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Scholarly Communications

Information for the Smith College community on topics in Scholarly Communications including: open access, author's rights, copyright, and more.

Author Rights

As soon as a work is created in a fixed medium, it is copyrighted and no other action is necessary for the work to be protected by copyright. Authors should know that when they sign a contract to publish that work, they may be asked to transfer the copyright, although this doesn't always have to be the case.
Authors can retain the rights to their work in several ways: by using Creative Commons license, by publishing in open access journals, or by negotiating an author's addendum to the traditional scholarly publishing contract. Additionally, the Smith College faculty approved an open access policy on April 22, 2015 which permits the college to disseminate digital copies of faculty scholarly articles published after that date. The policy reads: Subject to the Faculty Member’s right to opt out of this policy, upon completion of the final manuscript of a scholarly article, the Faculty member grants Smith College permission to make the article available to scholars and the public under the Creative Commons CC BY License, which is the most permissive of the Creative Commons licenses.
 

General best practices:

  • READ your agreement. Only sign a publishing agreement after you read and understand the terms.
  • KNOW your rights. Authors may retain or transfer those rights to others.
  • ASK for the rights you need and the rights that you want. Identify the rights you need now and rights you may wish to retain for the future. Consider how you may want others to be able to use your work. Negotiate changes with your publisher, using an addendum if necessary.
  • SAVE a copy of your agreement. Retain a copy of the final agreement and all communications with your publisher.
  • SAVE your submitted and accepted manuscripts!

Author Rights Resources

Publishing Terms to Know

It is important to read your publishing agreement to understand all terms that may impact ownership and use of your work. While terms can vary from publication to publication, here are some common terms found in agreements:

  • Copyright transfer (Grant of Right) – an assignment, exclusive license, or other conveyance of copyright ownership. Publishing agreements may call for an author to transfer some or all of their rights to the publisher.
  • Manuscript versions. Publishers may distinguish between different versions of a manuscript, with certain permissible uses tied to a particular version of the manuscript (see images below).
    • Submitted Manuscript/Preprint – the original submitted version of the manuscript
    • Accepted Manuscript/Postprint – the version of the article that has been through the peer review process, incorporating reviewer comments.
    • Version of Record/Publisher's PDF – the final version of record of the manuscript. This version includes the publisher’s typeset.
  • Embargo – the period of time in which the author may not make the work publicly available. Embargo periods may correspond to particular versions of a manuscript.
  • Article Processing Charges (APCs) – Charges to authors of scholarly articles during the publication process.  APCs are used by open access journals in lieu of subscription fees that libraries and readers traditionally have paid to gain access to research articles. APCs can range anywhere from several hundred dollars to more than $10,000 depending upon the journal. 

    • APCs shift the cost burden from the reader to the author.

    • APCs should not be confused with page charges long associated with both print and digital publications. Page charges are used to cover administrative costs as well as the cost of print publication, but do not make the article available in an open access (OA) model.

  • Read and Publish Agreements – A Read-and-Publish agreement is an agreement in which the publisher receives payment for reading and payment for publishing bundled into a single contract. This bundling together brings payment for publishing into a contractual arrangement rather than being addressed ad hoc by individual authors who are choosing open access publishing. In addition to publishing fees being brought under a contractual arrangement, a transformative agreement seeks to re-direct funds previously spent on subscription-based reading to the publishing component, often with a goal of a cost-neutral read-and-publish agreement in comparison with the previous subscription-based reading agreement. 

Some information adapted from Ohio State University Libraries, Publishing your Research, CC BY as well as the excellent University of Alabama at Birmingham Open Access LibGuide

Manuscript Versions

3 types of manuscript versions: submitted, accepted, and version of record

 

Spot the difference!
on the left, version of record example. On the right accepted manuscript version example of same paper.

What is Predatory Publishing?

As defined and published in Nature:

Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices. 

How to Assess (and Avoid) Predatory Publishers

image of key points to consider when assessing a journal. Don't trust unsolicitated emails. Review several issues of the journal. Review the journal website. Visit think check submit dot org.

Evaluating Journals and Publishers

Journal assessment checklist

The following checklist can help you evaluate journals in which you are considering publishing. No check list is perfect or perfectly up-to-date. A legitimate journal to fail to meet one or more criteria, but a careful examination using these points as a departure can be useful.

  • DOAJ listing. If the journal is an open access one, it is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Caveat: Absence from the list does not necessarily indicate a failure to meet the DOAJ's standards for inclusion.  It can be difficult for new journals to meet the criteria for listing, and it can take up to six months for an application to be approved. 
  • Reputation. You or your colleagues are familiar with the journal, read papers in the journal, or know authors that have published in it.
  • Editorial board. The journal posts clearly the members of its editorial board, and they are experts in the field. If editorial board members note their editorial activities on their professional websites or profiles, they list the journal in question.
  • Publisher. The name and contact information for the journal is readily found on its website.
  • Peer review. The journal provides clear information about its peer review practices on its website.
  • Discovery and visibility. The journal is indexed by the databases you normally use in the course of your own research. Ulrich's periodicals directory is a good tool for this purpose. Magazines for Libraries(available only in print) includes academic journals in its listings, and may also be useful. Caveat: New journals may be ineligible for inclusion in some indexing services, and many services are biased towards English language publications from Europe and North America. 
    • If published in Bangladesh, Nepal, Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Central America and Mongolia, the journal is hosted on one of INASP’s Journals Online platforms. The Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS) framework also provides an assessment of journals on this platform.
    • If published in Africa, the journal is hosted on African Journals Online (AJOL). The Journal Publishing Practices and Standards (JPPS) framework also provides an assessment of journals on this platform.
    • Bioline International supports quality open access journals in many developing countries.
  • Fees. Information on fees charged is clearly communicated and easy to find on the journal's website.
  • Author information and copyright. Information for prospective authors, including submission requirements and policies (such as plagiarism and research misconduct), and the journal's copyright policy, are clearly stated and easy to find on the journal's website.
  • Professional memberships. The journal or its publisher a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). If it is an open access journal, it (or its publisher) is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) and/or the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Caveat: Membership in these organizations may be out of reach financially for some legitimate journals.

Adapted from Cornell's Understanding and Avoiding Predatory Publishing

Journal red flags:

  • The journal website contains spelling and grammar errors
  • Images are distorted/fuzzy, intended to like something they are not, or are unauthorized
  • The homepage language targets authors
  • The index Copernicus Value is promoted on the website
  • Description of the manuscript-handling process is lacking
  • Manuscripts are requested to be submitted via email
  • Rapid publication is promised
  • There is no retraction policy
  • Information on whether and how journal content will be digitally preserved is absent
  • The APC (article processing/publication charge) is very low (e.g.$150 USD)
  • Journals claiming to be open access either retain the copyright of published research or fail to mention copyright
  • The contact email address is not affiliated with a professional organization or to the journal (e.g. @gamil.com or @yahoo.com)

(red flags from The Predatory Paradox by Koerber, Starkey, Ardon-Dryer et al, licensed CC BY NC)