Open Access Policy for University of Kansas Scholarship

The faculty of the University of Kansas (KU) is committed to sharing the intellectual fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible and lowering barriers to its access. In recognition of that commitment and responsibility, the KU faculty is determined to take advantage of new technologies to increase access to its work by the citizens of Kansas and scholars, educators, and policymakers worldwide. In support of greater openness in scholarly endeavors, the KU faculty agrees to the following:

Each faculty member grants to KU permission to make scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles to which he or she made substantial intellectual contributions publicly available in the KU open access institutional repository, and to exercise the copyright in those articles. In legal terms, the permission granted by each faculty member is a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, and to authorize others to do the same, provided that the articles are not sold for a profit. This license in no way irrevocably interferes with the rights of the KU faculty author as the copyright holder of the work.

The policy will apply to all scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles authored or co-authored while a faculty member of KU. To assist in the open distribution of the articles, faculty members will provide bibliographic information and an electronic copy of each article within 30 days of publication to the Provost’s Designate. The license granted to KU regarding an article will be waived by the Provost’s Designate at the sole discretion of the faculty member upon written/electronic notification. The Provost’s office will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its application, and recommending changes as necessary. This policy will be reviewed by Faculty Governance, in concert with the Provost’s office, every three years, and a report presented to Faculty Governance. A broadly representative Open Access Advisory Board made up of faculty, representatives from faculty governance, and the Provost’s Office will provide additional guidance and oversight in policy implementation.

Faculty members grant permission to the university to make a copy of their scholarly journal articles available in the open access repository, KU ScholarWorks.