Compliance, Mandates, and Funder/Institutional Policies
What this domain tests
Compliance, Mandates and Funder/Institutional Policies tests how to read a policy, map it to a workflow and prove compliance. You need to distinguish funder, institutional and publisher requirements, and know the common conditions: immediate OA, CC BY, repository deposit and rights retention.
Core rules
- Policies differ by version and effective date; always use the current funder or institutional text.
- Common conditions include deposit in an approved repository, immediate or embargoed release, a specific license such as CC BY 4.0, an APC eligibility route, and acknowledgement of funding.
- Horizon Europe requires immediate open access to peer-reviewed publications and CC BY 4.0 (or equivalent), with repository deposit.
- Many funders now require immediate OA and reuse rights; legacy 12-month embargoes are being phased out.
- Compliance is usually shared: authors supply metadata, repositories expose it, institutions monitor via CRIS and funders audit.
- Exceptions exist for legal, ethical or commercial constraints, but they must be documented, not assumed.
Worked example
A Horizon Europe grant produces a peer-reviewed article. Reasoning: the author should deposit the accepted manuscript in a repository at publication, ensure immediate OA and apply CC BY 4.0 unless a documented exception applies. Choosing a hybrid journal without an OA route would not comply merely because the article is available to subscribers. The APC is eligible only under the grant's rules.
Traps
Using an outdated policy; confusing the accepted manuscript with the version of record; assuming APC payment guarantees compliance; missing the license requirement; and treating repository deposit as optional when the policy says must.