
Open Access Compliance & Author Workflow Auditor
Audit open access compliance and streamline author publishing workflows
What You Can Do
This skill audits research manuscripts and author workflows against open access funder mandates (NIH, NSF, European Commission) and institutional policies. It validates licensing terms, repository suitability, and compliance timelines, then generates detailed remediation guidance to help researchers meet funder requirements and institutional standards.
Features
Validates publications against NIH Public Access Policy, NSF Public Access Policy, European Commission Open Access requirements, and other funder-specific mandates with compliance timelines.
Analyzes license terms (CC-BY, CC0, CC-BY-NC) to confirm usage rights, reuse permissions, and alignment with open access standards.
Reviews manuscript submission processes, publication timelines, and author responsibilities against best-practice open access workflows and institutional policies.
Recommends appropriate repositories (PubMed Central, arXiv, institutional repos, disciplinary databases) based on discipline, funder requirements, and embargo periods.
Monitors publication embargo windows, calculates compliance deadlines, and flags manuscripts approaching funder deposit requirements.
Validates ORCID links, funding attribution, author name standardization, and institutional affiliation metadata required for compliance.
Produces structured audit reports detailing compliance status, gaps, and risk areas with executive summaries for institutional reviews.
Provides step-by-step instructions to fix compliance issues, including repository deposit workflows, license corrections, and metadata updates.
Example Output
Compliance Audit Report
- ✅ Licensed under CC-BY (compliant with NIH mandate)
- ❌ Not deposited in PubMed Central (required within 12 months of NIH funding)
- ⚠️ ORCID missing from author record (reduces discoverability)
Remediation Steps
- Register ORCID and add to manuscript
- Deposit full-text PDF to PubMed Central by [DATE]
- Add funding statement: "This research was funded by NIH grant R01-XXXXX"
Funder Compliance Summary NIH: 40% compliant | NSF: 85% compliant | EC: Requires attestation
What's Included
- Multi-Funder Compliance Framework: Pre-built compliance rules for NIH, NSF, European Commission, UKRI, and Wellcome Trust with current mandate versions and embargo periods.
- Workflow Assessment Matrix: Structured evaluation framework for author processes including manuscript preparation, submission timing, licensing negotiation, and repository deposit.
- Repository Directory & Matching Logic: Curated list of 50+ disciplinary and institutional repositories with matching rules for journals, disciplines, and funder requirements.
- Creative Commons License Decision Tree: Interactive guide to CC licensing options (BY, BY-SA, BY-NC, CC0) with funder compatibility and reuse implications.
- Compliance Audit Report Template: Structured markdown template with sections for funder status, licensing validation, repository recommendations, and action items.
Who It's For
- Research administrators and institutional compliance officers
- Academic librarians and scholarly communication specialists
- Researchers and faculty managing grant-funded publications
- Grant managers and research office staff
Best For
- Pre-publication compliance audits of grant-funded research
- Funder mandate verification and remediation guidance
- Institutional open access policy implementation and tracking
- Author workflow optimization for open access requirements
- Repository selection and deposit planning







