Q. How can I retain the author rights to my article?

What are retain rights?

• Often publishers create significant barriers for authors who want to reuse their work or allow others to use it. Negotiating changes to these standard agreements can help authors avoid unfortunate barriers to reuse and sharing.
• Some research funders request or require that work created with their funds be made available openly on the web, such as ARC or NHRC.
• Funder policies can be reviewed via the Sherpa Romeo website.
• Refer to the University’s Open Access Policy.

What are your rights?

As the author of a work, you are the copyright holder unless or until you transfer your rights. Copyright law gives the creator of copyrighted works exclusive rights, including:

• To reproduce the work in copies (e.g., through photocopying).
• To distribute copies of the work to prepare transitional or other derivative works.
• To perform or display the work publicly.
• To authorise others to exercise any of these rights.
• Authors are often most interested in retaining rights to: to Reuse their work in teaching, future publications, and other scholarly and professional activities or to deposit their work at the university’s repository, ResearchDirect.

In development

• The cOAlition S strategy of applying a prior license to the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) is designed to facilitate full and immediate open access of cOAlition S funded scientific research for the greater benefit of science and society.  For further information, review Plan S.
• The manuscript – even after peer-review – is the intellectual creation of the authors.
• The RRS (Rights Retention Strategy) is designed to protect authors’ rights. The costs that publishers incur for the AAM, such as managing the peer-review process, are covered by subscriptions or publication fees.
• Delivering such publication services does therefore not entitle publishers to limit, constrain, or appropriate ownership rights in the author’s AAM.

If you are an HDR student, we recommend that you discuss these options with your School Librarian.