Embedding OA within research practice: The HHuLOA Jisc OA Pathfinder project

The Hull, Huddersfield and Lincoln Open Access (HHuLOA) project is one of nine open access good practice Pathfinder projects set up by Jisc in 2014 to run over the two-year period leading up to the introduction of the HEFCE REF open access policy in April 2016. Now over halfway through, the HHuLOA project has focused on how open access can be embedded within research practice at the partner institutions, producing a number of tools to assist in planning and practice: A baseline assessment of open access activity, to help gauge activity across institutions and assess local development An open access lifecycle placing services in relation to each other and facilitating discussions on open access workflow An assessment of funder open access policies to inform navigation through these to facilitate understanding of requirements Based on these, the project has investigated how open access can be a tool to support the development of research. Open access offers key advantages in disseminating the research of our Universities, and yet research strategies are yet to regularly refer to it as a means through which research activity can grow. HHuLOA has sought to unpick how open access might support different aspects of research development to help make the case for open access in this context. The presentation will report on the work of the project to date and highlight current thinking on supporting institutional research development. This will be placed in the context of other Pathfinder projects and the complementary work they are carrying out