BKA Frequently Asked Questions
What is an open access repository?
An open access repository is a central institutional service for
storing, preserving, and disseminating the intellectual output of
the university on the internet.
Why should I deposit my intellectual or creative material in
BKA?
Depositing your material in Bucks Knowledge Archive (BKA)
may potentially increase the impact of your research by making it
accessible to a much wider audience, and consequently, increase its
visibility.
It is now a common practice for funding bodies to require the
depositing of funded research in an open access repository. BKA can
help you with this.
What type of material can be deposited?
The repository’s content may consist of a variety of types and
formats. For example, it may contain PhD and research thesis
including datasets, field and interview supportive material, video,
music, digital games and other material.
Who can deposit?
Archiving is currently limited to staff and students of
Buckinghamshire New University.
What about copyright?
Published material:
In many cases agreement transferring copyright to the publisher
would have been signed.
Permission from the publisher to deposit such material in
institutional repositories must be obtained.
Note that with the proliferation of institutional repositories,
publishers’ policy on the matter may have changed since it was
originally drawn up, and publishing restrictions for institutional
repositories may have been lifted.
Not yet published material:
The copyright
of unpublished material resides always with the author, unless
special agreements have been set up with a funding body or
sponsor.
If you’re about to publish your work with a publisher you may
also wish to deposit your work in Bucks Knowledge Archive. Most
publishers are happy to discuss copyright agreements with
authors.
It is becoming more common now for publishers to accept
alternative agreements to the traditional copyright transfer
agreements. These offer “License to Publish” agreements which often
permit authors to deposit their work in institutional repositories
such as Bucks Knowledge Archive.
Alternative model license agreements have been developed by
JISC (The Joint Information Systems
Committee), and SURF
Foundation, its Dutch counterpart. These aim to address
the balance of right and interests in the academic publishing
environment.
Some copyright agreement terminology to take note
of:
Pre-prints:
An unpublished pre-refereed final
draft of a paper.
Post-print:
A peer-reviewed published version
of a paper.
Publisher PDF:
A formatted PDF file created
by the publisher.
An eprint:
Electronic copy of a paper that
may be either pre or post-print.
Being able to publish material previously deposited as a pre-print
in institutional repositories may varies between publishers.
Some publishers will not consider material made publicly available
and thus deem items made available in a repository to constitute
“prior publication”. If in doubt check with the publisher
directly.
Useful links:
Creative
Commons Free tools for setting up copyright freedoms
on personal work
Design and Artists Copyright
Society (DACS) The UK's leading copyright and
collecting society for artists and visual creators
Intellectual Property
Office The official government body responsible for IP
rights in the UK
JISC Digital
Media Information and advice on the use and management
of digital media
Office of Public Sector
Information (OPSI) Access the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988
OpenDOAR Directory
of Open Access Repositories - a listing of repositories around the
world
SHERPA/JULIET
Research funders’ access policies
SHERPA/RoMEO
Publishers’ copyright and archiving policies