LibGuides: Scholarly Communication: Author Rights

Author Rights

Assigning your rights matters. Some publishers require you to sign away all your rights to your intellectual property in order to have your research published. These contracts are referred to as a "Copyright Transfer Agreement" or "Publishing Agreement". Negotiate with publishers in order to retain some or all control over your intellectual property. You may need to seek publisher permission to post your own work on your personal website, or in an institutional repository.

By retaining your rights, you will be permitted to:

-Maintain the right to disseminate your work to the largest possible audience

-Maintain the right to use your work in your classes

-Maintain the right to post your work on your own website

-Maintain the right to post and archive your work in your Institutional Repository

-Reserve the right to post the pre-refereed and even post-refereed version of your work

For more information see An Introduction to Publication Agreements for Authors and Uni of Melbourne's Understanding Publication Agreements

Copyright

The author is the copyright holder. You retain copyright unless and until you transfer the copyright to someone else in a signed agreement.

The copyright holder controls the work. Decision concerning use of the work such as distribution, access, pricing, updates and any use restrictions belong to the copyright holder. It is important to retain the rights you need as you may not be able to copy it for students or colleagues, deposit the work in an institutional repository, or reuse portions in a subsequent work if you have transferred copyright without retaining any rights.

Transferring copyright doesn't have to be all or nothing. The law allows you to transfer copyright whilst holding back certain rights.

Authors

Retain the rights you want
Use and develop your own work without restrictions
Increase access for education and research purposes
Receive proper attribution when your work is used
Deposit your work in an open online repository such as Avondale Research where it will be permanently accessible.

Publishers

Obtain a non-exclusive right to publish and distribute a work and receive financial return
Receive proper attribution and citation as journal of first publication
Migrate the work to future formats.

If the publisher still won't accept your changes...

Consider changes they will accept
Consider publishing the work elsewhere
Consider publishing the work in an open access journal, like those available through the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Check Publishers' Policies

The SHERPA RoMEO database provides a way to check publisher's policies on copyright and self-archiving. You can check to see how you will be able to use your work before and after publication. For example, you can find out if you can post pre-prints (pre-refereed version) or post-prints (post-refereed version) in Avondale's publicly accessible Institutional Repository, Avondale Research.

Protect your Author Rights

Protecting Your Author Rights: Key Steps for Avondale University Researchers

Ensuring you retain the rights to share and reuse your research is essential for increasing visibility and impact. Follow these key steps to protect your author rights throughout the publishing process.

Before Submission:

When selecting a publisher, review the journal’s self-archiving policy. Check the author guidelines and open access information to understand their stance on depositing work in an institutional repository.
Use Sherpa Romeo to check the journal’s open access and self-archiving policies.
If your research is funded, check the funder’s open access requirements (e.g., NHMRC, ARC) and ensure compliance.

At Submission:

Include a Rights Retention Statement in your manuscript, typically in the funder acknowledgment section.
Avondale Rights Retention Statement:
“This research was produced in whole or in part by Avondale University researchers and is subject to Avondale University’s Intellectual Property Policy. To support Open Access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.”
If your research is supported by a funder with a specific rights retention requirement, use the funder-mandated text instead.

On Acceptance:

Retain a copy of the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) (the final peer-reviewed version before publisher formatting).
Check your article proofs to confirm that the rights retention statement has been included.
Read the publishing agreement carefully before signing and keep a copy for your records. If you are unsure about the terms, seek advice before signing.

On Publication:

If a Rights Retention Statement has been included in the published version, you can deposit the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in Avondale Research Repository (DSpace) without embargo.
If the publisher applies an embargo, deposit the AAM in Avondale Research Repository and indicate the embargo period. The library will ensure the manuscript is made available once the embargo expires.
Researchers are encouraged to link to the final published version (where possible) to enhance discoverability.

Additional Support & Resources

Sherpa Romeo – Check journal self-archiving policies
NHMRC Open Access Policy
ARC Open Access Policy
Creative Commons Licence Guide

Need help? Contact the Librarian for advice on self-archiving, publisher agreements, or open access compliance.