In January 2017, SFU Senate endorsed the Open Access Policy (OAP) acknowledging the commitment of SFU faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows to share the products of their SFU research with the broadest possible audience. To satisfy the policy requirement in one easy step, SFU researchers can provide an electronic copy of the finalized text of their published articles to the Simon Fraser University Library. The Library will make the articles available to the public, taking into consideration requirements for access delay.

The SFU Open Access Policy complements pre-existing funder open access requirements, such as the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy.  

If you have feedback or questions about the policy or would like to arrange a meeting, please contact oa-policy@sfu.ca.

Hear Dr. Daniel Laitsch explain why he supports open access publishing at Simon Fraser University.

Policy

Preamble

Simon Fraser University's goal to be Canada's most engaged research university invites us to find ways of sharing the research output and creative work of the University with the wider community. The University is, therefore, committed to making accessible and preserving the products of research with the broadest possible community, including other scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and the public at large.

Scholarly journals remain the primary means of disseminating research results in most academic disciplines, however, most do not allow public access. Depositing these articles in an open access repository would provide such access, while simultaneously showcasing this work to the world, increasing its impact, creating a collective archive of SFU's research output, and making more visible the products of our work.

In keeping with this commitment to increased access, faculty members, students, and post-doctoral fellows, comprising a group referred to here as "university authors*," adopt the following policy:

Policy

As university authors at Simon Fraser University, we commit to share the products of our work with the broadest possible audience. To do so, we agree to archive and disseminate the scholarly articles we author by depositing these with the University.

We commit to deposit all scholarly articles authored or co-authored while we are university authors at SFU, although this policy does not cover any articles published before the adoption of this policy, any articles for which the author entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement before the adoption of this policy, or any articles published after we leave the university.

To facilitate the archiving of our work, we grant Simon Fraser University the non-exclusive permission to archive, preserve, reproduce and openly disseminate, in any medium, all scholarly articles authored by us, provided that the articles are properly attributed to the authors, and that it is done for non-commercial purposes.

We agree to freely provide an electronic copy of the final version of each article no later than the date of Its publication to the Simon Fraser University Library. The Library will make the article available to the public, taking into consideration requirements for access delay.

While we believe the open dissemination of research is an ethical imperative, we also recognize that university authors maintain full control of their intellectual property, and in some cases may not be able to share their work in an open access repository, individual university authors may obtain a waiver in these cases.

This policy is aspirational and intended to encourage open access to scholarly work. While the University expects authors to participate, no University sanctions will result from failure to comply. This policy is to be read and interpreted in a manner consistent with University policies related to academic freedom and intellectual property.

The VP Research, in consultation with the University Librarian, will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to Senate periodically.

The policy will be reviewed after three years and a report presented to Senate.

*We respectfully acknowledge that many members of SFU staff also author academic papers.  These are also welcome for deposit.  

Depositing 

To satisfy the policy requirement in one easy step, SFU researchers can provide an electronic copy of the finalized text of their published articles to the Simon Fraser University Library. The Library will make the articles available to the public, taking into consideration requirements for access delay.

Submit the finalized text of articles via the Summit deposit form no later than the date of publication.  The Library will manage any embargo periods required by your publisher. Public access to the article will be automatic following the embargo end date.

FAQs and definitions

Supporting the policy

Impact of policy on scholarly publishing environment

Relation to other open access policies

Scope of the Policy

Obtaining a waiver

Legal aspects

What will be done with the articles?

More information

Definitions

Open Access
Publications that are free to read on the Internet. Readers can download, copy, and distribute an Open Access publication, as long as credit is given to the authors.

Research/institutional Repository
An online collection of the scholarship of an institution’s researchers. Institutional repositories both preserve the intellectual output and allow for wide distribution. SFU’s institutional repository is Summit. Institutional repositories are also called research repositories. 

Subject Repository
An online collection of publications in a particular subject area. The repository collects, preserves and provides open access to the publications. Examples include arXiv, RePEc, and PubMed Central. Subject repositories are also called disciplinary repositories.

Finalized Text (can refer to versions of an article, such as Post-print, Version of Record, Author Accepted Manuscript, Post Peer Reviewed Manuscript)
Terms used to describe any copy of the accepted version of an article after peer-review, that includes the final version of the author’s text, with revisions having been made

Author Addendum
A legal instrument that modifies the publisher’s copyright transfer agreement and allows you to keep rights to your article(s). E.g. SPARC Canadian Author Addendum.

University Authors
For the purpose of the Open Access Policy at SFU, university authors include current faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and students.  We respectfully acknowledge that many members of SFU staff also author academic papers.  These are also welcome for deposit.  

Adapted from the following:

• MIT Faculty Open Access Policy FAQ
• Columbia University Libraries’ Open Access Policy Frequently Asked Questions
• University of California Office of Scholarly Communication’s Policy FAQ

History

In September 2015, an Open Access Advisory Committee was struck to write and recommend a university-wide Open Access policy as well as to review policies relating to SFU Central Open Access Fund. In February 2016, Senate Library Committee reviewed the draft policy and gave its support for the Committee to go forward with broader campus consultations. Members of the Committee hosted a series of town hall meetings at each SFU Campus location to introduce the draft policy, answer questions, and hear discussion and feedback. The draft policy was revised based on the community consultation feedback and the final policy draft was sent to Senate and approved in January 2017.

Open Access Advisory Committee members

• Juan Pablo Alperin, Assistant Professor, Publishing Program
• Gwen Bird, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries (Chair)
• Rebecca Dowson, Digital Scholarship Librarian, SFU Library
• Dan Laitsch, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
• Kris Magnusson, Dean, Faculty of Education
• Tanya Procyshyn, Graduate student and GSS Representative
• Nicole White, Head, Research Commons SFU Library
• Vance Williams, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
• Brady Yano, Undergraduate student and SFSS Representative