[BOAI] USU Adopts Open Access Policy

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from Andrew Wesolek.  --Peter Suber.]


 Press Release****
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 Utah State University Adopts Open Access Policy:  Faculty Senate,
Executive Committee and President Albrecht Endorse New Policy****
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                 LOGAN — Utah State University has joined an emerging
national trend and the ranks of a growing number of the country’s
universities in adopting an official “Open Access” policy. USU’s University
Libraries headed the effort.****
                 “For the library and, indeed, the whole university, this
is a momentous occasion,” said Richard Clement, USU’s dean of libraries.
“It enables faculty authors to retain rights to their own publications and
to make the fruits of their research and scholarship freely available to
all.”****
                 The new open access policy — officially known at USU as
Policy 535 — ensures that all employees at Utah State University retain the
ability to share their publications with colleagues, students and the
public upon their publication. The policy was first unanimously approved by
USU’s Faculty Senate in April, followed by approval by the President’s
Executive Committee with the endorsement of USU President Stan Albrecht.****
                 “This policy reflects the university’s support of and
efforts to utilize new technologies to share its research and scholarship
with the citizens of Utah and beyond,” Albrecht said. “I commend University
Libraries for leading the way in this initiative and for providing the
support that will be necessary for its implementation.”****
                 In adopting the policy, Utah State joins the ranks of
universities that include Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Duke University and the
University of Kansas, among others. Utah State is among the leaders in
public universities in this effort and is the first university in Utah to
formally adopt a policy.****
                 “Currently, many of the journal articles written by USU
researchers, as well as their colleagues across the country, are published
behind expensive price barriers,” said Andrew Wesolek, scholarly
communications librarian for University Libraries.****
                 “The open access policy assures that researchers retain
some of the copyright on their articles,” he said. “These researchers may
then freely share their works with a much wider audience.”****
                 With USU’s approved policy, faculty members will be
provided language to help amend their publishing contracts and retain some
of the copyright to their works. Then, faculty will deposit their work in
USU’s Open Access Institutional Repository — the Digital Commons — where it
will become immediately and openly available to the world. The University
Libraries’ Scholarly Communications Office (ScholarlyCommunications at usu.edu)
will assist faculty with the process.****
                 A policy waiver is available in cases where a researcher
chooses to work with journals that require them to surrender their
copyright.****
                 “This policy is part of what it means to be a land-grant
institution in the 21st century,” Clement said. “By helping faculty members
retain the copyright to their articles, we are ensuring that the people of
Utah have access to the results of research conducted at one of their major
publically funded institutions.”****
                 The officially adopted policy and procedures are available
online. The policy is athttp://www.usu.edu/hr/files/uploads/535.pdf and the
procedures are at the University Libraries Open Access and the Digital
Commons website (http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/oadc/1/).****
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Andrew Wesolek
Scholarly Communications Librarian
Utah State University
Merrill-Cazier Library
Office: 435.797.2650
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