How to Add Works to K-State's Digital Repository, K-REx

This guide helps members of the K-State community understand how to add RSCAD (Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities, and Discovery) works to the K-State Research Exchange (K-REx), K-State’s digital institutional repository.

Library Research Guide

Copyright and Permissions

Contact the Center for the Advancement of Digital Scholarship for Copyright Information

Email Us - CADS@k-state.edu
Consultation Form
Hale Library 113

Submitters should have an adequate understanding of the copyright and/or permissions status for the works they submit to K-REx

The Scholarly Communication Team will attempt to check the copyright and/or permissions status of submissions before accepting them into K-REx, but accuracy is not guaranteed.

K-State's DMCA agent - Contact information for the individual designated to receive notification of claims of copyright infringement.

Understanding Manuscript Versions

Publishers often make distinctions between three primary versions of a manuscript when detailing the archive or deposit rights retained by authors: the pre-print, the post-print and the publisher's version.

Author's submitted manuscript/Pre-print – A pre-print is the original version of the manuscript as it is submitted to a journal. While the authors may have sought help from their colleagues in selecting data analysis techniques, improving manuscript clarity, and correcting grammar, the pre-print has not been through a process of peer review. It typically looks like a term paper – a double spaced .doc file with minimal formatting.

Author's accepted manuscript/Post-print – A post-print is a document that has been through the peer review process and incorporated reviewer's comments. It is the final version of the paper before it is sent off the journal for publication. It may be missing a final copyedit (if the journal still does that) and won’t be formatted to look like the journal. It still looks like the double spaced .doc file. Sometimes, the term “pre-print” is used interchangeably with “post-print,” but when it comes to permissions issues, it is important to clarify which version of a manuscript is being discussed.

Version of record/Publisher's version/PDF – This is the version of record that is published on the publisher's website. It will look quite spiffy, having been professionally typeset by the publisher. Library databases will link to this version of the paper.

From: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/information-culture/2013/12/16/understanding-your-rights-pre-prints-post-prints-and-publisher-versions/

General Guidelines to Sharing Different Types of Works

Journal Articles and Manuscripts

Subscription Access Articles

If a reader pays a subscription to access the article through the journal, the author(s) are generally able to share the Author's Accepted Manuscript (post-print) and the Author's Submitted Manuscript (pre-print) online.

Open Access Articles

If a reader can access the article free of charge through the journal, especially when an Article Processing Charge (APC) was paid, the author(s) are likely able share the Version of Record (VoR) online.

Book Chapters and Manuscripts

It depends. Permissions for self-archiving/posting works online is highly dependent on the publisher. Authors are encouraged to check their publishing agreement and/or reach out to their publisher to explore whether they can self-archive their book chapter online.

Conference Works

Conference Papers

It depends. Authors who do not sign a publishing agreement are likely able share their work online. Authors who do sign a publishing agreement should review the agreement and/or contact the conference to determine sharing options.

Conference Posters

Authors/Creators are likely able share their work online.

Copyright and Permissions Checking Framework

1. Do You Have Rights to Post Your Work Online?

Have you or your co-author(s) signed anything, such as a publishing agreement, that gave away rights to the work? Creators have rights to copyrightable works unless they agree to give them away. Rightsholders can exercise their rights to share their works online. Note that works licensed under Creative Commons licenses, and many other "open" licenses, may be shared online by their authors.

2. What Author Rights Do You Have?

Agreements that deal with copyright and permissions usually contain information on what rights each party is entitled to, such as whether or under what conditions an author may share a work, or version of a work, online. As an author, here's how to check your authors' rights:

Read the Agreement You and/or Co-author(s) Signed - Authors/creators should keep copies of any agreements they sign regarding to their work(s).
Check the Publisher's/Organization's Policies on Sharing Work Online - Many publishers, especially the larger ones, will have information online about their authors' rights policies, such has if/how one may share work online and whether one may use their published work in their thesis or dissertation. "Self-archiving," "article sharing," "online posting," "authors' rights," and "green open access" are among the names publishers use to describe policies on sharing works online.
(For Journal Publishing Only) Search Sherpa Romeo - Sherpa Romeo is an online resource that aggregates and analyses publisher open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis.

Note for Graduate Students - It is recommended that students who be building their theses, dissertations, or reports (ETDRs) based on published work that they check the policies of a journal before they publish. Graduate students will specifically want to ensure that they will retain the right to use the work in their ETDR. Those who do not secure such rights beforehand risk not being able to include the published work in their thesis or dissertation.

3. Contact the Publisher or Organization

If no or limited information is available on a publisher's or organization's policies regarding sharing work online, it may be helpful to contact them directly and explore if or how a work may be shared. It has become an industry standard for journal publishers, and an emerging trend for some book publishers, to have policies that allow authors to share their submitted manuscripts (pre-prints) and accepted manuscripts (post-prints) following an embargo period. Encouraging publishers who have not yet adopted online sharing policies to develop such policies will help future authors better understand how they can legally share their work and help increase their impact.

How to protect your work from being taken down: Pre-prints, post-prints, and publisher's PDF explained
Archiving your research article can make your work freely accessible, for free, stops your research from being taken down, and gets you a wider audience to increase your research impact. But, it can be a bit tricky to know your rights and choose the right version of your work to share. Here we outline the various versions of your article, how to find them, and when you can share them.
Three Paths to Open Access
There is likely a path to open access, no matter the journal or publisher.