Copyright in Publishing
As researchers, understanding copyright law provides a significant advantage. These laws shape how you can use others’ content and how others may use your work. A proper understanding of the rules will help you protect your work, maximize its impact, and operate confidently within the research environment.
This page is intended to provide general information and guidelines only and does not constitute legal advice or instructions for action. It is recommended to consult the authorized campus offices for such advice.
- Copyright Transfer Agreements
Many traditional publishing models require authors to transfer the copyright of their research outputs to publishers by signing a Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA). These agreements vary from publisher to publisher and define which rights are transferred.
Below are the rights granted to the researcher before signing the agreement:
- Make copies for teaching, research, and academic activities
- Use portions of the work to create other works
- Create derivative works
- Modify, translate, add to, or update the work
- Be identified as the author of the work
- Receive information about the use, reproduction, or distribution of the work
- Include the work or parts of it in a thesis, dissertation, or future publication
- Present orally in any forum
- Store and preserve the work on a personal website or in an institutional repository
- Claim ownership of an earlier version (pre-print) of the work
Therefore, it is essential to read the Copyright Transfer Agreement carefully and consider whether negotiation is appropriate.
- How to Retain Your Rights When Publishing an Article?
When signing publishing agreements, you can choose among several options:
- Transfer copyright but retain certain rights, such as the right to upload a version to a personal site or institutional repository. To do this, you can add appendices to publishing agreements using tools such as:
- Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine, which generates a PDF file to attach to the agreement
- SPARC Author Addendum, which provides a ready-to-use form to include with the publishing agreement
- Choose a publisher with a more open policy, allowing the use of Creative Commons licenses or deposit in institutional repositories. Such publishers can be found using the Open Policy Finder database.
- If the article is published in a journal that permits deposit in Bar-Ilan’s institutional repository, you can do so via the submission form and make it publicly accessible through the CRIS Portal.
- Transfer copyright but retain certain rights, such as the right to upload a version to a personal site or institutional repository. To do this, you can add appendices to publishing agreements using tools such as:
- How to Choose a License?
- Check the publisher’s website to see which licenses are offered or required.
- Consult the Open Policy Finder database to review the publisher’s policy regarding the different versions of the article (Published, Accepted, Pre-print), and select a license that allows the widest possible range of uses.
- If the research is funded by a research grant, verify the requirements of the funding body.
- For open access publishing, use the Creative Commons license tool.
- Creative Commons Licenses for Open Access Publishing
- For open access publishing, use tools that assist in selecting a Creative Commons license.
Creative Commons licenses allow authors to determine how others may use their work—without the need for additional permission.
There are six common licenses, which differ in the level of restriction they impose on users.
- Choosing a Creative Commons License for Your Research
There is no need to apply for or pay for a Creative Commons license. These licenses are free and easy to use.
To select a Creative Commons license for your work:
- Use the Creative Commons License Chooser tool to choose the license that matches how you want others to use your publication.
- Add a statement to your work that includes:
- The name of the license (e.g., CC BY 4.0)
- A link to the license
- A copyright notice, if required
- The appropriate license icon, if desired
- Publish or share the article.
- Once your work is marked with the license and made publicly available, the license takes effect. There is no need to register it or notify Creative Commons.
- Assistance and Support
You are welcome to contact Dr. Yehudit Shkolnisky Lieberman, the Scholarly Communication and Research Librarian, for help with the following:
- Personal consultation on Creative Commons licenses and assistance in selecting the appropriate license
- Guidance on understanding publisher permissions regarding the possible uses of different article versions (Published, Accepted, Pre-print)
- Support for uploading articles to the institutional repository
