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Before submitting a work to Digital Commons, it's important to verify that you have the copyright permissions to do so. Many published journal articles fall under the copyright of the publisher, and rights to re-post those articles on other websites (including Digital Commons) may be restricted.
Before submitting your published work to the Digital Commons, the copyright permissions need to be checked. These can vary widely between different Journals and Publishers and sometimes involves reviewing the Copyright Transfer Agreement which was signed when the work was published. It is always a good idea to retain your Copyright Transfer Agreement because publishers will change and update their policies.
Most publishers do not allow authors to self-archive the final, published version of their articles. Instead, they encourage self-archiving of author manuscripts, pre-prints, or post-prints.
The resources listed below can be used by your or a librarian to assess restrictions such as: permission to post on a repository, embargo period, requirement statements from the publisher, and which version of your work can be submitted. Whether you are evaluating your own work or a librarian is evaluating your list of publications, it is important to be familiar with publications versions and embargo periods.
