Resources for Editors of Scholarly Journals: Publication Agreements

Publication agreements (sometimes known as copyright transfer agreements) are contracts between a publisher and an author that are signed before an article can be published.   Publication agreements outline the rights and responsibilities of both parties.

Terms in publication agreements can vary from journal to journal, but most publication agreements:

• Define who owns the copyrights to the article after it is published, or the terms of any license that the author is granting the publisher instead of copyrights.
• Outline what the author can do with the article after publication: 
  • Using the article in teaching, including inclusion in course packs
  • Making a copy available on a web site or in an institutional repository
  • Reusing content in subsequent articles, or reprinting as a whole as a chapter in a book
• Specify how requirements of funding mandates (such as those stipulated by NIH and other federal funding agencies) will be carried out.

For more information about publication agreements, we suggest you start with the following:

• Sample Publication Agreements (University of Michigan)
  The University of Michigan has sample publication agreements between the author and the journal that can be modified for use by any journal.

• The Evolution of Publishing Agreements at the University of Michigan Library
  Kevin Hawkins, formerly with Michigan Publishing, describes the development of the publication agreements used at the University of Michigan publishing program, including the situations in which each was used.

• A Model OA Journal Publication Agreement
  Stuart Shieber's sample Open Access publication agreement that can be adapted for any Open Access journal.

• Example Copyright Agreement (CCBY)
  This is an example of a publication agreement for articles that will have a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY).