Understanding Open Access

Due to the complexity of Open Access, you have many options that may allow you to make your research accessible by making it more "open." You should review each Open Access option every time you publish an article. This will ensure that you select the Open Access option that best fits your situation. 

If you know prior to publication that you want your research to be Open, you will need to find an Open Access publisher. In some situations, it may not be possible to publish your work in an Open Access publisher, in which case you may want to investigate your options to self-archive. 

Whether you are interested in achieving Open Access or not, it is important to understand (and in some cases retain) your intellectual property rights as an author. Most journals require authors to sign a publishing agreement. These agreements need to be carefully reviewed by authors, as they could determine the rights that you have over your work after your article is published by a journal. Publication in some journals requires author consent to agreements that can later limit the intellectual property rights of the authors to their own works.
 

Strengthening Author Rights

• Authors can ask a journal to alter the standard publishing agreement if they feel it is unduly restrictive.
   
• Authors can consider adding an addendum to their publication agreement. SPARC offers a reusable addendum "template" at: http://www.sparc.arl.org/sites/default/files/Access-Reuse_Addendum.pdf
   
• For more information and resources on author rights, addendums, and publication agreements, visit: http://www.sparc.arl.org/resources/authors/addendum