READ ME file for 'UKRI Open Access Block Grant Return 2024–2025'
Dataset DOI: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3623
ReadMe author: Nicki Clarkson, University of Southampton
Date of ReadMe creation: 2025/08/08


Overview
The dataset comprises the annual University of Southampton UKRI Open Access Block Grant return for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. 

Contents
The dataset comprises four sheets:
1. UKRI Compliance Summary
2. UKRI Paid APCs
3. Publisher Agreement Articles
4. Publisher Agreement Costs

1. UKRI Compliance Summary
- Total publications: 1,216
- Gold compliant: 1,002
- Green compliant: 132
- Overall compliance: 93.26%
- Estimated compliance via gold route: 82.4%
- Estimated compliance via green route: 10.86%
- Estimated overall compliance: 93.26%

2. UKRI Paid APCs
This sheet lists individual article processing charges (APCs) paid using the UKRI block grant. Each entry includes:
- Article metadata (DOI, journal, publisher, publication date)
- Funder and grant ID(s)
- APC amount (original currency and GBP)
- Licence type (e.g. CC BY)
- Payment date and source fund

All articles listed are compliant with UKRI’s open access policy and have been published under a CC BY licence.

3. Publisher Agreement Articles
This sheet details articles published under transitional or read-and-publish agreements. It includes:
- Article metadata
- Funder and grant ID(s)
- APC list price (where applicable)
- Attribution to publisher agreements
- Author name and licence

These entries reflect articles where APCs were covered via publisher agreements rather than direct payments from the block grant.

4. Publisher Agreement Costs
This sheet summarises institutional spending on the publish element of transitional agreements. It includes:
- Agreement name and year
- Total spend
- Attribution of costs to UKRI, Wellcome (for previous years), CRUK, and BHF block grants
- VAT and reimbursement adjustments
- Commentary on allocation decisions

Notes on Methodology
- Compliance figures are based on verified publication data and estimates where necessary.
- APC values include VAT where applicable and are converted to GBP using institutional finance records.
- Reimbursements from CRUK, BHF, and VAT adjustments are recorded as negative values.
- Publisher agreement costs are allocated based on quarterly usage and value-for-money assessments, with commentary provided in the dataset.

Geographic location of data collection: University of Southampton, U.K.

Date of data collection 2024-04-01 to 2025-03-31

Contacts
For queries regarding this return, please contact:
Open Access Team
University of Southampton Library
Email: openaccess@soton.ac.uk

Dataset available under a CC BY 4.0 licence