. They draw on an earlier policy implemented at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, as well as on the new national Open Access Strategy.

With these new regulations, the University of Groningen commits to a value-driven approach to scholarly publishing, centred on openness, academic quality, integrity, equity, and cost-consciousness. The new regulations translate these principles into practice by encouraging informed and responsible publishing decisions, and strengthening institutional support for scholar-led and non-profit publishing initiatives.

A key principle of the regulations continues to be that all scholarly publications should be made openly accessible. This can be achieved through: 

• Diamond or community-led open access models;

• Publishing under institutional or UNL read-and-publish agreements;

• APC-funded (hybrid and gold) open access subject to the conditions outlined in the policy; 

• Green open access.

Hybrid OA 
Authors may publish in hybrid journals when the APC is covered by an institutional or UNL agreement, or paid through external funding. Otherwise, the publication can be made openly available through green open access (repository route).

The regulations offer faculties a choice between two models for APC-funded open access publishing. 

1. Selective Gold Model - This model limits gold publishing when publishing costs are fully covered by existing open access agreements, or cases where the APC is covered externally, e.g. by funders, or non-faculty co-authors. Exceptions can be granted following a motivated request.
2. Reflective Gold Model - This model allows gold open access publishing outside existing deals, provided authors confirm they have considered alternative publishing routes and that the selected venue aligns with disciplinary standards, research objectives, academic integrity, and any applicable funder requirements. Confirmation can be provided by selecting the relevant option in the existing publication claim form in AFAS.

Each faculty is asked to adopt one of the two approaches prior to the start of implementation. Research institutes may adopt additional guidelines reflecting disciplinary norms, and are encouraged to continue discussions on publication practices, diverse scholarly contributions, and associated forms of recognition and reward. Further information on the regulations and their implementation across the faculties will be shared in due course, along with supporting tools to facilitate adoption for authors. 

Faculties that wish to discuss the models and their implications can reach out to the University Library for advice: openaccess rug.nl  

Ana Ranitovic and Casper Albers, initiators of the regulations: “The regulations encourage researchers to consider community-led and scholar-governed models alongside existing routes, while laying the groundwork for a strategic shift in publishing investments. This approach supports the university’s ambition to strengthen autonomy and reduce dependency on commercial publishing infrastructures, in line with the goals of the Open Science Programme.”