What does it come down to?
Hasselt University supports an Open Access vision based on the 'green road'. This means that every UHasselt author who publishes peer-reviewed journal articles and/or peer-reviewed proceedings papers in a paid journal or proceedings book, commits herself or himself to include the author's versions of these publications in the Document Server@UHasselt (i.e. the institutional repository of Hasselt University). By the author's version we mean the last version of the text after peer review, but before the final layout of the publisher. This version is also known as the 'post-reviewed preprint', 'accepted version', 'postprint', 'post-refereed print' or 'author's accepted manuscript (AAM)'. This author's version can be made freely available, whether or not after an embargo period. This always happens in compliance with the copyright policy of the publisher (cf. tool to check this is the Sherpa Romeo database).
For clarity:
- The University Library also aims to include the published version in the Document Server. It is only made accessible within Hasselt University via the closed intranet.
- If the publisher allows the published version to be made public entirely (eg. if you have published in a gold Open Access journal), only the published version is uploaded and made available to everyone; uploading the author's version is of course superfluous in that case.
What is expected of each UHasselt author?
All UHasselt authors are expected to upload the author’s version of their peer-reviewed publications from subscription journals and proceedings in the repository of Hasselt University (cf. Document Server@UHasselt). We recommend executing the upload of the publication concurrent to its official publication by the publisher. If desired, this task can be outsourced to a colleague or secretarial assistant.
The University Library checks the publisher's Open Access policy for each uploaded text and adjusts access in the Document Server accordingly. This results in three options:
- open access: the full text is freely available to everyone, including external parties.
- restricted access: although an embargo has been imposed on the full text, it can nevertheless be consulted by UHasselt staff and UHasselt students once they have logged in.
- closed access: an embargo has been imposed on the full text and it cannot be consulted by anyone; if required, an embargo can even be imposed on the metadata.
For clarity:
- The UHasselt author will receive an email confirming the successful inclusion of her/his work in the repository. Should there be any missing details, the University Library will contact the UHasselt author.
- Publications that are recorded in the Web of Science are checked by the University Library once they have been included in the Web of Science, and if necessary uploaded to the Document Server, after which - if necessary - the researcher is asked for the author’s version.
- UHasselt authors are personally responsible for the correctness and completeness of their publications list.
- The University Library assumes that the copyright agreements that are stated for each publisher on Sherpa Romeo apply. It is the responsibility of the University Library to correctly apply this information. However, if specific agreements have been made between the UHasselt author and the publisher about making the text available via the internet or if certain intellectual rights must be taken into account, the UHasselt author must report this to the University Library.
Follow-up
After deposit, any adjustments or corrections to publications can be passed on to the University Library, which bears ultimate responsibility for this. In the event of any discussion about publication categories, the Research Coordination Office will be contacted, which will also deal with all other disputes.
Why does Hasselt University choose for the 'green road'?
Choosing the ‘green road’ option has a lot of advantages:
- many research funds mandate making publications available in Open Access, and by depositing the author’s version in the Document Server, you comply to this mandate (especially if the funder can agree to a short embargo period);
- European policy wants to introduce Open Access as a publication standard;
- maximum archiving (long-term storage) of the own publication output, so that current and future students and researchers have access to UHasselt research;
- no barriers when publishing; free choice of journal is guaranteed;
- much cheaper than the golden road;
- no risk of "double dipping" wherein the publishers retain both the fee for the open access publication of an article ('APC') plus the regular subscription price for the journal;
- publication lists can be exported and integrated in websites;
- link with various other UHasselt applications to avoid double entry