Open Research and Scholarly Publications (NEW): Information for Co-Authors

The Coventry University Research Publications and Rights Retention Standard enables authors to retain copyright over their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) for journal articles and conference proceedings. Under this Standard, all Coventry University authors automatically grant the University a perpetual, royalty-free in all formats (known or to be devised), sub-licensable, non-exclusive licence to use, copy, publish and distribute the AAM of their scholarly papers available from the University's institutional repository, Pure, immediately Open Access (OA) on publication under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence.

To ensure there is clarity about this position in contract law, Coventry University authors must include a Rights Retention (RR) statement on their submitted manuscripts to journal articles and conference proceedings.  This statement notifies the publisher that the authors have already applied a CC-BY licence to any AAM that arises from this submission. Once the publisher has accepted your submission for publication, the AAM can be made available in Pure from the first day of publication under a CC-BY licence. 

If you are the corresponding or lead author working with a Coventry University author, the following statement should be included in the funding or acknowledgement section of the submitted manuscript:

Rights Retention Statement: "For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising."

Alternatively, you can include a statement that acknowledges the funding supporting the research output: "This research was funded in whole, or in part, by [insert funder name and grant number]. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising."

Some funders suggest specific statements to be use.  Please see our Rights Retention Statements page for some examples.

The Coventry University author will want the agreement of all co-authors to include the RR statement when submitting the article. Agreement confirms that you and your co-authors are licensing your jointly owned copyright to Coventry University to disseminate the AAM immediately on publication under a CC-BY licence. Coventry University will sub-licence your copyright in the AAM to your home institution, meaning that if all co-authors agree you will be able to deposit the AAM in your home institutional repository.

We recommend that Coventry authors email co-authors regarding the addition of the RR statement and seek a response confirming their agreement. When you have agreement, and your paper has been accepted, we recommend that you deposit your AAM in Pure as soon as possible.

What if my co-author wants a different licence?

If a co-author would like the work to be shared under a different CC licence, please contact rightsretention@coventry.ac.uk to opt out of the Standard and provide details of the alternative licence. If you are in receipt of funded from a grant organisation that supports RR, you would need to check the grant conditions to ensure you are compliant.

What if my co-author does not agree?

If you would like to follow the publisher's OA policy which may require an embargo period of between 6 and 24 months and/or does not allow for the use of a CC-BY licence, then please contact rightsretention@coventry.ac.uk. If you are in receipt of funded from a grant organisation that supports RR, you would need to check the grant conditions to ensure you are compliant.

If you are an external co-author and you or your institution's repository team have any questions, please contact rightsretention@coventry.ac.uk.

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