Wellesley College
AC-11: Open Access to Research

The Wellesley College Open Access Policy establishes the rights of Wellesley College faculty to preserve and distribute their work in the College’s digital repository, in order to ensure visibility of their work. Prior to the adoption of this policy, when a paper was accepted for publication, faculty member transferred all their copyright for the work to the publisher who is charged with the task of disseminating the work. Under the Open Access Policy, faculty retain non-exclusive rights for non-commercial uses of their work without having to negotiate for this right unless they choose to do so. The policy is in sync with other “rights-retention” policies adopted by several Colleges and Universities. This policy was approved by the Academic Council by a unanimous vote on February 6, 2013. The Academic Council’s Advisory Committee on Library and Technology Policy is overseeing this policy. The policy will be reviewed after three years and a report presented to the Faculty.

Policy Each Faculty member grants to Wellesley College permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles. More specifically, each Faculty member grants to Wellesley College a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, provided that the articles are not sold for a profit, and to authorize others to do the same. The Provost or Provost’s designate will waive application of the license for a particular article or delay access for a specified period of time upon express direction by a Faculty member. Each Faculty member will provide an electronic copy of the author’s final version of each article no later than the date of its publication at no charge to the appropriate representative of the Provost’s Office in an appropriate format specified by the Provost’s Office. The Provost’s Office may make the article available to the public in an open-­access repository. The Office of the Provost will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the Faculty from time to time.

The purpose of the Open Access Policy is to ensure that Wellesley College faculty retain by default their rights including the right to keep copies of their publications for non-commercial use on a web server maintained by Library & Technology Services (LTS), allowing for wider dissemination and visibility of their work.