Publisher Copyright Policies
What happens to my copyrights for my own published work? Every publisher has different policies in regards to self-archiving and your subsequent use of your published work. The SHERPA/RoMEO database provides a searchable collection of publisher policies--check here when deciding where to publish.
Open Access journals
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a searchable directory of open access journals across all disciplines.
Many publishers support one or more open access journals, and their websites are another place to begin your search.
Additional resources:
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)This is a searchable directory of open access journals across all disciplines.
- Open Library of HumanitiesThe Open Library of Humanities (OLH) is dedicated to publishing open access scholarship with no author-facing article processing charges (APCs).
- Cambridge University Press OA waiverCornell authors may publish open access at no charge in Cambridge University Press journals that offer an OA option. Select United States/Cornell to view a list of eligible journals and next steps for authors.
- Ulrich's Global Serials DirectoryUlrich's is a comprehensive database of journal titles. Limit search results to "open access" to find open access titles.
Choose journals for publication carefully; see "Understanding and avoiding predatory publishing" for more information, or contact your Cornell librarian for help.
Open Access repositories
Depositing your work in an open access repository is another way to share your research. Be careful to comply with copyright and licensing restrictions when uploading your published work (see "Understanding Author Rights" for more information). Repositories may be institutional, such as Cornell's eCommons, or discipline-specific.
A note on Academia.edu and ResearchGate: Both platforms are commercial enterprises (despite the former's top-level domain) and sell user data. Consider using a trusted open access repository instead. For more on this issue, we recommend One more word about ResearchGate/Academia.edu and Choosing and using academic sharing and networking platforms.
- eCommons@CornelleCommons is a service of the Cornell University Library that provides long-term access to a broad range of content of enduring value. Cornell University faculty, researchers, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates (with sponsorship) may submit digital content to eCommons.
- OpenDOARThe Directory of Open Access Repositories is a searchable database of academic open access repositories.
- arXiv.orgarXiv® is a curated research-sharing platform open to anyone. arXiv currently serves the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics. arXiv was founded by Paul Ginsparg in 1991 and is now maintained and operated by Cornell Tech.
- BioRxivModeled after ArXiv, the well-known physics pre-print repository, this brand new disciplinary repository operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, is a pre-print archive for the biological sciences. Submissions should be made indirectly via exports from institutional repositories like eCommons.
- PubMed CentralPubMed Central is a full-text, open access database (to be distinguished from PubMed which is a citation database) administered by the National Library of Medicine. Depending on publishers' policies, authors can submit published articles for inclusion and are required to do so in the case of NIH-funded research.
- Humanities Commons CORE RepositoryA nonprofit, interdisciplinary repository for the humanities.
Open Access books and textbooks
- Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)DOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers.
- OA Books ToolkitProvided by the OAPEN library and publication platform, the Open Access Books Toolkit covers specific topics related to open access books. Each article offers a quick and brief introduction to a particular aspect of open access book publishing.
- Open Educational Resources at CornellA guide to Open Educational Resources (OER) at Cornell University, maintained by Cornell University Library.
- TOME / Open Access Monograph Publishing GrantOne grant per year is awarded to support the publication of an open access monograph.
Open Data
Data sharing is increasingly important in research and now often mandated by funding agencies. There are both general and discpline-specific data repositories, most of which are open access. re3data is a comprehensive, global, searchable database of data repositories.
For more information about data sharing, contact Cornell's Cornell Data Services.