My manuscript is live on Apollo but under an embargo / not yet publicly accessible, is it still REF-eligible?

The REF Open Access Policy allows authors to respect embargo periods set by publishers, as long as the embargo length does not exceed 12 months for Main Panels A and B; and 24 months for Main Panels C and D.

Where a publisher specifies an embargo period within these limits, an output will be compliant with the policy where it is deposited as a ‘closed’ deposit. This means that, although the file on the record cannot be made publicly available yet, the article's metadata/ bibliographical information will be made visible to all on Apollo and discoverable on search engines. This meets the deposit and discovery requirements of the REF Open Access Policy. When a manuscript is under embargo, users of the repository can also still use our "Request-a-Copy" service to obtain a copy of the manuscript (a request granted at the discretion of authors).

If the publisher requires an embargo period that exceeds the stated maxima, an exception to the REF Open Access policy can be applied (Access Exception 253.b) provided that the publication was the most appropriate for the output. For a list of exceptions that can be applied, please see our website (you will need to sign in via Raven).