This year’s Open Access Week asks an important question: Who owns our knowledge? At the Mizzou Libraries, we encourage you to think carefully about the ownership of your manuscripts before you publish.
Don’t Sign Away Your Rights!
Many traditional publishing agreements require authors to transfer copyright to the publisher, which limits how you can use, share and preserve your own work.
The most important step is to read your copyright transfer agreement.
Don’t like what it says? You can amend the agreements to retain the rights you need to make copies of your work and to share it with others.
Examine your publishers’ agreements
What is the publisher requiring of you? Those agreements that require you to transfer all your rights limit what you can do with your own work—that is, you are no longer the copyright holder.
If your publisher agreement reads something like: “the undersigned authors transfer ownership of copyright, including the right to publish and distribute the work by any means, method, or process whether now known or to be development in the future, to the Publisher,” consider amending the agreement.
Agreements that let you retain control of your work often have phrases like: “I grant the journal a non-exclusive license to publish my work”; “I understand that no rights are transferred to the Journal”; or “I understand that a Creative Commons license will be applied to my work.”
Modify your agreements when needed
Publishing agreements are negotiable. Know your rights and consider using the SPARC author addendum to modify your agreement.
Want to learn more? Explore our resources on retaining your rights and making your research open.