OA scholarly and creative works are accessible online at no cost and made available for all to read, download, print, copy, share, etc. (attribution always required, of course).
How is OA different from open educational resources (OER)?
Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning, and research materials that are either a) in the public domain or b) freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing with no or limited restriction.(Source:Creative Commons Wiki)
OA repositories collect scholarly and creative works. While these works may be used in teaching, this is not the goal of OA.
What is an institutional repository?
An institutional repository collects digital copies of scholarly and creative works such as book chapters, peer reviewed articles, and videos of creative works.
Are other universities implementing OA policies?
Yes, every SUNY campus is required to develop and implement an OA policy per the SUNY Board of Trustees 2018resolution.
According to the Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies (ROARMAP), more than1,000 organizations worldwide have OA policies, 732 of which are research organizations (as of 12/2018).(Source:Potsdam College Libraries)
Questions about SUNY New Paltz’s OA Policy
Why do we need an OA policy?
The SUNY Board of Trustees resolution distributed in 2018 mandated that each SUNY campus develop and implement anOA policy.
What is the goal of the OA policy?
The goal of the OA policy is to establish expectations and guidelines for creating an online digital repository for collecting scholarly and creative works by SUNY New Paltz faculty and staff. All SUNY institutional repositories will be linked and searchable through a single interface, theSUNY Open Access Repository (SOAR).
How does the OA policy affect me?
The OA policy allows New Paltz faculty and staff to participate in depositing their scholarly and creative works into an OA repository. This is an “opt-in” policy which allows you to deposit your work if you wish.
Will the policy affect where and how I publish my work (e.g., do I have to publish in an open access journal)?
The policy does not affect where and how you publish your work. Publishing in open access journals is not required. For more information on open access journals, refer to thisonline guide.
What do I have to do to comply with this policy?
The policy is opt-in meaning you are not required to submit your work to our institutional repository.
Will the STL Librarians be able to tell me if my publication can legally be hosted on SOAR?
No, while the STL librarians can commit to archiving works that faculty contribute, they do not have dedicated time to provide educational programming about copyright, open access or to offer direct outreach to faculty, staff, and students about publications that may be eligible for inclusion in the repository. Please work with your editor and/or publisher prior to submitting to ensure correct permissions are in place.
Does this policy cover student works and theses?
Thesesare not covered by this policy and students are expected to deposit them in SOAR as part of degree completion (or opt out).
Will those who review my personnel file for reappointment, tenure, and /or promotion know whether I have opted to deposit my work? Will it affect the outcome of my review?
The decision to deposit or not will not have any bearing on personnel decisions.
Copyright and Permissions
Do all authors have to agree to deposit their scholarly and creative works?
Yes, for each scholarly and creative work deposited in the institutional repository, the author grants to SUNY New Paltz nonexclusive permission to make that work freely and openly available to the public.
If a work is co-authored, each co-author can grant a non-exclusive license by accepting the deposit agreement without permission of the other co-authors. However, it is recommend that the depositing SUNY author talk with their co-author colleagues prior to submitting the work to the SUNY Open Access Repository to avoid potential disagreements.
How can I find out the copyright and self-archiving policies of a particular publisher?
VisitSherpa Romeoor Transposeto review the copyright and self-archiving policies of many scholarly journals
If I deposit my work, what rights do I retain? How can I control how others may use my work?
It depends upon who owns the copyright
If you retain copyright or it has been published under a Creative Commons license, you will be able to submit it to SUNY NP’s OA repository.
If the publisher retains copyright, you need to follow their policies. You can check the journal’s policies atSherpa Romeoor Transpose.
If you published in an open access journal, your work will most likely have a Creative Commons License attached which is set by the journal. Visit thisCreative Commonswebsite for more information.
What are “green” and “gold” access?
In a “green” OA initiative, authors self-archive works in an institutional repository at no additional cost and must abide by the publisher’s restrictions. The publisher may require an embargo, typically a delay of 12-24 months, before deposited work may be made public. The “gold” OA initiatives allow works to be made available at the time of publication in an open access journal, or a journal that provides an open access option (hybrid model). The author usually must pay an article processing charge and typically will have less control over the reuse of the work. Funding agencies sometimes require authors to share their work in a gold open access or hybrid journal.
Will I have to pay the publisher to make my work public in this way?
The New Paltz repository is a “green access” initiative, which means that no costs are incurred so long as you adhere to any restrictions such as embargoes that the publisher may impose.
My sponsor requires that my work be made available at the time of publication (gold access). Am I required to comply, given that our repository is a “green” access initiative?
Yes, in this case, the work must be deposited at the time of publication. If applicable, the sponsor may cover any article processing charges (APC).
Removal of work
If an author deposits an article in the SUNY Open Access Repository (SOAR) and later learns that the work is in violation of copyright or the policy of the publisher of the work, the Sojourner Truth Library SOAR administrator will remove the work from SOAR.
Types of works
To what kinds of works does this policy apply?
The policy currently covers scholarly and creative work including, but not limited to, peer reviewed articles, book chapters, monographs or co-authored books, conference papers, technical reports, musical scores, performances, exhibitions and catalogs, podcasts, video, and other digital media.
My scholarly work takes a variety of forms. How do I decide what to deposit?
This is an individual decision, but you might think in terms of major creative works that would be included in a dossier for reappointment, tenure or promotion. A variety of digital formats can be used. For example, the catalog from a juried exhibition could be deposited, or images of the works. A musical composition could be deposited as a score, or digital recording of a performance, or both.
I have just had a journal article accepted for publication. What do I submit to the repository?
Many publishers allow authors to archive either the original pre-print of a journal article that was submitted for peer review and possible revisions or the version that is accepted for publication, the Author Accepted Manuscript” (AAM).
My publisher will allow me to make my pre-pub manuscript available after an embargo period of one year. Do I have to wait to deposit it?
We prefer that you submit your manuscript when the embargo period has ended.
Submission process
How do I submit my work?
Faculty and staff need to complete and upload their content through this online form.
How long will it take for my work to be archived on SOAR?
After submissions are received and approved, they will be archived on SOAR in 4-6 weeks.
This policy allows submission of works published from 2020 - present.
SOAR Accessibility
Authors are responsible for the accessibility of the document and should follow guidelines developed by the campus in support of accessibility.
Questions?
Please email Megan Coder (coderm@newpaltz.edu), Librarian and SUNY New Paltz SOAR administrator.
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