Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs
Policy: Guidelines

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

Table of Contents
The Gold Route to Open Access .................................................................................................. 3
The Green Route to Open Access ................................................................................................ 4
Policy Objective ............................................................................................................................ 4
Definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Guiding Beliefs .............................................................................................................................. 5
Application / Compliance .............................................................................................................. 5
Policy Statement ........................................................................................................................... 5
Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication .............................................................................................. 6Research Data .............................................................................................................................. 6
Clinical Trial Results that will not be Published in a Peer-Reviewed Journal ............................... 6Publication Costs .......................................................................................................................... 6
Monitoring and Adherence ............................................................................................................ 7Advocacy ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix 1: Resources ................................................................................................................. 82

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

Preamble
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's (Heart & Stroke's) mission is to lead ineliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement ofresearch and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy. To that end, Heart &Stroke is committed to enhancing the application of research results. By adopting this policy,
Heart & Stroke expects that the cutting edge research we fund will be freely accessible anduseable for the international research community, policymakers, health care administrators,clinicians, and the public.
Facilitating knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) is fundamental to achieving our mission.
With the advent of the Internet, the way that science and research are communicated has beentransformed. Globally, there is a move to Open Access publication, enabling researchers todisseminate knowledge widely. Open Access can be delivered in two ways, which arecommonly known as the Gold route and the Green route, described below.
While Open Access publishing is now firmly part of the publishing landscape, it is widely
accepted that subscription and open-access models will co-exist for a while yet.1 Heart & Stroke
respects researchers' decisions to publish their research findings in the journals with the highest
editorial standards, and which will bring their work to the attention of those most likely to beinterested in and use the new knowledge. Moreover, given the current incentive structure,
academics understandably prefer to publish in the highest impact journals.

1Corbyn, Zoë and Reisz, Matthew. Learning to share 12 November 2009. Available at Times
Education: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=409049&encCode=2148560781BC73101975
JTBS737226611

3

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

The Gold Route to Open AccessFollowing the Gold route, the author or author institution pays a fee to the publisher atpublication time, the publisher thereafter making the material available free at the point ofaccess.2
Fully Open Access journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the reader without
financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to theinternet itself (Budapest Open Access Initiative). Some are subsidized, and some require
payment on behalf of the author.
At the same time, a great many high impact science journals are still based on subscription. In
conventional publishing, the institution subscribes to the publication channel to obtain electronic
access or paper copies.
However, many subscription-based journals have paid Open Access publishing options. These
are known as hybrid journals.
Whatever the publishing model, publishers or journals fulfill a number of important functions,most importantly peer-review; and also editing, layout, conversion of text into XML coding, andmore. These costs will not disappear. The costs associated with producing and distributing
Open Access journals are nearly identical to those of non-Open Access journals. Current
conservative estimates put these costs at around USD $1500.3

The Green Route to Open AccessIn addition, there are inexpensive self-archiving options for making published results openly
available-while respecting traditional publishers' restrictions-at the time of submission or after alag time, usually six to twelve months. Often called the green route to Open Access, this is not
equivalent to publishing; instead it allows for the free availability of articles in parallel to any
publication system.4Policy Objective
The objective of this policy is to enhance access of our Heart & Stroke-funded research to abroad audience.

Definitions
Heart & Stroke adopts the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) definition ofresearch outputs as conceptual or practical knowledge, data, information, and physical or
biological materials developed during the course of a research project that are integral for
2 Jeffery K. 2006. Open Access: An Introduction. ERCIM News 64. Available at:

http://www.ercim.org/publication/Ercim_News/enw64/jeffery.html
3www.research-matters.net: The RM Knowledge Translation Toolkit: A Resource for Researchers [InternationalDevelopment Research Centre (IDRC)and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)]
4Jeffery K. 2006.

4

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

building on research discoveries. CIHR recognizes three categories of research outputs: peerreviewed journal publications, research materials, and research data.
In this policy, Open Access means the free online access to scholarly publications, primarily
the peer-reviewed journal publication. With Open Access, readers with network access are able
to download, copy, share, and distribute publications for non-profit purposes without thebarriers, particularly cost, associated with traditional subscription-based models for accessing
publications.
Peer-reviewed journal publication means a manuscript for publication in a scholarly journal
assessed by peers and deemed to be scientifically and ethically sound.

Guiding Beliefs
In developing this policy, Heart & Stroke is guided by our Mission and organizational values,
from which arise the beliefs that the Heart and Stroke Foundation should:• Demonstrate leadership in promoting broad dissemination of research outputs in a timelyfashion;• Recognize that the Internet has enabled Open Access in ways that have changed
forever how information is shared: Open Access is the future.
• Acknowledge that publication costs are an integral part of the research process. The
research is not finished until results have been appropriately disseminated.
• Align Heart & Stroke policies with other Canadian and international research funding
agencies; and champion Open Access through advocacy.

