Research Publications & Copyright Policy

Add the following Rights Retention Statement (RRS) in the funding acknowledgement section of the manuscript and in any cover letter accompanying the submission:

“For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.”

Inform co-authors about Newcastle University requirements to share the manuscript upon publication with a CC BY licence. If you are not the corresponding author, please request the RRS to be included in the manuscript. If for any reason, one of the co-authors raises this as an issue, then it is possible to opt out of the University’s policy or request a different open licence from openaccess@ncl.ac.uk.

When selecting a journal, check if Newcastle University has a Transformative Agreement with the publisher, you might be eligible to publish your article Gold Open Access with a Creative Commons licence for no extra charge.

Check your Funder OA requirements and ensure your chosen journal complies. You can use the Journal Checker Tool for an initial indication, contacting openaccess@ncl.ac.uk if you are unsure about anything.

Add a data access statement in the paper. Data access statements provide information about where the research data is and how it is accessed. This may be a funder requirement (e.g. UKRI). The Research Data Service can help you understand data management requirements.

When you receive confirmation of acceptance from the publisher ensure your Authors Accepted Manuscript (AAM) is deposited in the institutional repository.

When your article is published and available online please notify lib-myimpact@ncl.ac.uk.

The publisher of your chosen journal may automatically deposit papers to PubMed Central on publication. If the publisher does not automatically deposit, it is possible to self-archive your papers in Europe PMC plus.

In most cases compliance with this policy will be straightforward for authors. However, in exceptional circumstances issues may arise that require staff to opt out of these requirements or to request use of a different Creative Commons licence (e.g. CC BY-ND).

Examples of where authors may wish to submit an opt out request include where:

• The journal refuses to publish the output with the RRS included.
• An author does not have permission to share the accepted manuscript with a CC BY licence immediately on publication because:
• A co-author objects to including the RRS in the paper
• A co-author prefers a different licence (e.g. CC-BY-ND)
• The author has approval from Wellcome/UKRI to apply a CC-BY-ND licence by exception
• The article contains significant 3rd party content which cannot be licensed as CC-BY and the redaction of which would compromise the integrity of the article

To opt out of this policy, or to request a different Creative Commons licence (e.g. CC BY-ND) for a publication, authors should contact the open access team on acceptance. 

Please note that opting out means that the accepted manuscript is subject to standard publisher terms for open access and this may cause the publication to be non-compliant with funder policies.

The policy is designed to allow Newcastle authors to publish in the journal of their choice and comply with funder requirements for immediate open access, regardless of conflicting demands from publishers. The policy will simplify the publishing process, help authors them retain rights to share their research outputs more widely and ensure compliance with both REF and funder requirements for immediate open access.

The policy does not affect an author’s ownership of copyright in their work. By following the policy, authors grant a non-exclusive licence to the University, which allows the institution to defend, as part of a community of universities following the same policy, the prioritisation of funder requirements over publisher terms and conditions.

The policy will apply to research articles that are authored or co-authored while the person is a staff member of the University. The licence granted to the University for the publication is irrevocable, so stays with the institution after an author leaves. However, it is also non‐exclusive, so authors can enter into new agreements with other institutions/parties. In practice an AAM made openly available in our repository under a CC BY licence can be freely downloaded and re-shared by other institutions. Where authors join the University from another institution we would not be able to apply the policy retrospectively to papers that have already been published.

Papers are only eligible for open access through our transformative agreements where the corresponding author is affiliated with Newcastle University. If the corresponding author is based elsewhere the paper may not be covered by a transformative agreement. In such cases use of the RRS will still allow for immediate open access. University authors should therefore ensure that all co-authors are aware of the policy requirement and that the corresponding author agrees to include the RRS in the manuscript.

As mentioned above, University authors should ensure that all co-authors, including international ones, are made aware of the policy requirement at the earliest opportunity. If any problems arise, then authors should contact the open access team for advice.

The policy also applies to any students, who as part of their role working with a staff member, produce research publications (as defined above). This policy does not apply where a student is the sole author.

If a publisher challenges inclusion of the RRS please contact the open access team for advice. Publishers would be expected to do this on submission. If they accept the submission for publication this should not be dependent on removal of the RRS.

When using the RRS, authors should select the subscription publication route. The RSS allows authors to publish articles as subscription access, avoiding open access charges, and provide immediate open access to the accepted manuscript in a repository. The RRS route is usually required where a journal does not meet funder open access requirements, and as such they will not allow us to use their funds to pay open access charges.

Some publishers are introducing charges where the RRS is included in a submission to allow publication of the author accepted manuscript with no embargo (e.g. American Chemical Society's article development charge, ADC). If your funder mandates green open access, with no embargo, we would advise you consider an alternative journal/publisher, as funders are unlikely to pay the ADC and you may not be compliant with funder policy. 

The open access team will temporarily remove the article from public view while it investigates the request in accordance with ePrints repository policies.

Where an article contains significant 3^rd party content that cannot be licensed as CC BY and the redaction of this content would compromise the integrity of the article, authors should request an opt out.

While the default licence is CC BY authors can request another licence be applied to the accepted manuscript. However, please bear in mind that funders including UKRI and Wellcome Trust require use of CC BY (or CC BY-ND if approved by exception).

Please contact the journal as soon as possible to let them know of your intentions to retain your copyright and apply an open licence to the accepted manuscript.