Research Publications and Copyright Policy

Guidance

This guidance is designed to ensure that University of Sheffield staff and PGRs can comply with the Research Publications and Copyright policy (PDF 172KB). The policy enables authors to control copyright, as set out in the University’s new IP policy, to their own journal articles and conference proceedings papers, apply a CC BY licence to them and make them available via the institutional repository, White Rose Research Online (WRRO) without embargo.

This will help you to comply with external funding requirements for open access as well as supporting our commitment to enabling and promoting research excellence across our community as set out in the University’s Statement of Open Research

How to comply with the policy

• On submission
  • Inform any co-authors of the requirement to add the rights retention statement to the manuscript
  • When submitting to a journal, include the following language on the manuscript: “For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission”
• On acceptance
  • Deposit the accepted manuscript into WRRO via myPublications [guidance available]
  • Where practicable, ensure that you do not sign a publishing agreement that transfers copyright to the publisher.  
• On publication
  • Inform the library that the article has been published by emailing oaenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk
  • The library will make the file available within one month of publication under a CC BY licence

How to opt out

We recognise that there will be some cases where there is a valid reason to opt out of the policy.  In such cases, you are requested to indicate your intention to opt out by completing this form. Please note that if you opt out of this policy your output may not be compliant with your funder or the REF requirements.

If you wish to opt out of the CC BY licence requirement of the policy and choose a different Creative Commons licence then you can do so by completing this form to let the library know your preferred licence.

If you opt out, on receipt of the Google form the Library’s Scholarly Communications team will create a manual record in myPublications and email you confirmation of your opt out and a link to the myPubs record. When you deposit your article, it is important you deposit it via the link you have been emailed and not create a new record yourself.

Further information

You can find answers to frequently asked questions about the policy here.

For any further help and support with complying with this policy, please contact oaenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk