Research Repository UCD: Copyright and Licences

96% of papers uploaded to the Repository in the last two years were approved when the correct version was uploaded. Read our brief Information Sheet.

All items in Research Repository UCD are available under the:

You may reuse these items as long as you cite the original authors and do not reproduce them for commercial purposes.

For other possible restrictions on use please refer to the publisher's URL where this is made available, or to notes contained in the item itself. Other terms may apply.

No. Every item uploaded is checked before going online. Library staff have a number of checks in place to ensure that copyright is never infringed.
 
There are different copyright agreements that you may have signed when you published your paper. The publisher's policy with regard to authors uploading copies of papers into repositories differs from one publisher to the next, and often from one journal to the next.
 
Due to progress by the Open Access movement, a significant number of publishers now allow authors to upload a copy of their article into an institutional repository, sometimes with a period of restricted access or embargo.  Library staff will always check this for you after you have uploaded your paper.

For more information please see the next box: Can I Check the Copyright Myself Before Uploading My Paper?​

The vast majority of journals and publishers allow you to upload your final, peer-reviewed draft to Research Repository. As a core service of the Repository, every item you upload will be checked to ensure that your journal or publisher's policy has been met.

Library staff will:

• Ensure that you have submitted the correct version and contact you with any queries.
• Check your publication date and hold the item off-line until that date.
• Determine whether your publisher requires you to wait a set period before putting your paper online (e.g. 6, 12 or 18 months), and apply this embargo for you. The item will appear in the Repository (and therefore Google, etc.), but the full text will be unavailable until the embargo is automatically lifted by the Repository software.
• Add the publisher's set copyright statement if required.
• Add a link and/or DOI to the item record and the PDF to direct end users to the published version.
• Include full citation details in the item record and in the PDF.

All items will be held off-line until the copyright holder's policy has been ascertained and adhered to.

If you do not have a copy of the copyright agreement or if the agreement does not address the question of self-archiving (i.e. submitting papers to Research Repository UCD), you may find it helpful to check the SHERPA/RoMEO database. This database lists copyright and self-archiving policies for a number of publishers although it should be noted that it is not 100% comprehensive in its coverage of journal publishers. It should also be noted that the situation regarding publisher policies can change.

If the publisher is not listed on the RoMEO database you may be able to find details of the copyright agreement you signed on the publisher's web site (often within the section on guidelines or instructions for authors and contributors).

If you do have a copy of the copyright agreement and it appears to forbid submission to a repository, you should bear in mind that the publisher's policy may have changed since the agreement was drawn up and that the change may be retrospective.

It should be noted that, even when copyright is not retained by the author, most publishers allow their authors to self-archive. For more information please see our separate Copyright Guide, or ask the Library staff to check on your behalf.  Please see the following links:

If your item includes third-party content such as images of artwork or musical quotations, you will need to check the documentation and communications your publisher has sent you regarding the publication.

If you received permission from the third-party copyright owner(s) to both a) publish the paper with the third-party content, and b) archive it in an open access repository, then you can upload the papers to Research Repository UCD.

If you have not explicitly received permission for both of these, please contact Joseph Greene, Repository Librarian (joseph.greene@ucd.ie) .

A comprehensive listing of the copyright and self-archiving policies of publishers is available on the Sherpa Romeo site: 

The listing below includes in more detail the policies of the most common publishers of UCD items (journal articles and book chapter) including embargoes. All embargoes are managed by Library staff; where one exists only the details of the paper will be made available in the Research Repository until the embargo period is reached, at which point it will automatically be made live in the Repository:

Elsevier operates the most restrictive embargoes, with lengths varying between journals. As of January 2017 the list below outlines these: