RoMEO Studies 8: self‐archiving

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this research is to show how the self-archiving of journal papers is a major step towards providing open access to research. However, copyright transfer agreements (CTAs) that are signed by an author prior to publication often indicate whether, and in what form, self-archiving is allowed. The SHERPA/RoMEO database enables easy access to publishers' policies in this area and uses a colourcoding scheme to classify publishers according to their self-archiving status. The database is currently being redeveloped and renamed the Copyright Knowledge Bank. However, it will still assign a colour to individual publishers indicating whether preprints can be self-archived (yellow), post-prints can be self-archived (blue), both preprint and post-print can be archived (green) or neither (white). The nature of CTAs means that these decisions are rarely as straightforward as they may seem, and this paper describes the thinking and considerations that were used in assigning these colours in the light of the underlying principles and definitions of open access.Design/methodology/approach -Detailed analysis of a large number of CTAs led to the development of controlled vocabulary of terms which was carefully analysed to determine how these terms equate to the definition and "spirit" of open access.Findings -The paper reports on how conditions outlined by publishers in their CTAs, such as how or where a paper can be self-archived, affect the assignment of a selfarchiving colour to the publisher.Originality/value -The colour assignment is widely used by authors and repository administrators in determining whether academic papers can be self-archived. This paper provides a starting-point for further discussion and development of publisher classification in the open access environment.

What does ‘green’ open access mean? Tracking twelve years of changes to journal publisher self-archiving policies

“…They explain, "if a publisher allows the self-archiving of pre-prints, but also stipulates that the post-print can only be self-archived in a year's time, i.e., after a one year embargo, then that publisher is awarded the 'yellow' colour, but not the 'blue' or resulting 'green' colour." (Jenkins et al, 2007). In an undated document explaining the RoMEO colours, SHERPA Manager Bill Hubbard makes a similar point: "Since an embargo effectively removes the right of an author to archive their work, even if temporarily, the publisher cannot be categorised as green or blue or yellow."…”

“…The Rights Metadata for Open Archiving (RoMEO) database of journal publisher open access policies (SHERPA, 2016a) was introduced over a decade ago to provide authors with guidance as to whether and how they might self-archive their journal articles to make them available on open access (Jenkins et al, 2007). In that time the database has grown from documenting the self-archiving policies of 107 publishers to 2,192 (as of April 2016).…”

“…Some have referred to "solid", "dotted" and "pale" green as variations (Bailey, 2001). Blue and yellow are considered to be component, but lesser, parts of green (Jenkins et al, 2007). White is colourless and to be avoided.…”

“…The controlled vocabulary took the Bethesda definition of open access (Suber et al, 2003) as the foundation for analysing publisher agreements and allocated each publisher a colour according to their adherence to that definition (Jenkins et al, 2007). The key elements of the Bethesda definition of open access are that: i) a complete version of the work is archived, ii) with all supplementary materials, and iii) deposited immediately in iv) at least one online repository that is v) supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that vi) seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.…”

The Accessibility Quotient: A New Measure of Open Access

“…The database uses language in author copyright agreements and policy statements to determine publishers' self-archiving policies, and assigns publishers a color based on how much self-archiving they allow and for which article version (Jenkins, Probets, Oppenheim, & Hubbard, 2007). Using the SHERPA/RoMEO data, we calculated the percentage of faculty articles in a given department that can be shared openly in a peer-reviewed version according to publisher policy.…”