University of North Texas Adopts an Open Access Policy

The University of North Texas has adopted an open access policy.

Here's the policy:

UNT Community Members agree to the following: In support of greater access to scholarly works, UNT Community Members agree to the following process for peer-reviewed, accepted-for-publication journal article:

—Deposit: Each UNT Community Member deposits a digital copy of his/her accepted manuscript or version of record of the journal article (as allowed by the publisher’s policy) no later than the date of its publication. Deposit is made into the UNT Libraries scholarly works repository. The Provost or Provost’s designate (e.g., the Scholarly Communication Officer) will waive deposit of articles by Community Members as requested.

—Open Access/Optional Delayed Open Access: The author is encouraged to make the deposit available to the public by setting access to the deposit as Open Access Immediately Upon Deposit (the default). Upon express direction by a UNT Community Member for an individual article, the Provost or Provost’s designate (e.g., the Scholarly Communication Officer) will adjust the Open Access Immediately Upon Deposit requirement to align with the UNT Community Member’s request and/or to align with publisher’s policies regarding open access of self-archived works. This policy supports broad dissemination of UNT scholarly works, but for various reasons, not all individual works will be accessible in whole or in part.

The following three levels of access will be implemented:

  • Open access to the public (default)
  • Limited access in either time (e.g., an embargo period) or to specific groups (e.g., UNT Community Members)
  • Closed, No Access

—Licensing: Each UNT Community Member grants to UNT permission to make scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles to which he or she made intellectual contributions publicly available in the UNT Libraries scholarly works repository for the purpose of open dissemination and preservation, subject to publishers’ restrictions. In legal terms, each UNT community member grants to UNT for each of his or her scholarly articles a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise those rights under copyright that the author retains in any agreements with the article’s publishers. The Provost or Provost’s designate (e.g., the Scholarly Communication Officer) will waive application of the license for articles by Community Members as requested.

—Who Deposits: In the case of multiple authors from multiple institutions, where a UNT Community Member has made intellectual contributions to the article, the UNT Community Member deposits a copy of the article. In the case of multiple UNT authors, and where the lead author is from UNT, the lead author (or designate) deposits a copy of the article. The UNT Community Member should inform all co-authors of deposit in the UNT Libraries scholarly works repository.

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Author: Charles W. Bailey, Jr.

Charles W. Bailey, Jr.