Retain your rights
When signing a copyright transfer agreement or an exclusive license agreement with a publisher*, we suggest researchers retain basic rights that will enable you to:
- Deposit your research into your institutional repository
- Reuse the content of your research in future publications
- Use your research for teaching and presentation
SPARC author addendum to publication agreement - this addendum to your publication agreement could be used to secure your rights to your publications.
*Keep a copy of the agreement you have signed. Store it permanently.
Authors' rights
AUT leaves copyright in the hands of researchers except for course materials or in other, specific situations:
The following online resources provide good guidelines for copyright owners:
Sharing and archiving
Self-archiving or Institutional repository
A copyright cleared version can be deposited through Research Elements to AUT's open access research repository Tuwhera. The permitted versions vary but often it is the post-print version which is the author's final version after peer-reviewed. Library staff will check publishers' copyright and archiving policies for you.
Share full-text articles on online researcher networks, such as ResearchGate
Make sure you check the following before you post full-text articles onto researcher networks:
- the copyright agreement you signed with your publisher
- the publisher's copyright and sharing policies
Check publisher's self archiving policy
- SHEPA/RoMEO: search for publishers' copyright and self-archiving policies
Manage your copyright
The following are useful articles and videos to help you manage your copyright:
- Richard White's blog post: Who owns copyright in your work?
- Kevin Smith: What copyright licensing issues are involved in digital publishing?
- Kenny Crews' video: Crews urges authors to carefully read their publication agreements, negotiate for the rights they need, and keep a copy of all their agreements.
Creative Commons licences
Creative Commons is a not for profit organization that offers free licences to enhance the use and sharing of creative works. These licences enable authors to control how their works can be used but also allow for the sharing of resources and works in certain ways.
There are six different copyright licence options through Creative Commons - each of these allow different types of use of the specified work. To view these licences and to see what each allows, visit the CC website:
