Research Councils UK (RCUK), the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils and a key funding body of the European Union, has published the first independent review of its open access policy.

RCUK reports that it assessed over 85 submissions of written evidence to understand multiple perspectives of how policy is working in practice.

A representative wrote that they received "many positive responses" about the principle of open access publishing.

The review panel was chaired by Professor Sir Bob Burgess, who said that "Open access is an area that is quickly transforming the scholarly dissemination of research."

"We are at a very early stage of implementation, so much of the impact of the policy is yet to be realised," he added. 

This review will mark the first of a series that will independently examine the impact of the RCUK's open access policy on the United Kingdom's research landscape. The next review is expected in 2016.

The reviews were initiated due to slight controversy of RCUK's policy, which has key differences to other national publishing policies.

"Research Councils UK should adopt the same exception to its open access policy as the UK funding bodies to relieve confusion," Paul Jump wrote in the Times Higher Education.

"It has been very important to take the time now to look at emerging evidence, inform future reviews, and get a view of where improvements to processes can be made,” says Sir Bob.

Read the RCUK's full policy here.