Before depositing publications in the Leicester Research Archive (LRA) we need to check that we are legally able to do so. Some publishers will allow authors to archive their work in repositories, while others will need to be approached directly.

In the case of books or chapters we will neogitate with publishers directly for permission, and increasingly we are able to archive these on the LRA.

Open Access publication

Alternatively you may opt to publish in an open access journal, or take advantage of a publisher’s open choice option. In these cases you will usually retain your intellectual property in the work and be able to freely archive it on the LRA.

Rights checking

The good news is that whatever the situation the LRA Administration team will do all this work on your behalf. We will investigate thoroughly before archiving anything. We carefully create an audit trail, so that if a rights holder challenges our decision we will be able to clearly demonstrate our reasoning. All we require from you is to deposit your publications with us.

The LRA Team also includes the Copyright Administrator, whom is consulted on many of the rights related decisions.

License

The first time you deposit with us we will ask you to sign a licence that grants us permission to deposit it on your behalf onto the LRA and to migrate it into future formats to allow for digital preservation.

Once you have signed it please fax, scan or post this license to us, along with any publications. From then onwards you need only send us your work, as the license covers any and all future deposits.

SHERPA/RoMEO and journal rights

The SHERPA/RoMEO site is the internationally recognised guide to the open access policies of many of the world's major publishers.

As many funders now require (mandate) open access for research they have funded, it is worth checking what your funder stipulates in their grant regulations. SHERPA/RoMEO details which publishers have exceptions to their license restrictions on archiving on open access sites, which may affect your choice of journal to publish in.

Reclaiming your copyright

Likewise the SHERPA/JULIET site is a guide to many of the open access policies and requirements of the major UK and international research funding organisations.

You may still decide to publish in a title whose publisher has a restrictive open access policy. This may well conflict with your funders' requirements.  If this is the case then it is worth making us of the SPARC Addendum or the JISC/SURF License to Publish when you sign the publisher's agreement. This allows publication but will retain certain author rights, including the right to archive on an open access site like the LRA.

See also the guide to academic copyright use.