Application / ComplianceThis policy applies to all publications which report work and findings obtained with the support,
in whole or in part, of any type of grant awarded June 1 2010 and onward from the Heart andStroke Foundation (Heart & Stroke). Heart & Stroke also encourages immediate compliancewith this policy by researchers publishing work supported by Heart & Stroke grants received
before June 1 2010.
Heart & Stroke recognizes that there may be reasonable limitations and exceptions tocompliance. However, researchers are expected to make every effort to comply and must notify
Heart & Stroke staff immediately when there are exceptions or limitations.

Policy Statement
Heart & Stroke requires that all researchers supported in whole or in part through Heart &Stroke make their research outputs publicly available as soon as possible, but no later thantwelve months after the final publication or availability of final results.
In this policy, Heart & Stroke defines research outputs as peer-reviewed journal publications,research data, and the results of clinical trials that will not be published in peer-reviewed
journals.

5

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication
Heart & Stroke grant recipients are required to ensure that the full text of all final peer-reviewed
manuscripts accepted for publication are freely accessible through the Publisher's website or anonline repository within six months of publication date.
There are two ways to adhere with this policy:
1. Submit your manuscript to a journal that offers immediate Open Access, or automaticallydeposits published papers in PMC with an embargo period of six months or less or offers
Open Access to the paper on its website within six months of publication.
2. Author self-archiving: Deposit the peer-reviewed manuscript or published paper in (inorder of preference):o PubMed Central (PMC) Canada or any PMC International siteo A subject-specific repositoryo Your institutional repositoryo Your personal or research group website
Grant recipients must acknowledge Heart & Stroke contributions in all peer-reviewed
publications.

Research Data
Additionally, grant recipients are required to deposit bioinformatic, atomic, and molecular
coordinate data, as already required by most journals, into the appropriate public database
immediately upon publication of research results.

Clinical Trial Results that will not be Published in a Peer-Reviewed
JournalAs a member of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada (HCCC), Heart & Stroke subscribes tothe HCCC Position Statement on Registration of Clinical Trials (May 2006). Integral to thisposition is the belief that selective reporting violates essential values and principles.
In order to adhere with this policy:• Preferably, post the final results on the International Standard Randomized Controlled
Trial Number (ISRCTN) Register (www.controlled-trials.com), or ClinicalTrials.gov or apharma or industry website within six months of completion of the trial.
• Alternatively, deposit (archive) the final trial results report in your institutional repositoryor personal website within six months of completion of the trial.
Researchers are required to notify the Heart and Stroke Foundation when results have beenposted.

Publication Costs
Heart & Stroke covers expenses that researchers reasonably may incur related to publishing inOpen Access or hybrid scholarly journals.

6

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

For the most part, requests for all types of publication costs should be fully justified in thebudget of the original grant application. However, policies for how publication costs aremanaged may differ across provincial Foundations. For Grant-in-Aid or other provincial
Programs, researchers must contact the Foundation involved.

Monitoring and Adherence
By accepting Heart & Stroke funds, grant recipients accept the terms and conditions of the grant
or award as set out in this and other published policies and guidelines. In the event of analleged breach of Heart & Stroke funding policy, Heart & Stroke may take steps to deal with theallegation.

Advocacy
Heart & Stroke will advocate, through the Health Charities Coalition of Canada, to advanceOpen Access publishing. This includes putting pressure on non-compliant journals to allow for
public availability within six months and pursuing strategies to decrease Open Accesspublishing costs.

7

Heart & Stroke
Open Access to Research Outputs Policy: Guidelines

Appendix 1: Resources• The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Policy on Access to Research Outputs

contains an annex, copied below on November 4 2009, providing examples of research
outputs and corresponding publicly accessible archive, repository or database. Note that thetable will be updated by CIHR as required.
Examples of research outputs and corresponding publicly accessible archive,
repository or database

Peer-reviewed journal publications: Publicly accessible archive or repository
PubMed Central
Institutional Repositories at Canadian Universities
Directory of Open Access Repositories (International)
Research data

Public database or archive

Nucleic acid sequences

GenBank

Gene expression data

Gene Expression Omnibus

Structure data

Research Collaboratory for Structural
Bioinformatics (RCSB) Protein Data Bank

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)

The Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms
Database

Molecular interaction data

See International Molecular Exchange
Consortium (IMEx) Partners
PRoteomics IDEntifications database(PRIDE)[European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)]

Proteomics data*

PeptideAtlas[Institute for Systems Biology (ISB)]
Global Proteomics Machine (GPM)* Given that proteomics is a burgeoning field, standards for data storage and deposition are stillin development. Therefore, CIHR-funded investigators that are generating proteomics data areencouraged to deposit their trace files in one of the three Open repositories. CIHR will follow thetrends in this field and update this table as necessary.
• Free Medical Journals• The SHERPA/RoMEO database contains a searchable listing of journal publisher's
copyright and self-archiving policies.

8