LibGuides: Copyright and Intellectual Property: Types of Publishing Agreements

Always Read Your Agreement

Policies and agreements vary considerably between publishers, and sometimes even between journals owned or managed by the same publisher. The SHERPA/RoMEO database offers a summary of publisher copyright & self-archiving policies. Columbia Law School--Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts has sample clauses found in publishing contracts taken verbatim from the contract and explained in plain English as well as a helpful rating system.

Here are some examples of the breadth of Academic Journal Publication Agreements:

American Physical Society (Physical Review Journals)
copyright is transferred but clear and extensive rights are retained by the author.
Nature Group publication agreement:
copyright is transferred, and some rights retained by the author.
London Mathematical Society (Publication Agreement):
author retains copyright, exclusive license for limited rights granted to publisher.
Public Library of Science (PLoS) (Open Access License):
author retains copyright, published under Creative Commons license.
Association for Computing Machinery general copyright police:
includes multiple options, transfer of copyright with the author(s) receiving a license, or exclusive license for publication and distribution rights to ACM, author retains copyright.

However, publisher policies evolve over time and the general terms stated on their web sites can vary from the terms actually sent to authors, so it is important to read the agreement itself.

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