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Dissemination 44 Section 10 If your research institution is a public body it is likely to have some obligation to disseminate the results of research which it carries out. This does not necessarily have to be through formal publication in a recognised journal. If the work is that of university students then they may need to be able to disclose or to refer to their work in order to gain their degree or to get a job. The way these conflicting interests are usually dealt with is to agree that your research funder can see what is to be published or otherwise disclosed before it is made available to others. They are then given a specified period to object to any such publication or other disclosure. Those objections can only relate to delaying publication or disclosure until a patent application has been filed or publication or disclosure for a specified longer period if the research results in question can only be protected through confidentiality as "trade secrets". The UKRC's Policy on Open Access is that peer-reviewed research papers should be published in journals that, in relation to the final published version of the paper: n provide immediate Gold access to it using the Creative Commons' Attribution Licence, and Green access by allowing immediate deposit in repositories without restriction on re-use; or n consent to its deposit in any repository (without restriction on non- commercial re-use) within 6 months of on-line publication in STEM disciplines and within 12 months of on-line publication in arts, humanities and social sciences. (see "Academic Materials and Publishing – A Researcher's Guide") Where the disclosure is for the purpose of examination or assessment of a student then the Research Contract will usually permit such disclosure as long as the person to whom the disclosure is made (usually an external examiner) is subject to appropriate obligations of confidentiality. It is usually agreed that any student thesis containing confidential information will be retained in the university's library in the "restricted access" section where those having access will be subject to appropriate obligations of confidentiality.