University of Exeter Institutional Rights Retention Policy

Abstract

The University of Exeter fully supports the shift to open access and believes that asserting Rights Retention can benefit wider society. The University aims to disseminate research and scholarship widely while complying with funder requirements and allowing researchers to publish in their preferred journals. Traditionally, researchers signed a Copyright Transfer Agreement, transferring copyright to the publisher. The publisher's ownership of copyright in the article limits researchers' freedom to use their own work as they wish. Restrictions imposed by the publisher may include embargoes on access and limitations on licensing options for the author accepted manuscript deposited in an institutional repository. The Rights Retention policy at Exeter enables researchers to make a full-version of their peer-reviewed articles available as open access through self-archiving while retaining copyright and granting the University a non-exclusive license for distribution through the institutional repository, Open Research Exeter (ORE). This policy aligns with funder requirements and the University's commitment to enable and promote Open Research.