Authors must follow these steps in order to comply with the Telethon Open Access Policy.
- 1. Applicability
Telethon's Open Access Policy applies to all grant holders and to all publications. - 2. Check that Journal is compliant with the Telethon Open Access Policy
Verify that your publishing agreement allows the paper to be published in Europe PMC in accordance with Telethon's Open Access Policy - 3. Address Copyright
Verify that your publishing agreement allows the paper to be published in Europe PMC in accordance with Telethon’s policy. - 4. Include PMCID in Citations
Include the PMCID at the end of the full citation in your future applications or Telethon Scientific Reports. - 5. Self-Archive in Europe Pub Med Central
If the Editor does not archive for free the publication in Europe PMC but allows Authors to do it, Authors are required to proceed with the self-archiving. - 6. Open Access costs
Consider if the Open Access costs are reported and how to cover them.
1. Applicability
1.1 The Open Access Policy was introduced into the Telethon Grant Conditions with effect from 22nd July 2010. Consequently, the Open Access Policy is mandatory for all grant holders.
The current version of the policy is in force since 01/09/2017.
1.2 The Telethon Open Access Policy applies to all scientific publications resulting from projects funded by Fondazione Telethon, that are published in an English language journal and have been peer reviewed.
It requires that electronic copies (i.e. final peer-reviewed manuscript*) of any biomedical research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in part by funding from Fondazione Telethon, are made available through PubMed Central (PMC) and Europe PMC, as soon as possible, whenever possible within six months from the official date of publication.
* The author's final peer-reviewed manuscript is defined as the final version accepted for journal publication and includes all modifications from the publishing peer review process, and all graphics and supplemental material associated with the article.
1.3 Telethon's contribution must be acknowledged in all publications, quoting the relevant grant reference number.
2. Check that Journal is compliant with the Telethon Open Access Policy
Your next action depends on which open access option the Journal you chose offers.
2.1 In the case of publication in a journal that authorizes the self-archiving of the article in Europe PMC within six months from the official date of publication, Fondazione Telethon requires, as soon as possible but no later than six months after the official date of publication, the deposit in Europe PMC of an electronic copy of articles that have been accepted for publication in an English language journal and have been peer-reviewed. See point 5 for Self Archiving in Europe PubMed Central.
2.2 In the case of publication in a journal that does not allow self-archiving in Europe PMC within six months of the date of publication, but offers a paid Open Access option, Fondazione Telethon requires either that:
A. Authors choose the paid Open Access option, resulting in immediate deposit in Europe PMC by the Editor, for items that:
- have been accepted for publication in an English language journal and have been subjected to peer-review, and
- present results of original research (original research articles) resulting from a project funded by Telethon, and
- list the Telethon Principal Investigator (grant holder) as first, last or Corresponding author; if the Corresponding Author is a member of the PI’s key personnel that is also acceptable, and
- relate to a Telethon-funded project, correctly acknowledged in the article.
B. When submitting the article, Authors check and choose the option with the shorter embargo period.
The SHERPA/RoMEO database provides information about Journal policies as well as whether or not a journal’s publication policy is compliant with Fondazione Telethon’s Grant Conditions. If the journal to which you wish to submit your manuscript is not listed in the database, Fondazione Telethon strongly encourages you to speak directly to the journal's editorial staff to determine their policy.
If you have any question, please contact [email protected] for advice on how to proceed.
3. Address Copyright
3.1 Authors must ensure, before making any agreement with or commitment to a publisher at any stage, that the agreement or commitment does not conflict with the author's obligations under Fondazione Telethon’s Open Access Policy. More specifically, authors should inform the journal that they have an existing obligation to make their research available through Europe PMC, and investigate whether the publisher's policy is in conflict with this obligation. Telethon’s Grant Conditions are mandatory and binding for institutions, grant holders, and all other Telethon funded initiatives. An author's obligation to Telethon will therefore pre-date any agreement with a journal. Authors (or their institution) must not transfer their copyright to a journal without reaching a specific agreement with the journal about deposition of a copy of the final paper in Europe PMC, otherwise they will be in conflict with the Telethon Grant Conditions.
3.2 Authors should confirm that the journal is compliant with the Telethon’s Open Access policy. The SHERPA/RoMEO database provides information as to whether or not a journal has a publication policy that is compliant with Telethon’s Open Access policy. If the journal to which authors wish to submit their manuscript is not listed in the database, Telethon strongly encourages authors to speak directly to the journal's editorial staff to determine their policy.
3.3 When Authors covers the costs (e.g. through a Telethon grant), Fondazione Telethon asks authors and publishers to allow the article to be covered by the Creative Commons licence CC-BY.
4. Include PMCID in Citations
Anyone submitting an application, proposal or report to Fondazione Telethon must include the PMC reference number (PMCID) when citing applicable papers that arise from their Telethon-funded research. A PMCID is the only way to demonstrate compliance for these papers.
Note: The PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) is different from the PubMed reference number (PMID). PubMed Central is an index of full-text papers, while PubMed is an index of abstracts. The PMCID links to full text papers in PubMed Central, while the PMID links to abstracts in PubMed. PMIDs do not demonstrate compliance for published papers with Telethon’s Open Access Policy.
5. Self-Archive in Europe Pub Med Central
5.1 An electronic version of the final manuscript resulting from research funded, in whole or in part, by Fondazione Telethon must be submitted upon acceptance for publication.
The version of the paper that should be archived is the final version that is accepted for journal publication, and includes all modifications from the publishing peer-review process. When self-archiving, the publishers PDF version should NOT be deposited, unless this is explicitly allowed by the journal’s policy.
5.2 Manuscript files should be deposited via Europe PubMed Central Plus by the Author/PI or anyone given access to the author's files (administrative personnel, graduate students, librarians, etc.).
Submissions should be made using the Europe PMC plus login account, automatically supplied to the PI (at the beginning of the Telethon funding). If you are a PI and have not received or have mislaid this login, please contact the Europe PMC helpdesk by email: [email protected].
5.3 During the self-archiving process, please take care to report (in the appropriate field) the correct embargo period; this should be the shorter allowed by the Journal.
6. Open Access costs
6.1 Open Access fees are advised only if you are publishing in a journal that does not archive nor allow self-archiving in Europe PMC within six months of the date of publication.
6.2 To cover the OA costs, Authors may:
- Use funds from their active Telethon grants. This is valid for:
- peer-reviewed, original (primary) research publications in English language journals that have been supported, in whole or in part, by a Telethon grant. The policy does not apply to book chapters, editorials, reviews or conference proceedings
- articles which are strictly pertinent to the Telethon-funded grant
- articles where the Telethon-funded author (or key-personnel) is listed as First, Last or Corresponding Author.
- Use other funds and/or, when a paper has arisen from research funded by more than one funding agency, split the costs among the funding agencies.
6.3 To use funds from an active Telethon grant, Authors must:
- Check their funds’ availability,
- Ad Hoc Infinity” https://myportal.telethon.it/Ahi_Telethon/jsp/login.jsp, reporting in the Notes field the publication’s information: title, authors, acknowledged Telethon grant number.
6.4 Any other publication cost, such as colour printing or page charges, will continue to be covered by Authors, who may use funds from their Telethon grants.
If you have any queries about this policy and its implementation, please email to [email protected]
