Research Guides: Open Access Publishing: Author Rights & Copyright

Creative Commons Licenses for Open

When choosing a license for your scholarly work, Creative Commons licenses can be used to provide users the ability to use and repurpose your work, while still protecting some of your rights as an author.

Know Your Rights: Traditional Publishing

Preserving Your Rights as an Author
This page provides different scenarios of copyright options for authors who are working with publishers.
Scholars Copyright Addendum Engine
A resource to generate PDF form that you can attach to a journal publisher's copyright agreement to ensure that you retain certain rights
SPARC Author Addendum [PDF]
A legal instrument that modifies the publisher’s agreement and allows you to keep key rights to your articles
Sherpa Romeo
Every publisher has different policies in regards to self-archiving and your subsequent use of your published work. The SHERPA/RoMEO database provides a searchable collection of publisher policies; check here when deciding where to publish.

Copyright Basics

Copyright Basics [PDF]
Developed by the US Copyright Office this handout covers basic information about copyright.
Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States
A resource to help you gauge whether a work is considered in the public domain in the United States.

Still Have Questions?

To learn more about intellectual property, Fair Use, the TEACH Act, and other topics related to copyright, see our Copyright Guide.