Rights retention policy

Nord University's rights retention policy

Nord University has adopted the following rights retention policy that applies to scholarly journal articles published 01.09.2023 onwards (archival ref. 23/00706-3).

• Nord University has a non-exclusive right to make all scholarly articles authored by researchers affiliated with Nord available under the terms of a Creative Commons licence.
• Researchers who wish to opt out of the rights retention policy, may do so for individual articles. It is not required to state the reason(s) for the opt out.
• The University Library will make the scholarly articles openly accessible in the institutional (in future: national) repository. Of articles that are OA with an open licence on the publisher’s website, the published version will be made accessible under the same licence used by the publisher. Of articles that are not OA (not under an open licence) on the publisher’s website, the accepted version will be made accessible by default under a Creative Commons Attribution – CC BY licence.
• Nord University is responsible for interpreting this policy and resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application.

What does the rights retention policy mean to you as a Nord author?

It ensures that you always can make at least the accepted version available immediately (upon publication in the journal, i.e. without an embargo period) in the institutional repository Nord Open Research Archive.

• If your article is published Open Access with an open licence on the journal website, upload the published version (Version of Record) to Cristin; the published version will be made accessible in the repository under the same licence used by the publisher.
• If you have published a non-OA article (without an open licence) in a subscription-based journal, upload the peer-reviewed accepted version to Cristin for archiving in the institutional repository.
• How you can make your article accessible in the institutional repository is described on our website on self-archiving.

If your article is not (wholly or partially) funded by e.g. the EU or the Research Council of Norway and subject to their Open Access requirements, you can opt out of the policy (see bullet point 2 in the rights retention policy above). There are two opt out alternatives: The first option is to make the accepted manuscript openly accessible, but with another CC licence than CC BY (according to your choice); the other option is to opt out of making the accepted version of an article openly accessible at all. To opt out, fill out the waiver form before uploading the accepted version to Cristin.

You do not need to inform the publishers about Nord University’s rights retention policy; the information on Nord’s website is considered prior notice. After the accepted version is made accessible in Nord Open Research Archive, you are free to share it elsewhere under the same licence.

Publishers of scholarly journals are hereby made aware that the institution’s employees and students give Nord University permission to make the accepted version of their articles accessible immediately under an open Creative Commons licence.

Frequently asked questions

• Which publications are covered by the rights retention policy? Does it also apply to books?Copy linkCopied

  For the time being, the policy only applies to journal articles, not books.

• Should I inform the publisher about Nord University’s rights retention policy (when submitting a manuscript)?Copy linkCopied

  No, Nord University has published information about the rights retention policy on the institutional website and considers this sufficient prior notice. This is in line with assessments by UiT, NTNU, UiB and UiO.

• Should I still sign the publisher’s licensing agreement even if it only permits the accepted version to be made Open Access after an embargo period?Copy linkCopied

  Sign the publishing agreement and upload the accepted version of the article to Cristin for publication in Nord Open Research Archive. The embargo period does not apply as Nord University’s prior right to make the accepted version Open Access takes precedence.

• What happens if the journal “complains”? Who should be contacted?Copy linkCopied

  None of the more than 80 institutions that have adopted a rights retention policy similar to that for Nord University (including Harvard that pioneered this approach in 2008), and no researchers affiliated with these institutions, have faced legal actions by publishers. It is also highly unlikely that publishers would take legal actions before giving the institution the possibility to withdraw the article version from the open repository. In the event of a dispute concerning interpretation and application of the rights retention policy, Nord University by the rector is legally responsible for solving it; contact openaccess@nord.no.

• What if a publisher refuses to review or publish my article due to Nord University’s rights retention policy? How can I opt out of the policy?Copy linkCopied

  To opt out from the rights retention policy, fill out the waiver form.