Open Access and copyright
Open Access at Aarhus Universitet and copyright
As a researcher, Aarhus University advises you to retain the rights to your own publications as far as is possible, and not to submit all rights to a journal or publishing house.
At the same time, you should also be aware of the possibilities for OA publishing when you enter into publishing contracts. Many publishers have an Open Access policy that allows for some form of Open Access for research publications. Read more about Open Access when you publish.
Aarhus University does not take over any rights when your publications are made available in Pure. However, you should always check whether you are allowed to submit your publication to Pure and give free access to it. You are responsible for ensuring that a copyright is not infringed by placing your publication in Pure.
AU Library can help you discover whether a version of your publication can legitimately be made Open Access available in Pure in accordance with the rights of the publisher.
If the University receives enquiries about a violation of rights in connection with availability in Pure, the affected material will be removed immediately.
Remember that, as an author, you have the copyright to your work until otherwise agreed. See also the Ministry of Culture's information about copyright.
What about copyright when you archive Open Access via Pure or other repositories?
The vast majority of publishers and journals allow authors to self-archive/parallel publish their articles in Open Access repositories.
If you have transferred your copyright in connection with publication, you must first obtain permission from the publisher before the article can be published in the archive, either directly from the publisher or in accordance with the journal's Open Access policy on their website.
There are a number of places and resources that can help you find out how you can self-archive/parallel publish:
- The journal's own website, or through a personal enquiry to the publisher
- Sherpa Romeo
- How can I share It?
- Ask us at the library
If the publisher/journal you want to publish in does not have an Open Access policy and does not offer any options for publishing your article via Open Access, you can try to get the publisher to sign a supplementary contract. A Supplementary contract will allow you to make your article Open Access available.
All authors of scientific publications (including any co-authors) who place texts in Open Access repositories must still consent to their publications being made freely available. Copyright is not changed in relation to the ideal rights, i.e. the right to be named and credited as author(s) in connection with any use of the work. The publications will be freely available to be read, cited and downloaded.
Read more about Open Access and rights
- Ophavsret for begyndere (Copyright for Beginners): A Danish publication. Here you can read more about the transfer of copyright in Morten Rosenmeier's and UBVA's publication (Chapter 7)
- Copyright for you as a researcher: Here you can read more about copyright in general at Aarhus University
- OA supplemental contract (Danish): The Ministry of Higher Education and Science's OA supplemental contract
How do you stand with regard to copyright when Open Access publishing via a publishing house?
For Open Access publishing (Golden Open Access), the rules on how you may share your article will often be more open, but you should still be aware of the contract you are signing.
What are CC licenses and how do you use them?
As an author, you may be interested in your material being used in a way that the copyright otherwise prohibits. This may be in the form of a reworking or further development.
You can use Creative Commons licenses (CC licenses) to customise your copyright and give the users of your material a number of rights without having to enter into individual agreements. This makes it clear how others may use your material.
If you publish Open Access via a publisher, it is possible that they offer, or require your article to be published under, a CC license. You should be aware of which CC license is offered, in relation to how open you and your co-authors would like to have your article.
Foundations may require that articles which originate from funding must comply with certain Open Access rules. If you publish an article with a CC license from the publisher, you should be aware if the license being offered complies with the Open Access requirements set by the foundation.
The licences consist of four types of right, that combine to form six different licenses. Once a work has been granted a licence, it may not be revoked. The six licenses are usually described as follows:
Read more about CC licenses
- What is CC?: Read more about Creative Commons licenses at Creative Commons
- Detailed description of CC: Read a more detailed description of Creative Commons licenses at Wikipedia
- Read more about data licences:
What do you do if your PhD thesis contains articles?
If you would like to make your PhD dissertation freely available via AU's central research repository, Pure, or via the e-book platform ebooks.au.dk (in Danish), it is important that you first check whether you are allowed to parallel publish all the published articles included in the PhD dissertation. This will usually be stated in your publishing contract.
With most international journals, it is possible to quickly apply for permission to republish your own articles. Most use a service called "RightsLink", which is managed by the Copyright Clearance Center. There will often be a link to "Rights Link" where your article is available on the publisher's platform.
If the publisher does not allow parallel publication of the published article, you can instead check to see whether you are allowed to upload your accepted or submitted manuscript along with the dissertation. If this is not stated in your contract, you will usually be able to see it on the journal’s website or at Sherpa Romeo.
If the publisher does not allow parallel publication in any form, you can replace the included articles with references instead.
Read more about copyright when publishing.
Contact AU Library’s Open Access support
If you have any questions about Open Access, you are very welcome to contact AU Library's Open Access support: oa@kb.dk
