The Policy

The Open Access Policy, adopted on February 6, 2013, states:

"Each Faculty member grants to Wellesley College permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles. More specifically, each Faculty member grants to Wellesley College a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, provided that the articles are not sold for a profit, and to authorize others to do the same. The Provost or Provost’s designate will waive application of the license for a particular article or delay access for a specified period of time upon express direction by a Faculty member.

Each Faculty member will provide an electronic copy of the author’s final version of each article no later than the date of its publication at no charge to the appropriate representative of the Provost’s Office in an appropriate format specified by the Provost’s Office. The Provost’s Office may make the article available to the public in an open-­access repository. 

The Office of the Provost will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the Faculty from time to time."

The description of the policy on the Provost's website is also accessible online.

Policy Guidelines

In order to comply with the Open Access Policy, faculty authors should deposit scholarly work in the institutional repository, the Wellesley College Digital Repository where the work will be stored, preserved, and made freely available.  At the time of acceptance, faculty authors should e-mail copies of their final manuscripts to the address repository@wellesley.edu. The author's final manuscript is the version which has been peer-reviewed but has not yet been formatted by the publisher.

Policy Definitions

Scholarly articles: Included are articles that describe the fruits of scholars’ research without expectation of payment and typically presented in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and conference proceedings. Outside the scope are other writings such as books and commissioned articles, popular writings, fiction and poetry, lecture notes, and case studies.

Nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license: After granting nonexclusive permission to Wellesley, you still retain ownership and control of the copyright in your writings, subject only to this prior license. For example, you can exercise your copyrights in any way you see fit, including transferring them to a publisher.  The permission granted to Wellesley may not be taken back except by a waiver. There are no fees associated with the permission granted. The permissions apply worldwide.

Not sold for a profit: Wellesley College cannot generate a profit from exercising the rights granted.

Authorize others to do the same: The copyright holder has the sole right to authorize others to exercise any of the five rights under copyright, and the right to authorize others to exercise rights. This language transfers the nonexclusive right to Wellesley to allow the authors themselves and other colleagues to use the articles in specified ways and contexts such as teaching.
 
Author's final version of the article: Also called the post-print, this version has been peer-reviewed but not formatted by the publisher