CentAUR - Copyright

Before you deposit full text output in CentAUR you should have the permission of any co-authors, third party copyright owners and be acting within the licence agreement/contract that you signed with the publisher of that output.

Authors/creators are responsible for checking rights but the repository staff will also check any agreements or policies that are publicly available via the RoMEO database or that are made available to them by the author. Outputs will not be made available in CentAUR if publisher agreements do not permit access.

If the repository staff are notified of a breach of rights caused by the deposit of an output, they will remove it from public view immediately, pending further investigation. The criteria and process for complaint and withdrawal are detailed in the Notice & Takedown policy.

Third party copyright

This is found in items incorporated into the output, for example, text, images, data that are the work of others. If not already done as part of the process of preparing your output for publication, you will need to contact the copyright owners, who may be the original author or the publisher of the excerpt, to obtain permission. For advice on seeking copyright clearance please refer to Information Management and Policy Services (IMPS). You are advised to obtain permission in writing and are invited to lodge this with the repository staff centaur@reading.ac.uk

Publisher agreement/contract

Checking agreements

Check that the publisher allows the output to be deposited/archived in an institutional repository, which version is permissible and the degree of access permitted. A distinction is usually made between an author's personal website, institutional website and institutional repository, and between the author final version and the published version:

1. Check the copyright licence/contract that you signed with the publisher, or
2. Check the database RoMEO. It summarises and gives access to many journal publisher copyright policies

The Author final version is the author's own final version, after refereeing and corrections, in the author's own typesetting e.g. Word. It should not contain publisher's logos or typesetting, or be in the publisher's template or proof. It is sometimes known as the author final manuscript or the postprint. When an article is assembled via a template, this exact version is not produced as part of the writing and publication process; some authors maintain their own postprint for archiving in CentAUR.

Published version is the definitive version, produced by the publisher and usually available as a PDF, sometimes called the 'publisher's PDF'. It should not be a publisher's proof.

Embargo periods - full texts can be uploaded immediately and the embargo period set within CentAUR to comply with publishers' policies.

Open access - some articles are published as open access on the journal website and are usually licensed (e.g. with a Creative Commons Licence) to allow a copy to be archived in a repository.

Obtaining permission to deposit an Output

If you have signed away copyright it is sometimes possible for the author to obtain a one off agreement from the publisher to deposit that item in a repository. However, this may require a fee to be paid to the publisher. For assistance, please contact centaur@reading.ac.uk

Retaining permission to deposit an Output

The University's Code of Practice on Intellectual Property requires staff that are the authors/creators of an output to retain a licence to archive the material and make it freely available online.

• The University's Code of Practice on Intellectual Property

Many funders also require that your outputs are freely available in a repository.

• University's web pages on Open Access for information about HEFCE, RCUK and EU requirements
• Summary database of funders' policies on Open Access: SHERPA JULIET

This can be achieved by suggesting amendments to the copyright agreement by attaching an addendum, or by offering an alternative licence.

Last updated: 5th Sept 2017