Presented at the Winter 2017 Forum on Inter-Collegiate Regional Events of the Nursing section of the New York Academic of Medicine.

1. You Know What You Write,
But Do You Know Your Rights?
Understanding and Protecting
Your Rights As an Author
Jill Cirasella
The Graduate Center, CUNY
jcirasella@gc.cuny.edu
@jillasella
http://bit.ly/nyamrights

2. How Do Researchers Communicate?
Lots of ways!
 scholarly journal articles
 newsletter & magazine articles
 books / book chapters
 meetings, workshops & conferences
 conversations & collaborations

3. How Does Research Enter Scholarly Record?
Primarily One Way:
 scholarly journal articles
 newsletter & magazine articles
 books / book chapters
 meetings, workshops & conferences
 conversations & collaborations

4. Unfortunately…
The traditional system of scholarly publishing is a
suboptimal system of communication:
• Locked behind paywalls
• Controlled by publishers, not authors
• Inaccessible to most researchers & readers

6. Don’t Take My Word for It!
“Publishing obscure academic journals is
that rare thing in the media industry:
a licence to print money.”
Source: “Open sesame: Academic publishing.” The Economist 14 Apr. 2012.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552574

7. Profiting or Profiteering?

8. An Ethical Issue, Too!
“If you are a scientist, your job is to bring
new knowledge into the world. And if you bring
new knowledge into the world, it’s immoral to hide it.
I heartily wish I’d never done it, and I won’t do it again.”
— Mike Taylor, University of Bristol
Source: “Hiding your research behind a paywall is immoral.” The Guardian 17 Jan. 2013.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/jan/17/open-access-publishing-science-paywall-immoral

9. Stated More Strongly…
“Closed access means people die.”
— Peter Murray-Rust, University of Cambridge
Source: https://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/10/23/open-research-reports-what-jenny-and-i-said-and-why-i-am-angry/

10. More Softly…
“Open knowledge saves lives.”
— Peter Murray-Rust, University of Cambridge
Source: https://blogs.ch.cam.ac.uk/pmr/2011/10/23/open-research-reports-what-jenny-and-i-said-and-why-i-am-angry/

11. Solution: In Your Hands!
Researchers can put the “public” back in publication!
How?
Understanding, retaining, and exercising
your rights to the articles you author.

12. Do publishers really require authors
to sign over their copyright?

13. Yes, many subscription-based scholarly
journals require authors to sign away
their rights to their own articles.
JAMA’s copyright transfer agreement:
Source: http://bit.ly/jamaagreement

14. No, authors don’t always fully read and
understand what they’re required to sign.
Wiley’s copyright transfer agreement:
Source:http://bit.ly/wiley_copyright

15. “All Copyright Ownership”
Copyright Owners Have Five Exclusive Rights
1. Right to reproduce the work
2. Right to prepare derivative works based on the work
3. Right to distribute copies of the work
4. Right to perform the work
5. Right to display the work

16. Do authors WANT to give up
all of their rights to their work?

17. Do authors HAVE to give up
all of their rights to their work?

18. Two Kinds of Journals: #1
Toll Access Journals
Traditional subscription-based journals.
Many also sell individual articles.
Most toll access journals require authors
to transfer copyright to the journal.

19. Two Kinds of Journals: #2
Open Access Journals (“Gold OA”)
Journals that automatically and immediately make
their articles available online to all at no cost.
Most gold OA journals do not take copyright.
They usually use Creative Commons licenses instead.

20. Another Journal Flavor
Journals that Let Authors Share
(“Green OA”)
Journals (toll access or open access) that allow authors
to post (“self-archive”) their articles in OA repositories.
Most “green” toll access journals do take copyright,
but they “give back” some rights to the author.

21. Is Self-Archiving Allowed? Ugh…
Source: http://bit.ly/wiley_copyright

22. Is Self-Archiving Allowed? Easier!
SHERPA/RoMEO
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/
Search by journal/publisher to learn
its copyright and self-archiving policies

23. Very, Very Good...

24. Very Good...

25. Good...

26. Pretty Good...

27. Not Great...

28. Bad...

29. Shockingly Bad!

30. Prevalence of Permission?
As of February 2017, SHERPA/RoMEO covers 2338 publishers.
80% allow some form of self-archiving.
Source: http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/statistics.php

31. Suppose you have the right to
self-archive your article.
Where can you self-archive?
Where should you self-archive?

32. Where to Self-Archive?
Institutional Repositories
An institutional repository (IR) is an online database
offered by an institution to collect, preserve,
and share scholarly and creative works
created by that institution’s community.

33. Where to Self-Archive?

34. Where Else to Self-Archive?
Subject Repositories
Directory of Open Access Repositories
http://www.opendoar.org/
Note: Not every field has a subject repository.

35. Where Else to Self-Archive?
Commercial Sites
ResearchGate.net and Academia.edu encourage users
to upload their works, but many publishers forbid uploading
to for-profit sites, and sometimes issue takedown notices.
How do these sites profit? Selling users’ data!
What is their future? Totally unclear!
Personal Websites
A good step in the direction of green OA, but not permanent,
not findable via Google Scholar and library search tools,
and therefore not the best option!
Read more! http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/academia-not-edu/

36. Beyond SHERPA/RoMEO
Publisher’s Contract
Read before agreeing!
SHERPA/RoMEO
Great for researching journals

37. Reading the Contract
1. Does it ask for a copyright transfer or a license?
2. If © transfer: does it give any rights back to you?
3. If license: exclusive or non-exclusive?
4. If license: all five rights of copyright, or just some?
5. Does it call your work a “work for hire”?
(See Credits slide.)

