Copyright is an important aspect of the research publication process and one that cannot be ignored when negotiating publishing contracts. Open access to research is becoming a critically important part of the scholarly communication landscape, and federal funding may even require that you deposit a funded publication in an open access forum like PubMed Central or an institutional repository like SOAR@USA.
Unless you transfer your rights through a publishing contract, you have strong control of the use of your work. This guide will help you understand your rights as a content creator so that you can make more informed decisions in the publication of your scholarly research. We will also review a number of tools to empower you to share your work while controlling its use and offer some tips in negotiating your author rights with publishers.