Author Rights

In agreeing to publish an article in a peer-reviewed journal, an author must retain key rights in order legally to be able to post that article on his or her personal Web site or to submit to an open repository. Signing a traditional publishing agreement may mean giving those rights away. Learn more about retaining rights and the tools that are available to help authors to do so.

Campus Open Access Policies

The following resources support institutions exploring campus-wide policies for Open Access to research. Included are background on the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences policy, the first in which U.S. faculty voted unanimously for Open Access to be made the default; a guide to implementing a similar policy; and additional tools including videos from the SPARC-ACRL forum.

Campus-based publishing resource center

This site provides information for libraries, presses, and other academic units interested in launching and maintaining campus-based publishing partnerships. The resource is maintained by an editorial board representing library and university press staff actively engaged in creating and managing publishing partnerships. It reflects their practical experience and provides information on current developments, as well as guidance on best practices.

Repositories

The following resources may be helpful for those interested in establishing, accessing, or just educating themselves about online repositories, both institutional and disciplinary. Resources include guides, presentation materials, and handbooks produced by SPARC and other organizations. These provide definitions and developments in the field, and point those interested to the growing number of repositories.

Industry Roundup

A regular feature of SPARC enews for many years, Industry Roundup now has a home on the Web. View online or subscribe to enews for updates on innovations, partnerships, new projects, and more in the information industry.

Journal Pricing

A list of available references to monitor trends in journal pricing since the late 1990s.

Open Access

This section includes resources to help you understand and communicate the case for open access in scholarly communication. Open access is defined as the dissemination of scientific and scholarly research literature online, free of charge, and free of unnecessary licensing restrictions. Materials below present the latest developments in the open access movement.

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are a logical extension of what the library community supports in the Open Access movement, and underscore the need for the larger playing field on which scholarly communication takes place to be made more equitable. OER focus not only on journals, but also on full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials or techniques that are critical in the learning environment.

Public Access

Advocates for public access seek the public availability of federally funded research. Proponents believe that research made possible by taxpayers should be posted on online repositories to be made accessible to all. SPARC actively pursues international taxpayer access through:

• SPARC's Advocacy Program
• The Alliance for Taxpayer Access

Also see Meetings & Events for transcripts and recordings of presentations related to Public Access.

Open Data

• In early 2010, the Open Knowledge Foundation has released The Panton Principles for Open Data and an "Is it Open Data?" query service. The combination of the Panton Principles with the Open Knowledge/Data definition provides a strong foundation for the Open Data to begin to make significant progress in raising awareness. 
• SPARC Open Data Email Discussion List. Provides a forum for participants to explore issues of access to digital data associated with peer-reviewed STM research. The list’s emphasis is on defining the scope of Open Data and collecting examples of desirable and undesirable practices.
• SPARC-ACRL Forum on Open Data (June 2006)

Libraries

SPARC serves its members and the academic community as a whole through the pursuit of three strategic directions. As well as reading about SPARC Membership, librarians can learn more about effecting change on their campuses by exploring tools and publications in each of these areas:

• Advocacy
• Education - SPARC Publications and Resources
• Publisher Partnerships

See also:

• ACRL's Scholarly Communications Toolkit
• ARL Office of Scholarly Communication
• Information Access Alliance

Students

The Right to Research, a SPARC campaign introduced in early 2008, invites college students to consider the question of access to research along with the potential of unfettered access to scholarship. As future authors of scholarly content, students have a singular opportunity to change the way research is shared.

Authors

Authors and researchers in all disciplines have many options for sharing their research more widely. Retaining your rights to the articles you produce, supporting public repositories, and exploring new ways to share research are some that are presented here.

Publishers

SPARC pursues collaborative partnerships with the non-profit publishing community. Together, SPARC and its partners develop tools that allow publishers to remain competitive, while providing affordable options for libraries. This section features guides and planning resources for new and established publishers, information about SPARC's partner programs, details on SPARC consulting services, and a list of selected available technologies. Also see the new Campus-based publishing resource center.

Media

SPARC is a resource to reporters from a wide range of publications; they are invited to contact SPARC staff for information and comment, to explore our Web site for detailed information on any topic, and to join our media list for time-sensitive announcements.