Open Access Policy

Title

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Open Access Policy

Introduction

Purpose

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill adopts this policy in order to disseminate the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible.

Scope of Applicability

Faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Policy

Policy Statement

Each Faculty member of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill grants to the University a nonexclusive, noncommercial, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise, and to authorize others to exercise, any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, for the purpose of making those articles freely and widely available in an open access repository. This license applies to all scholarly articles authored or co-authored while a Faculty member is employed by the University, except for any articles authored or co-authored before the adoption of this Policy or subject to a conflicting agreement formed before the adoption of this Policy. Each Faculty member shall provide, at no charge, an electronic copy of each article so licensed, ordinarily the author’s final edited version, to the Provost or the Provost’s designee no later than the date of its publication, to be made available to the public in an open-access repository. The Provost or the Provost’s designee will waive application of this policy for a particular article or delay public access to an article for a reasonable period of time upon express direction by a Faculty member.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Scholarly Communications Office of the University Library, or other office designated by the Provost, will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes from time to time. The Scholarly Communications Office shall also create and maintain the repository terms of use governing public access to and use of the scholarly articles licensed under this policy.

The Chair of the Faculty will appoint a committee to review this policy no later than three years after its adoption and present a report to the Faculty.

Exceptions

None.

Definitions

For the purposes of this policy, “scholarly articles” are defined as articles that are typically published in scholarly journals where the Faculty member holds the copyright under University policy and where members of the Faculty are authors or coauthors. For the avoidance of doubt, scholarly articles do not include classroom pedagogical materials or books sold for profit.

Related Requirements

External Regulations and Consequences

None.

University Policies, Standards, and Procedures

• Copyright Policy of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Report of the UNC Chapel Hill Faculty Open Access Task Force, March 20, 2015 (see "Attachments" section below)

Contact Information

Policy Contacts

Document History

• Implementation: January 1, 2016
• Last Revised Date: May 13, 2016