Copyright Information

A Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) is a legal document granting full or partial rights from the owner to another party, such as a publisher.

After your article is accepted, you will be asked to sign a document frequently called an Authorship Agreement or CTA. Read this document very carefully and make sure you fully understand it before signing; you may be giving up the right to re-use your own scholarship. Contact Melissa Jadlos if you would like assistance interpreting the agreement: mjadlos@sjf.edu. 

Use can also use a copyright addendum generator, linked below, to assist you in retaining certain rights when you publish an article. This was created by  the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC).

Publishing and Copyright

While considering the copyright protections of your scholarship, you may also wish to consult our Publishing Guide, linked below. This is a guide intended for faculty who are publishing in various mediums and disciplines.

"Open Access stands for unrestricted access and unrestricted reuse. With Open Access, researchers can read and build on the findings of others without restriction. Much scientific and medical research is paid for with public funds. Open Access allows taxpayers to see the results of their investment. Open Access means that teachers and their students have access to the latest research findings throughout the world."  Source: Public Library of Science.

Types of Open Access

There are a number of types or levels of open access. This is often determined by individual publishers.

• Green Open Access: self-archiving your accepted manuscript in an open and free to access institutional repository (like Fisher Digital Publications). Publishers or journals that allow for immediate deposit of scholarship in an institutional or subject repository are Green Open Access. An embargo period usually applies. 
• Gold Open Access: publishing your "version of record" or official work on the publisher or journal's website. Usually fees (frequently called Article Processing Fees/Charges) are paid by the author or institution to make work freely available. 
• Diamond Open Access: like gold open access, your work is immediately open access in a journal, but without any fees paid by the you/the author or institution.

Why Open Access

Creative Commons is an initiative to support the open and available dissemination of research and created works through licenses rather than copyright protection. There are various types of licenses available and Creative Commons is there to make the sharing and innovation of research and culture easier and more possible than the current state of copyright allows. As a creator and a user, visit the link below to learn more.

Although works may be copyrighted without being registered with the Copyright Office, it is important to register a copyright on your works should you ever find your works being infringed. Copyright notice must contain the following three elements:

1. © (the letter C with a circle around it) OR the word “Copyright”
2. the year of the first publication of the work (not required for pictorial, graphic or sculptural works even if text is included with the art)
3. the copyright owner’s name or recognized abbreviation of it