Publish with power
Our research publications policy allows you to make all your articles and conference papers open access whilst retaining your intellectual property rights.
Retaining author rights
Retaining your author rights to your journal articles means that:
- You keep ownership of the copyright to your work.
- You can make your work immediately open access (OA) on publication in the university’s research repository e-space, even if it has been published by the green route, which was traditionally subject to a publisher embargo. This will increase the visibility, accessibility and discoverability of your work, allowing you to share it with whoever you choose and promote it more effectively via social media and your online researcher profiles.
- You can decide how your work will be used in the future.
- It will be easier for researchers to comply with funder open access requirements and potential future REF requirements.
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When submitting journal articles for publication, you should include the following text in the acknowledgement section of the manuscript and/or any cover letter/note accompanying the initial submission:
“For the purpose of open access, the author(s) has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.”
Alternative wording with the same intended outcome can be used instead, if required by your funder.
- Deposit your article, via Symplectic, in the University’s research repository e-space upon acceptance.
- We will make your article immediately open access (OA) on publication, under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY).
Who can use the research publications policy to retain their author rights?
All Manchester Met affiliated staff and students.
Does the research publications policy apply to other types of research outputs?
Not at the moment, although we will continue to explore options for retaining author rights to books, book chapters and other types of research output. Your conference paper may be included in the policy, please contact us for more information.
What is the legal basis for retaining your author rights?
As soon as a publisher accepts a manuscript in the knowledge that the author has retained their intellectual property rights, the prior licence takes precedence over any subsequent licence. This enables you to make your manuscript available in the repository from the day of publication under a CC-BY licence without breaking copyright law.
The Library has written to publishers to advise them of this prior licence. For these publishers, even if a rights retention statement is not included in a submission, we are still legally able to deposit the accepted manuscript and make it available from the date of publication, as publishers will have prior notice of our licence.
How will publishers respond to Manchester Met authors retaining their intellectual property rights?
Many publishers are supportive of authors retaining their rights. Other UK universities have piloted rights retention policies, and have reported minimal challenges to authors. If your publisher objects to your rights retention statement or attempts to change the terms of your submission please contact us for advice.
Can I opt out?
Yes, use the rights retention waiver form if you wish to opt out of retaining your author rights. You should complete the rights retention waiver form for each output prior to submission of the work for publication, providing a clear rationale of why you want to opt-out. Requests will be reasonably considered by the Library (in consultation with Faculty Research Leads where necessary) but will be granted only in exceptional circumstances, and will not be granted where to do so would put the University or researchers in breach of a funder requirement.
Do I need to seek agreement from my co-authors?
If your journal article has been co-authored by another institution, you should make reasonable attempts to obtain a licence from all the co‐authors on the same terms as the licence granted under this policy. This does not apply if the co‐authors are employed by institutions that have adopted a policy granting the same rights.
How do I check if another institution has a rights retention policy?
You can check one of the following lists:
Manchester Met Podcast - Publish with Power
Following the launch of the Research Publications Policy, Professor Nick Brook, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, speaks to Rachel Beckett, Director of Library & Cultural Services to explore, what it means for our research and how this policy can make a real impact for our researchers, University and beyond.
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Manchester Met Podcast - Publish with Power (video transcript)
Hi Rachel. We’re here to talk about our publication policy and I just wondered if you could explain it to colleagues - what it’s all about.
I can Nick. What it’s about is us retaining the rights of papers authored by Man Met researchers within the University even after they’re published.
And what does that mean in terms of REF etc? Why is that important that we maintain that copyright?
So it’s for a number of reasons really, our author copyright is really, really valuable to us and what we want to do is to protect our research community. And once we’ve implemented the policy, our researchers are able to share, use, and distribute their research much more widely, whilst at the same time maintaining compliance with funder and REF requirements.
So we talk about culture a lot in the new research strategy. How do you think this policy is going to help and develop that culture of research?
I think what it will do is it will be a really important component of us developing a culture of open research at our University. Openness across all aspects of research, this is important about open access publishing, but that’s within the context of a wider approach to research which we want to be increasingly open.
But isn’t there a risk that publishers are going to push back on that? What confidence have we got that we’re going to still be able to publish where we want to publish?
There is no experience in the sector where this approach is already underway of any pushback or any difficulties with any publishers. So we’re confident that that’s not going to be the case.
Oh, that’s great to hear. So I’m glad you mentioned open access, because I think open access is really, really important for research institutions. I think as an institution, we’ve got a moral obligation to make sure the research that we do is available to the widest possible audience. Particularly if they’ve paid for it directly, or indirectly through their taxes. That we make sure the results of the excellent research here are getting out to the community. But do you see any other advantages of having such an open research policy?
Well, there’s definitely that. And providing the fastest and the best access to open research that we can to practitioners and policymakers, as well as the public. So that we can use that research to make lasting and profound impacts on the economy and society. So our growing reputation for high quality research is dependent on the visibility of that research and how well it’s cited. So that it can be used and seen and built upon by the research community within the University and beyond.
So you say this policy will help promote our research in order to attract better students, better staff, better researchers who want to come to the University because they know more about us. There on the global stage.
Absolutely. The more our amazing research is visible outside of the University and beyond paywalls and outside of embargo periods, the better.
Oh, that sounds like a really positive move. But I’m also aware there’s a big push, not only in the University, but across the sector to reduce research bureaucracy. Is this going to cause any issues trying to get research published on top of what people have to do already?
Not at all. In fact, the workflows for researchers remain exactly the same. And in fact, there’s a benefit in that copyright permissions are more straightforward. Researchers still need to deposit an accepted manuscript on agreement in the repository. For anyone who is unfamiliar with that or would like some help, the Library’s Open Research team is on hand and available to do that. And in the background, the Library is writing to all of the publishers that Man Met regularly publishes with, to let them know about the policy and that as an institution, we are retaining the rights of our authors who will be sharing our research much more widely.
Okay, so it’ll help develop that great place to work ethic that we’re really pushing at the University.
Absolutely. And we’ve got a whole programme of events and support to help us to roll it out and embed that and support staff through that change.
So if I need more information, where would I go for that?
The Library website will provide access to the policy, the contact details of the Open Research team and all of the help and support that any researcher will need.
Fantastic. So this is a real step forward for the sector that puts Man Met at the forefront yet again.
Absolutely.
Thank you, Rachel.
Thank you.