JISC / SURF Model License to Publish

JISC and SURF have produced a model license intended to "help authors make appropriate arrangements with publishers for the publication of a journal article."

The key features of the model license are (from the press release):

• "copyright in the published work remains with the author;
• the author grants the publisher a licence to publish the work;
• the licence takes effect as soon as the publisher has indicated that it wishes to publish the work;
• once the article has been published, the author can make it publicly accessible – in the form in which it was published by the publisher – by making it available as part of a digital scientific collection (a “repository”).
• if the publisher so requests, the start of such public accessibility can be delayed for a maximum of six months".

Use of the License to Publish is supported by the Wellcome Trust who have recently issued a Position Statement in Support of Open and Unrestricted Access to Published Research.

For more information and to download a copy of the 'License to Publish' please go to the SURF Copyright Toolbox.