38. Reading the Contract
1. Does it ask for a copyright transfer or a license?
2. If © transfer: does it give any rights back to you?
3. If license: exclusive or non-exclusive?
4. If license: all five rights of copyright, or just some?
5. Does it call your work a “work for hire”?
(See Credits slide.)

39. Copyright Transfer: JAMA
Source: http://bit.ly/jamaagreement

40. Copyright Transfer: JAMA
Source: http://bit.ly/jamapublicaccess

41. Copyright Transfer: Wiley
Source: http://bit.ly/wiley_copyright

42. Copyright Transfer: Wiley
Full Copyright Transfer, with Permitted Uses by Contributor:
• Submitted Version: Right to self-archive immediately.
• Accepted Version: Right to self-archive after an embargo.
• Final Published Version: Right to make copies for colleagues,
reuse in other publications, use in teaching, give oral
presentations based on final publication.
Source: http://bit.ly/wiley_copyright

43. License Agreement: BioMed Central
Source: https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/policies/license-agreement

44. License Agreement: BioMed Central
“I, and all co-authors, agree that the article, if
editorially accepted for publication, shall be licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.
In line with BioMed Central’s Open Data Policy, data
included in the article shall be made available under
the Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain Dedication
waiver, unless otherwise stated.”
Source: https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/policies/license-agreement

45. Creative Commons Licenses
Most OA publishers use Creative Commons (CC) licenses,
which grant the public permission to use the work
in more ways than traditional copyright allows.
CC licenses also grant you more rights than you’d have
after signing a traditional copyright transfer agreement!
More info: https://creativecommons.org/

46. Can I Negotiate My Contract?
Sometimes.
And there are tools to help!
SPARC Author Addendum
http://bit.ly/sparcaddendum
Scholar’s Copyright Addendum Engine:
http://scholars.sciencecommons.org/
CIC Addendum:
http://bit.ly/cicaddendum

47. Can I Ask After the Fact?
Yes! It sometimes works!
Dear Publisher,
I am writing to ask permission to mount a copy of an article of mine, which was
published in one of your journals, in the City University of New York’s research
repository, CUNY Academic Works…
If possible, I would like post the final, journal-branded PDF version. The PDF
version is preferable to my manuscript version because it maintains consistency in
appearance of the article wherever it is read and more closely associates the
article with the journal…

48. Coda: Gold OA Mythbusting
Reminder:
“Gold OA” means publishing with publishers
that automatically and immediately make
the work available online to all at no cost —
i.e., journals that are “born” open access.

49. Respectability of OA Journals?
OA = anyone can read the journal
OA ≠ anyone can publish in the journal
OA journals are real journals. Publishing in an OA journal is not self-publishing or
vanity publishing!
OA journals earn respectability the same way other journals do: through the
quality of their articles and the prominence of the people they attract as
authors, editors, and peer reviewers.
A journal’s quality is independent of its openness. Some non-OA journals are
better and more rigorously peer reviewed than others. Likewise, some OA
journals are better and more rigorously peer reviewed than others.

50. Business Models
If OA journals are free to read, how do they cover costs?
There are many business models for OA journals, including:
• Volunteers & institutional subsidies
• Advertising
• Fees for print or premium editions
• Endowments & donations
• Article publication charges (APCs)
• Institutional memberships
• A combination of the above
Source: http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_journal_business_models

51. Publication Charges?!
Some OA journals have article processing charges (APCs).
(Some subscription-based journals charge fees too!)
But most OA journals do not charge APCs.
Ideally, APCs are not paid from researchers’ pockets:
Some institutions pay APCs for their employees.
Grants can be used to pay APCs.
Some journals waive APCs.

52. APCs ≠ Vanity Publishing
Some people worry:
Are APCs tantamount to vanity publishing?
NO!
At reputable and honest journals, APCs have
no bearing whatsoever on whether an article is accepted.

53. What about Disreputable Journals?
“Predatory” Open Access Publishers
unscrupulous, unserious, spamming
Heard about lists? Forget the lists.
Think critically about journals!
Evaluate journals you’re reading.
Evaluate journals you’re thinking about submitting to.
Remember: Low-quality journals are not unique to OA publishing!

54. Think Critically
Think. Check. Submit.
http://thinkchecksubmit.org/
Also: Open Access Journal Quality Indicators
http://bit.ly/OAindicators

55. Think Critically about All Journals!
Think. Check. Submit.
http://thinkchecksubmit.org/
Also: Open Access Journal Quality Indicators
http://bit.ly/OAindicators

56. “Pre-Approved” OA Journals
Directory of Open Access Journals
http://www.doaj.org
Browse or search 9,000+ open access journals
that have been vetted for quality.
Most do not charge APCs.

57. Advice to Authors
1. Research any journal/publisher you’re considering.
(Quality? Peer reviewing process? Copyright policy?)
2. If you have the right to self-archive, exercise that right.
3. If you don’t have the right to self-archive, request it.
4. Choose the best publishing venue for you and your career . . .
5. . . . but also think about the system you’re contributing to and the
system you want to contribute to.
Know your rights to what you write!

58. More Advice…
Get to know your librarian!

59. Credits
This slideshow is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Specific graphics may have different licenses.
“What Is the Problem?” graphic,
content by Jill Cirasella / graphic design by Les LaRue,
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Slides 36 & 37 adapted from Slide 28 in:
Wacha, Megan. "Publish, Don't Perish: Authors' Rights When Author's Write."
Accessed at http://bit.ly/2dNAsG2, and made available under a CC BY-NC license.

60. Thank you!
Jill Cirasella
The Graduate Center, CUNY
jcirasella@gc.cuny.edu
@jillasella
http://bit.ly/nyamrights