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Open Access to UNE Research Publications and Data Policy

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Section 1 - Overview

(1) This Policy provides a framework for the University of New England's commitment to provide open access to the outputs of University scholarship and research.

(2) The University recognises that free and open access to publicly-funded research offers significant social and economic benefit.

(3) Compliance with this Policy enables UNE Authors to meet the requirements of research funding bodies for responsible publication and dissemination of research outputs.

(4) This policy must be read in conjunction with the Open Access to UNE Research Publications and Data Procedures, which support this Policy.

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Section 2 - Scope

(5) This Policy applies to all individuals associated with the University, and working and/or publishing under the auspices of the University of New England. This includes employees, emeriti, adjunct and honorary appointments, research students and postdoctoral fellows. In this Policy, these individuals are referred to as the UNE Author.

(6) This Policy applies to all material that represents the research and scholarly output of the University. Material covered by this policy includes, but is not limited to:

  1. refereed research articles and conference papers at the post-peer review stage;
  2. datasets related to research conducted at UNE;
  3. material forming the whole or part of work examined and accepted for the award of a University of New England Higher Degree by Research, and
  4. non-traditional research outputs.
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Section 3 - Policy

Principles

(7) The University requires UNE Authors to submit their research output(s) to Research UNE (RUNE) under the terms of this policy.

(8) Submitted research outputs will be made openly accessible via RUNE except where this is restricted by publisher policy or incompatible licensing or assignment agreement.

(9) RUNE will expose whichever version, closest to the final published version, the publisher or copyright owner permits.

Quality Assurance

(10) Success of this Policy will be demonstrated by an increase in open access to and discoverability of the research output of the University.

(11) Comments and suggestions for the review of this policy should be directed to the Director Library Services and University Librarian .

Authority

(12) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor or designate is responsible for:

  1. interpreting this Policy;
  2. resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application;
  3. making decisions regarding waivers, and
  4. recommending changes to this policy from time to time.

4. Responsibilities

(13) The University is responsible for:

  1. maintaining and supporting the mechanism to facilitate compliance with this Policy through RUNE, and
  2. supporting open access to research data under the terms of the Management and Storage of Research Data and Materials Policy by providing links between metadata, data, and open access publications.

(14) The Library Services is responsible for:

  1. making a UNE Author's submitted research outputs available as open access through RUNE, and
  2. providing information and advice to UNE Authors on how to retain the copyright of work and not assign exclusive rights to any third party.

(15) Each UNE Author:

  1. remains the copyright owner unless that Author chooses to transfer the copyright to a publisher;
  2. grants to the University non-exclusive rights to disseminate their research output via RUNE;
  3. is responsible for disclosure and submission of relevant research outputs and documentation, and
  4. is encouraged to seek and use, where appropriate, research funding to pay Article Processing Fee/Charges, if wishing to publish in an open-access journal, and must still submit their research output under the terms of this policy.

Breaches

(16) Breaches of this Policy may result in action being taken in accordance with the University Code of Conduct for Research.

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Section 4 - Definitions

(17) Article processing fee/charge is the payment sometimes required by a publisher for the work to be published as open access.

(18) Author is the creator of an original work.

(19) Research UNE is the institutional repository for the research outputs of UNE, governed by the Research UNE Deposit, Collection and Access Rule.

(20) Copyright is a set of exclusive rights automatically granted to authors and creators of original works, such as literary works, film, musical works, sound recordings, paintings, photographs, software and industrial designs that are expressed in tangible or material form. It does not protect the ideas themselves.

(21) Embargo is a requirement, usually from a publisher, that open access be delayed for a specified period of time.

(22) Metadata are descriptions of research data and/or research material sets in accordance with established metadata schema.

(23) Non-traditional research outputs are research outputs which do not take the form of published books, book chapters, journal articles or conference publications, including but not limited to original creative works, live performance of creative works, recorded/rendered creative works, curated or produced substantial public exhibitions and events.

(24) Open access means immediate, permanent, unrestricted, free, online access to the full text of refereed research publications.

(25) Post-peer review version is the version of the paper after peer review, with revisions having been made. (Sometimes this is referred to as the post-print version.) This means that in terms of content, the article is as published. However, in terms of appearance, this might not be the same as the published article, as publishers often reserve for themselves their own arrangement of type-setting and formatting. Typically, this means that the author cannot use the publisher-generated pdf file, but must make his/her own pdf version for submission to a repository.

(26) Pre-peer review version is the version before revisions arising from peer review are made. This is sometimes referred to as the pre-print version.

(27) Research data means data as facts, observations, computer results, measurements or experiences on which an argument, theory or test is based. Data may be numerical, descriptive or visual. Data may be raw or analysed, experimental or observational. Data include records that are necessary for the reconstruction and evaluation of reported results of research and the events and processes leading to those results, regardless of the form or the media on which they may be recorded.

(28) Research funding includes grants or funds set aside by Schools or Research Institutes to support research activities.

(29) Research funding bodies are public or private organisations in Australia and internationally, which fund research.

(30) Research outputs means scholarly and research literature, including articles, conference papers and selected creative works created by a UNE Author.

(31) UNE Author is an individual associated with the University of New England, and publishing under the auspices of the University, including employees, emeriti, adjunct and honorary appointments, research students and postdoctoral fellows.

(32) Waiver is where the UNE Author seeks approval for a research output to be exempt from being available under the terms of this policy.