Welcome to Unlocked

The Gates Foundation Open Access Newsletter

August 2026 | In this Issue

• Looking Beyond APCs: Explore Your Publishing Options
• Learn How to Preprint Your Gates-Funded Research with VeriXiv (Upcoming Webinar)
• VeriXiv Introduces Trust Marker Badges for Preprint Verification
• Explore the Updated Open Access Website​​
• Spotlight: GRIOS, the Global Research Initiative on Open Science
• Thoughts & Talks

The Gates Foundation’s Open Access Policy requires grantees to share foundation-funded manuscripts as preprints under a CC BY license. It is no longer a requirement to make the journal version of record open access or publish in a fully open access journal.  Although the foundation no longer pays article processing charges (APCs), several no cost and alternative publishing routes are available.

Grantees can comply with the policy by posting a preprint or depositing their author- accepted manuscript in PubMed Central (PMC). Neither route has a cost to the grantee.

The foundation also has agreements with or financially supports publishing through:
•    PLOS journals
•    VeriXiv and Gates Open Research
•    eLife

Authors can also explore institutional publisher agreements or open access funds, other non-Gates funding sources, and APC waivers offered by publishers.

For no-fee publishing options, search the Directory of Open Access Journals or explore the diamond open access journals in the Diamond Discovery Hub or the Free Journal Network.

See the graphic below for a quick overview and visit the Gates Foundation Open Access website for complete guidance.

Learn how to preprint your Gates-funded research with VeriXiv

Did you know that as a Gates-funded researcher you can freely preprint your research outputs to VeriXiv, the new verified preprint server?
 
Launched by the F1000 in collaboration with the Gates Foundation in 2024, VeriXiv is a revolutionary preprint server with enhanced prepublication checks to verify preprints before publication, seeking to address concerns about the research integrity of preprints, especially amid the growth of AI-generated content, whilst still enabling the rapid availability of research. VeriXiv allows researchers to meet the open access requirements of their grant agreements and benefit from an innovative preprint model, ensuring high scientific quality through a rigorous and an optional open post-publication peer review process.
 
This webinar is intended as an introduction to VeriXiv, our unique verification checks and an update on how the new preprint policy for Gates-funded researchers has gone over the first year.

Monday, September 14th, 5:00 pm BST / 9:00 am PDT
Learn how to preprint your Gates-funded research with VeriXiv
Register for September Webinar

Once you register, you will receive session details, including information about the recordings.

VeriXiv Introduces Trust Marker Badges for Preprint Verification

F1000’s VeriXiv preprint server has introduced new Trust Marker badges that provide clear confirmation of the verification checks each preprint undergoes before being made available on the platform.

VeriXiv was launched in August 2024 in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, combining the speed of preprints with the quality assurance the research community requires. Each submitted preprint is screened across four key areas:

• Authorship verification
• Publishing ethics
• Research integrity
• Open research standards

The Trust Marker badges help readers easily see which verification checks a preprint has completed and passed, supporting greater transparency and confidence in research shared before peer review.

Learn more about VeriXiv’s Trust Markers

Explore the Updated Open Access Website

The Open Access website has been refreshed to make it easier to find the information and resources you need. The updated site features a cleaner look, clearer navigation, new policy guidance, and improved visibility for upcoming events, updates, and other Open Access news. Visit the site, openaccess.gatesfoundation.org/  to explore the changes and stay informed.

Spotlight: GRIOS, the Global Research Initiative on Open Science

GRIOS, the Global Research Initiative on Open Science, works to advance Open Science policies and practices by reviewing and synthesizing existing evidence from around the world. Hosted by the European Science Foundation, GRIOS supports evidence-based Open Science policy and practice by identifying barriers to wider adoption and highlighting gaps where additional research is needed. Its work is intended to provide rigorous analysis that can inform Open Science policy and practice and help address key knowledge gaps.

The Gates Foundation is supporting this work with a €150,000 commitment over three years. The funding will help GRIOS expand its evidence-synthesis activities and broaden the initiative’s reach, strengthening its capacity to review existing research and provide rigorous analysis that can inform Open Science policy and practice. Through this work, GRIOS aims to enable funders, research organizations, and policymakers to optimize their Open Science strategies for maximum impact and effectiveness, while advancing its goal of building a global initiative around evidence-based Open Science.

Learn more about GRIOS