Intro to Copyright, Part Three: I Read the Terms, Now What?
By Anna
You've read and understand the copyright terms and conditions. Congratulations! This is a big step, and one that not many people take yet. Give yourself a pat on the back.
If you like the terms or are willing to accept them
If you like the terms (or are willing to accept them), let your team know and see what other people think. I'd say if all coauthors are on the same page, go ahead and sign. If you work for an institution like a university or hospital, check the “work for hire” box on the copyright agreement, which says that you did the research as an employee of said university, hospital or other institution. I got this tip from a copyright officer, who said that checking “work for hire” basically means that the publishing company is entering into an agreement with the institution you did the work for, and not just you. It gives you more bargaining power at the table. You can think of it as signing an agreement as a representative of Hospital A, for instance, instead of just signing an agreement with your name on it. Which brings me to my next point …
Negotiate with the publishers. You have the right to dictate what happens to your work. A panelist on an Author’s Alliance webinar said that some people will upload an attachment with proposed negotiations; your terms and conditions, if you like. It doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try. To draw a brief parallel to the music world, just like how Taylor Swift and other artists negotiate their record deals and make sure they can own their masters and intellectual property, you get to negotiate what you do with yours. I haven’t done this before, so if anyone has, let me know how it went for you and what advice you have.
If you don't like the terms or don't want to sign
If you don't like terms, let your team know. Whether you're first, second, third or tenth author, you are an author, and your opinion matters.
Teams: weigh your options together. You can negotiate. You can find another journal. You can talk to your copyright officer (this I recommend, though I haven't done it). You can stay at the journal but I would advocate for asking for better terms if possible.
If you need help
If you run into sticky situations or simply have questions, I’d advise talking to Author’s Alliance, SPARC, or your copyright officer or librarian. Or a combination. Basically, talk to someone who knows the industry and copyright well.
After picking a journal
Once you make a decision, go ahead and submit the article to your journal of choice. If you were funded by the National Institutes of Health or another agency requiring you to make the article freely available to the public, upload it to PubMed (I don't trust most publishers to do it in a timely manner nowadays, and I feel like there technically isn't enough oversight). It's pretty easy; you just have to make sure this one box is checked and your P.I. checks it, according to a research administrator I spoke to.
Once your article is published, congratulations! It's time to read it and to share it with your family and friends, or better yet, talk to them about it. You've worked on this research for years so it can help people. Now people can read it and you can talk about it.