You are the author
If you are a UMBC faculty member or student, you own the copyright to your work. If you are UMBC staff, UMBC owns the rights of anything you create as part of your job. Rights owners always have the right to post the files, unless the work has been published (and is therefore subject to another agreement). If the work has been published, see below. For further information, see Copyright and Digital Permission.
You are the author and the work has been published
Read your agreement with the publisher, or see the SHERPA/RoMEO database to determine publisher and journal self-archiving policies. Self-archiving policies indicate whether the publisher allows you to deposit the work in a repository such as ScholarWorks@UMBC. If information isn’t available in SHERPA/RoMEO or is vague, sometimes information is on the publisher’s website, usually in the 'information for authors' section. You can also read your agreement with the publisher or ask the publisher directly. The library can provide assistance with this. Send questions to scholarworks-group@umbc.edu.
In many instances, the publisher allows you to post only the pre-print (version before peer-review) or post-print (version after peer review). Sometimes they require that you post the link or doi to their version of the work and/or to put particular wording in the information about the work—be sure to comply with their requirements. In some instances, the publisher allows authors to retain the copyright or to post their final version of the work.
You're not the author, but the work is governed by a Creative Commons license
Creative Commons licenses grant people other than the author some rights to post the file. It’s important to understand the particular Creative Commons license that the work is under, and to abide by its terms! Read about Creative Commons licenses here. In particular, note that some Creative Commons license require that you re-post using the same Creative Commons license. This is done in the final step of the ScholarWorks submission process by choosing “Creative Commons license” and matching the terms of the original license.
You're not the author
Use this printable version of the license to obtain permission to include the item in ScholarWorks@UMBC by having the copyright holder sign it. You'll also need to agree to the license during the submission process. You can include the signed license agreement with your submission, or send it to scholarworks-group@umbc.edu. If you’re unable to scan the signed license, send it to Michelle Flinchbaugh in the Library via campus mail.
