From the 1st of January 2026, UMC Utrecht will make all scientific publications by authors affiliated with UMC Utrecht freely accessible to everyone. This also applies to publications that have appeared in subscription journals. It is a major step towards 100 per cent Open Access.
There is a change for researchers within UMC Utrecht, because from 1 January 2026, short scientific works by UMC Utrecht researchers will automatically be published in open access in the Utrecht University Repository. The Executive Board recently approved this change.
For UMC researchers, this means that their closed access publications will automatically be made available in open access six months after publication in the Utrecht University Repository/UMC Utrecht research portal. This applies to new publications, but also retroactively to publications from the 2015 publication year onwards. An amendment to the Dutch Copyright Act (Article 25fa) makes it possible to make short scientific works (e.g. articles, conference proceedings, publications in professional journals and chapters from edited volumes) available in open access after a reasonable period of time following their initial publication.
The full text of the Open Access policy, as adopted by the Executive Board of UMC Utrecht, can be read here: Open Access opt out-regulation (English, login for employees)
Researchers could already make use of the so-called Taverne scheme by indicating to the university library that they wanted to participate. From 1 January 2026, this will be done automatically by the library. It is possible to exclude a specific work or all works from the scheme by means of an opt-out. An author can actively choose not to participate, but must take action themselves to do so. This can be done using these forms:
Opt-out form for all publications
Opt-out form for one publication
Open access publishing is a priority for UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University for various reasons. Research should be as widely available as possible to other researchers, but also to society. After all, much research is funded by public money. By automatically publishing work in open access, more scientific knowledge is made available. This benefits the social impact of research.
