From 1 October 2024, our institutional policy for Author Rights Retention came into effect. The full policy is available to download as a PDF below, and for Essex affiliated staff members is also accessible via the Policy Repository.
The Author Rights Retention Policy will:
The Author Rights Retention Policy enables Essex researchers to retain rights over their author accepted manuscripts (AAMs) and make these versions available via the Essex research repository, or other subject repository, with a CC BY licence.
The below graphic explains how the policy applies to the publication process, and there is an accessible PDF version below the image.
Authors’ retention of copyright is on behalf of the University of Essex, in accordance with section 2.1.6 of the University of Essex IP Policy which states that the University owns IP subsisting in research publications and authorises employees to act on behalf of the University in granting licences or assigning copyright.
The policy ensures a version of the following Essex authored outputs are made openly available on publication, or sooner where possible:
The policy applies to all authors or co-authors who are staff members of the University of Essex. It does not apply to students; however, we encourage students to assert their rights by using a rights retention statement.
It is important to note that any third-party copyright material included in AAMs does not fall under the scope of the policy. See our frequently asked question (FAQ) on third-party content for more information.
Having an institutional Author Rights Retention Policy takes the onus off staff regarding adding a rights retention statement on submission to non-open access journals. In implementing this policy, we have contacted a large number of publishers who we know Essex authors publish with to give them prior notice of both the retention of copyright over author’s accepted manuscripts, and the subsequent CC BY licence applied. This provides Essex authors reassurance that even when they are publishing the version of record behind a paywall, the AAM can be made openly available via our repository immediately on publication.
This effect has become increasingly important as research funders, such as UKRI, increasingly require immediate open access for any of their funded articles and conference proceedings, with requirements for chapters developing too. An institutional policy therefore provides reassurance to authors that they will always be able to comply with potential requirements for immediate open access regardless of where they publish.
Additionally, an Author Rights Retention Policy supports our institutional commitment to being “as open as possible and as closed as necessary”, as outlined in our Open Research Position Statement, and allows for wider benefits of open access.
As we have contacted publishers directly about the Author Rights Retention Policy, authors are not legally required to do anything to make use of the policy. However, to reaffirm the rights retained by authors in their work, the following text is recommended to be included in the funding acknowledgement section of the manuscript and on any cover letter/note accompanying the submission:
For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
Note that some funders may require different wording but with the same intended outcome.
On acceptance, authors should upload their AAMs to the Research Information System (RIS) to enable them to be made openly available via the Essex Research Repository on publication. Further explanation of author responsibilities are outlined in section 3.1 of the Author Rights Retention Policy.
There may be situations beyond an author’s control where it is difficult to follow the Author Rights Retention Policy. Possible reasons include (but are not limited to):
In such cases, it will be permissible for staff to voluntarily opt-out of the requirement for immediate open access upon publication, or the assignation of a CC BY licence. However, this may cause the research output to be non-compliant with funder policies and future research assessments.
To discuss cases where it is not possible to comply with the policy, and for further help and advice, authors should contact us as soon as possible.
Rights retention is a growing movement in the UK and beyond, and a large number of universities now have, or are developing, similar policies. Throughout this movement, it has not been seen that publishers are rejecting papers based on authors retaining copyright in their AAMs and sharing them immediately on publication. We therefore feel confident in saying it is unlikely a publisher would reject a paper based on our policy, and would ask you to contact us if this becomes a problem.
If you are already adding rights retention statements onto your submissions, you don’t need to change anything. The policy will still apply, and the statement you add will help to reaffirm your rights. For clarity and transparency with publishers, we recommend all Essex authors add the following rights retention statement/wording on submission to non-open access journals:
For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
This isn’t a problem. If your paper is eligible to use our read and publish agreements, if you’re using the open access fund or UKRI block grant to pay for open access publishing, or if you’re publishing open access with no cost, then the wording/statement won’t have an effect. In these situations, you would already be retaining copyright to both the authors accepted manuscript and the version of record.
It’s important to let any co-authors know about our Author Rights Retention Policy before submission. You may find if they are co-authors from another UK University that they have their own similar policy. If your co-authors do not agree to the authors accepted manuscript being licensed CC-BY and shared immediately on publication, you can opt out of the policy. Please see section 4 of the Author Rights Retention Policy for further details and contact us if you have any questions.
Any third-party copyright material included in AAMs does not fall under the scope of the policy. Research outputs publishing under a Creative Commons licence can include third-party materials (such as images, photographs, or maps) that are subject to a more restrictive licence, however you may need to seek permission for this kind of reuse. Where the work contains a substantial number of third-party materials which cannot be openly licensed, and where the removal of these materials would compromise the experience of the reader, or otherwise diminish the value of the work, you would be able to opt out of the policy. Please see section 4 of the Author Rights Retention Policy for further information, and contact us with any questions.
Long form works including monographs, edited collections, and non-funded chapters are not within scope of this policy, unless a funder has mandated open access in respect to this scholarly material. However, authors are encouraged to make all works as open as possible. While rights retention is not so common in the publication of long form outputs as of yet, authors can use the following wording to assert their rights over their manuscript:
For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
When you publish open access via the publisher’s website, the version of record (final published version) is freely available to be read, downloaded, and reused from this website. There are no subscriptions, payments, or log-ins required to access these publications. You can publish your work this way by either choosing a journal that is covered by one of our read and publish agreements, by applying to use the institutional open access fund, or by publishing in a diamond open access journal where it is free to publish openly. More information on all of these routes is available on our open access publishing page.
In contrast, rights retention allows the authors accepted manuscript version of the publication to be made open access via a repository immediately on publication. This is the version after peer review, but before journal formatting, typesetting, etc. has taken place. The Author Rights Retention Policy therefore allows authors to share and reuse their accepted manuscripts without needing to pay a publishing fee.
The below graphic outlines the differences further. A screen-readable PDF version is also available below.
The open access policy for REF2029 has not yet been confirmed, however having no embargo on the authors accepted manuscript makes compliance with potential REF guidelines much more straightforward.
Yes, any author can opt out of the policy if they feel there is reason to. However, opting out may result in non-compliance with funder policies and potentially make the publication ineligible for REF-submission. Please see section 4 of the Author Rights Retention Policy for more information. If you have any questions, please contact us.
