Open Research at UAL

The Open Research Team at UAL helps research staff at the university to broaden the reach and impact of their research worldwide through scholarly communication - the process by which scholars create, evaluate, share, and curate their research output. We can support all researchers with issues on publishing; retaining your rights; complying with funder policies and ensuring your work is available through Open Access routes.

We do this in several ways:

  • Maintaining our institutional repository UAL Research Online
  • Providing one to one training and advice on UALRO, Open Access and any other scholarly communications topics
  • Helping you pay for Open Access where appropriate, and advising on Open Access matters

If you would like to book an appointment with us (online or in person), please email us at ualresearchonline@arts.ac.uk. Alternatively, book onto one of our online drop ins, where we will give a demo of UALRO, and answer all of your Open Access questions!

UAL Research Online

News and Updates

REF 2029 Open Access Policy

The REF 2029 Open Access Policy has been released - find more information on the REF website: REF Open Access Guidance

REF 2029 Update

There has been a REF Open Access Policy update, which notes two things:

  • The revised OA policy for journal articles and conference proceedings will be implemented no earlier than January 2026, and we should receive guidance on it later this year
  • Longform outputs will not be included in the Open Access policy this REF cycle

For further information on this, see their announcement: Early decisions made on REF 2029 Open Access Policy 

Plan S

Plan S is an initiative for Open Access publishing that was launched in September 2018. The plan is supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders. Plan S requires that, from 2021, scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants must be published in compliant Open Access journals or platforms. See About Plan S.

Nature notices that libraries "increasingly declare that if they don’t like what publishers offer, they will refuse to pay for journal access at all. On 16 May, a Swedish consortium became the latest to say that it wouldn’t renew its contract, with publishing giant Elsevier."

Book a Session with the Open Research Team

Need a refresher on Open Access, an update on how UALRO works, or have some questions about Scholarly Communications? Book us for a training session or a one to one appointment - we can tailor our training to specific needs, or have a discussion on general Open Access matters. We can meet you online or in person at your college - email ualresearchonline@arts.ac.uk for more information!

UAL Research Online

UAL Research Online (UALRO) is UAL's institutional repository - the online collection of the research outputs of the University of Arts London.

It is a great way to showcase the excellent and diverse research that UAL creates. The onus is on the authors to upload their work to the repository. We'd like you to tell us about what you are producing: publications like articles and books, but also exhibitions, films, drawings, paintings, sculpture, design, conference papers, or other creative work that you consider to be scholarly research.

Our aim is to make the university's research more visible and accessible to everyone, everywhere.

UALRO is also linked to Elements, which is our CRIS (current research information system). Any publications you add to UALRO will appear in Elements, and will populate your Discovery Profile. Find out more information on the Elements Canvas page.

Quick Start Guide

How to upload to the repository

  • Go to UALRO
  • Select Deposit Your Research
  • Enter your UAL username and password
  • Select Deposit
  • Fill in the form, upload your accepted manuscript, or other output format
  • Click Deposit Item Now

Visit Getting Started with UALRO for more information.

Formats accepted:

We accept most text, application, image, audio and visual formats.  This also includes websites, XML and compressed zip. Other formats may be possible, please contact us. Files generally should not be larger than 1.5 GB. For greater detail, visit: What is a Research Output?

Social Media

Contact Us

Contact the Open Research Team at ualresearchonline@arts.ac.uk