LibGuides: Scholarly Communication Guide: Author's Rights

Sharing your article--Know your rights

SHERPA/RoMEO collects information about publisher policies related to online sharing (“archiving”) of works published in most journals. Journals and publishers are classified according to a color scheme that relate to the archive rights that authors retain. Authors are encouraged to research the policies of journals they have published in or are considering submitting a manuscript to in order to ascertain what rights in that work they will retain. Authors who wish to publish a copy of their articles will want to look for journals classified as green or blue, then check on any additional restrictions.

How can I share it?
STM publishers' site provides guidance on how to share your article.
SHERPA/JULIET
Research funders' open access policies.
Roarmap
A searchable international registry charting the growth of open access mandates and policies adopted by universities, research institutions.
Author Rights
From SPARC: When you sign a copyright transfer form, you can decide which rights you want to keep, and which you want to give away.
Creative Commons
Free copyright licenses that provide a simple way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work.
Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine
Helps you generate a PDF form that you can attach to a journal publisher's copyright agreement to ensure that you retain certain rights.
SPARC Author Addendum to Publication Agreement

Understanding Manuscript Versions

Publishers often make distinctions between three primary versions of a manuscript when detailing the archive or deposit rights retained by authors: the pre-print, the post-print and the publishers version.

Pre-print – A pre-print is the original version of the manuscript as it is submitted to a journal. While the authors may have sought help from their colleagues in selecting data analysis techniques, improving manuscript clarity, and correcting grammar, the pre-print has not been through a process of peer review. It typically looks like a term paper – a double spaced .doc file with minimal formatting.

Post-print – A post-print is a document that has been through the peer review process and incorporated reviewers comments. It is the final version of the paper before it is sent off the the journal for publication. It may be missing a final copyedit (if the journal still does that) and won’t be formatted to look like the journal. It still looks like the double spaced .doc file. Sometimes, the term “pre-print” is used interchangeably with “post-print,” but when it comes to permissions issues, it is important to clarify which version of a manuscript is being discussed.

Publishers version/PDF – This is the version of record that is published on the publishers website. It will look quite spiffy, having been professionally typeset by the publisher. Library databases will link to this version of the paper.

Generally speaking, publishers are more likely to be okay with authors posting copies of pre-print versus other manuscript versions. But each journal is different, and authors need to be aware of what they can do. The copyright transfer agreement is the best place to find this information.

From: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/information-culture/2013/12/16/understanding-your-rights-pre-prints-post-prints-and-publisher-versions/