FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
Scholars and academics invest a lot of time in their work and want to share their publications. One may post a PDF of their article on social media or a scholarly collaboration network (SCN) such as Mendeley or ResearchGate but get a takedown notice from a publisher. She may be astonished because she thought she could do that, but then remembered signing a copyright transfer agreement (CTA) with a publisher to get the article published.
Does it sound like this professor has any options? She has a few to consider so that others who are interested can see her article:
Review the CTA. The CTA may allow her to self-archive or share her submitted or accepted version of her work. These versions are not the one that got published (known as the final version of record), but are drafts or proofs of her manuscript. The CTA may also allow her to deposit one of these versions in a repository or share them after an embargo, which is a set span of time after its publication.
Check a Publisher's Sharing Guidelines. A publisher may have a page that describes what authors can do to share their work, such as Green Open Access. See this example from Wiley Article Sharing Policy.
Distribute its Digital Object Identifier on Social Media. Most publications will now have digital object identifiers (DOIs) that are like its permanent online address (e.g., https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003490). The DOI will lead to the landing page of an article where a reader may see it, access it through their institution, or request it using an interlibrary loan or document delivery service.
Scholars don’t necessarily have to accept all terms of a CTA when they submit their work for publication. First, it’s important to read its terms, and then retain some rights to share your submission through an author addendum. You want to have more options to share your work or build upon it down the road, and using an author addendum by SPARC and other organizations can facilitate this.
More Information:
- Author Copyright Agreements (SCS LibGuide): https://libguides.fau.edu/scs-copyright/author-copyright-agreements
- Can I share my work on ResearchGate? Possibilities for Sharing Your Articles (SlideShare): https://www.slideshare.net/kpadron_libraries/can-i-post-my-article-on-researchgate-possibilities-for-sharing-your-work-237439972
Image source: Tulsa Daily World Newspaper, by Jerry Waxman. Permission for limited non-commercial and commercial uses.
