Complying with funders' Open Access requirements

There are currently two ways in which researchers can comply with funder mandates:

1. Via the Gold route - authors pay a fee to the journal publisher, following peer review, so that the research can be made quickly available online without any restrictions on access. Researchers can also put a copy of the paper in a repository. The costs involved in this method of OA publishing vary depending on publisher and journal policy, from a few hundred pounds to £3k. Typically, publishing in higher impact journals will cost more.
2. Via the Green publishing route - a researcher (or someone on his/her behalf) places a copy of the research online at the earliest opportunity, depending on funder requirements (sometimes known as self-archiving). Researchers can use subject-based or institutional repositories, such as Exeter’s ERIC. There is no upfront cost to the researcher involved but archiving is not always straightforward. Many publishers restrict what an author is able to do with published research with a majority of publishers reluctant to allow the published version of a paper to be deposited in a repository.

Publishers are allowed to impose these restrictions because authors usually relinquish their copyright when they sign an agreement with the publisher.  You can find out about publisher policies regarding OA at the SHERPA/RoMEO web site. We encourage researchers always to retain the ‘post-print’ version of their paper (the version that is submitted to the publisher following peer-review and corrections), as this is the version most publishers will allow to be archived. Follow the link to see different Paper versions explained.

How can I retain the copyright of my published work?

Many publishers ask authors to sign publication agreements that effectively transfer all rights to their work to that publisher, severely restricting what can be subsequently be done by the author with that work. However, you are not obliged to sign such an agreement and have the right to modify or replace it.

There are a number of ways of doing this:

• You can use the JISC SURF Foundation Copyright Toolbox Licence to publish which preserves the rights of the publisher to publish the work whilst, importantly, retaining the author’s rights to access, use and disseminate the work for scholarly purposes.
• Use the Copyright Toolbox Sample wording options to amend existing publishing agreements to make sure you retain certain rights.
• Use the SPARC Addendum  to modify your copyright agreement with a publisher to ensure you keep key rights to your work.

The University of Salford repository pages has some useful, clearly written advice on copyright for academics and researchers.