FAQs

 

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My article has been accepted; what do I do now that Wellesley has adopted the Open Access Policy?

Congratulations! In order to comply with the Open Access Policy, you will need to deposit your scholarly work in the institutional repository, the Wellesley College Digital Repository where the work will be stored, preserved, and made freely available. To deposit your work, please e-mail a copy of your final manuscript to the address repository@wellesley.edu at the time of acceptance. The author's final manuscript is the version which has been peer-reviewed but has not yet been formatted by the publisher.

When signing the copyright agreement, you may notify the publisher of the Open Access Policy by sending along a copy of the policy or the link http://bit.ly/WellesleyOpenAccess.  You have no additional responsibility to interpret the publisher's policies, but feel free to e-mail openaccess@wellesley.edu with any concerns.

Where do I send my manuscript?

Please e-mail your final version (not the publisher's final version) to the address repository@wellesley.edu.  It will then be deposited the institutional repository, the Wellesley College Digital Repository, making it available to scholars and search engines.

 

What version of my manuscript should I send for deposit?

The "post-print" or the "author's final version" is the correct version of the manuscript to send.  The "post-print" or the "author's final version" is the version which has been peer-reviewed, has incorporated all the edits that the reviewers demanded, but has not yet been formatted by the publisher.

The version will be clearly noted in the repository record along with links to the final version and the publisher's website.  Citations and links will be updated as the appropriate references become available.

 

What if I don't want non-exclusive non-commercial rights transferred to Wellesley College?

The Open Access Policy allows you, the author, to retain and share with the College all non-commercial rights to your work. If, for any reason, you do not want to retain these rights, you can request a waiver. Wellesley will then agree to waive its rights to the article. You may do so by contacting openaccess@wellesley.edu.  You may also request a waiver when you submit your article to repository@wellesley.edu. A letter will be supplied in which Wellesley College agrees to waive its rights to this article. 

Even if your article will not be made publicly available, you are encouraged to submit a copy to repository@wellesley.edu for archival purposes. The bibliographical information will be made available through the repository and will be indexed by search engines.

 

What if my publisher doesn't want non-exclusive non-commercial rights transferred to Wellesley College?

A publisher may require that you request a waiver by sending you a licensing agreement that explicitly states so. If you want to comply with this request, you should ask for a waiver.  Wellesley will then agree to waive its rights to the article. You may do so by contacting openaccess@wellesley.edu.  You may also request a waiver when you submit your article to repository@wellesley.edu.  A letter will be supplied in which Wellesley College agrees to waive its rights to this article. 

Even if your article will not be made publicly available, you are encouraged to submit a copy to repository@wellesley.edu for archival purposes. The bibliographical information will be made available through the repository and will be indexed by search engines.

 

My publication was supported by a grant by NSF, NIH or other federal source. What are the implications in terms of Open Access?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that funded research be made publicly accessible.  More specifically, authors' final peer-reviewed manuscripts must be deposited in PubMed Central.  This policy covers all grants and cooperative agreements active in Fiscal Year 2008 or beyond and all contracts awarded after April 7, 2008. The National Science Foundation (NSF) now only has requirements for data.

The federal government’s open access research mandate described in this Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo means that all federally funded publication will eventually be subject to Open Access.

In addition, you should include your final version in our repository, independently of what license the publisher sends (they are often slow to change their license forms).

Why do we have an Open Access Policy?

Our policy is in place in order to give us, faculty, a way of retaining some non-commercial rights for our publications so we can disseminate our work more broadly. Without it, we were giving away all of our rights to a publisher with the hope that they would help in the dissemination and visibility of our work. Unfortunately, most of the time, that was not the case for a variety of reasons.

 

Are there other schools that have adopted an Open Access Policy like ours?

Yes, there is an increasing list of schools that have adopted such a policy. You can find a partial list of schools with such an Open Access Policy online.

 

What kind of publications does the Open Access Policy cover?

The policy covers scholarly articles that describe the fruits of scholars’ research without expectation of payment.  These articles are typically presented in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, conference proceedings, or articles in books. Outside the scope of the Open Access Policy are other kinds of work such as books and commissioned articles, popular writings, fiction and poetry, lecture notes, and case studies.

 

Do I have to publish in open-access journals from now on?

No, the policy does not require that you publish in open-access journals. In  fact, there is no connection between our Open Access Policy and any open-access journals. You may continue to publish in whatever journal you choose.

 

What is the relationship between Wellesley's Open Access Policy and journals that offer open access for a fee?

Open Access Policies, like Wellesley's, have nothing to do with open access journals or journals that offer open access for a fee. Unfortunately, the term "open access" is overused these days.

Some publishers have created new journals that they call "open access" in order to help with the dissemination of scholarly work without the cost boundaries traditionally imposed by some established publishing houses.

Some older publishers, like Wiley, have responded to this movement by introducing an open access option, in which they promise to help disseminate scholarly work in an open access fashion if the authors pay a fee upfront.

Our Open Access Policy is not relevant to your decision as to where to publish. This remains completely your decision. If you happen to publish with a publisher that offers an option of open access dissemination for a fee, and you want to take this option, contact the Faculty Awards Committee.

 

Is the policy retroactive?

No, the policy does not cover scholarly articles accepted prior to February 6, 2013.  In addition, it does not apply to articles completed after you leave Wellesley College.

 

Does the policy apply to co-authored papers?

Yes, each co-author holds joint copyright in the article and, individually, has the authority to grant a nonexclusive license to Wellesley.

 

How do I contact the Scholarly Communications Group?

You may contact the Scholarly Communications Group by email at openaccess@wellesley.edu.  You may also contact the Director, Professor Panagiotis Takis Metaxas, via email or directly at X3054 if you prefer.