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Open Access to Research Policy

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Section 1 - Purpose and Context

(1) The purpose of this policy is to maximise the integrity and impact of research conducted at Western Sydney University by:

  1. ensuring that all of the products and outputs of research, including publications and research data, have been appropriately archived; and
  2. making the products of research openly available for re-use and citation wherever possible.

(2) The University encourages the publication of research outputs using open access methods.

(3) This policy supports University staff in choosing appropriate channels for publication and data dissemination. Scholarly publishing is undergoing rapid change, and there are a variety of publishing avenues available including traditional journal publishing, author-pays Open Access, data-based publications, and new publishing models involving various kinds of peer review, including methodologies where research is done in the open and reported while in progress.

(4) The policy supports the expectation articulated in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) Revised Policy on the Dissemination of Research Findings, and the expectations of major funding bodies, including the Australian Research Council, that the results of publicly-funded research activities should be made widely available.

(5) Under the Intellectual Property Policy, the University reserves a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to use Scholarly Works or Creative Works created by staff for the University's teaching and research purposes. This policy, in its commitment to archive copies of scholarly works and to make them as widely available as possible, exercises this licence.

(6) This policy applies to staff, adjunct and conjoint appointees, students, visiting academics and contractors at the University, and its controlled entities.

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Section 2 - Definitions

(7) For the purpose of this policy:

  1. Open Access means making materials, including publications and data available online and world-wide, in perpetuity, free of charge.
  2. Publisher Version is the formatted, copy-edited version of a research publication distributed by the publisher as opposed to the version submitted by the author.
  3. Reportable Research Publications are those that the University reports to the Australian Government and/or funding bodies.
  4. ResearchDirect is the University's Institutional Repository, and comprises:
    1. a publication archive that includes published research materials produced by staff and, where applicable, students, including Publisher versions of publications; and
    2. a research data archive that includes data that represents the inputs and outputs of research processes or a reference to where this data is archived.
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Section 3 - Policy Statement

(8) Subject to any intellectual property, commercial, privacy and/or ethical constraints researchers will, as soon as possible, make publications and data arising out of research openly available for re-use and citation. Research funding agreements may require that publications and data created through the funded research be made available within a defined timeframe.

(9) ResearchDirect is an official record of the University's research activity. The repository holds both open access materials and materials which are not openly accessible for various reasons, including copies of Reportable Research Publications, Publisher Versions which cannot be made openly available as required for reporting to external entities, as well as a broad range of research outputs that represent the University's research activity.

(10) All publications and data made openly available by the University are made available subject to the operation of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

(11) Copyright owners retain copyright of materials deposited into ResearchDirect.

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Section 4 - Procedures

(12) The University will maintain the ResearchDirect as the University's institutional repository.

(13) The University will provide support for researchers to advise on making research outputs available through ResearchDirect.

(14) The University will maintain a record of the research output of the University by sourcing Publisher Versions of Reportable Research Publications and depositing them into ResearchDirect wherever possible. Where this is not possible the author must source a copy of the Publisher Version of each Reportable Research Publication and deposit it into ResearchDirect.

(15) Authors of research publications which are not Reportable Research as listed in the ResearchDirect Guidelines must make such publications available in the repository.

(16) If the Publisher Version of a publication held in ResearchDirect cannot be made openly available, the author must deposit the most complete draft version in which they hold copyright.

(17) At the time of deposit into ResearchDirect, the author or depositor must provide details about any intellectual property, commercial, privacy, licensing and/or ethical constraints on the redistribution of the publication.

(18) The Library will make all appropriate versions of publications and data available as Open Access wherever possible following an examination of the intellectual property and privacy context supplied by the author on deposit, and copyright checking and examination of publisher and funding-body policies and Open Access embargoes.

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Section 5 - Guidelines

(19) The Library provides guidance on Open Access publishing and copyright, including draft addenda to copyright agreements with publishers to make publications open access. Staff wanting to develop a publishing plan appropriate for their discipline should contact the Library.

(20) The Library should consult with Research Services (Research Services) should there be any ambiguity as to the commercial potential of any publication or data.

(21) Details regarding materials for inclusion in ResearchDirect are listed in the Institutional Research Publications Repository Guidelines.