2017-46

Arizona State University
University Senate

Senate Motion #2017-46

Motion Introduced by: Open Access Task Force, Helene Ossipov Chair

Date of First Reading: February 27, 2017   

Date of Second Reading: March 27, 2017  

Title of Motion: ASU Open Access Policy.

Action Requested: The Open Access Task Force has reviewed this motion and recommends Senate approval.  

Rationale: ASU is committed to a fundamental principle of accessibility.  This principle of accessibility includes open access to the knowledge generated and created by faculty members here at the university.  Open Access to the scholarly works produced by ASU faculty members will allow individuals in Arizona, in the United States, and internationally to read journal articles freely and without the need for subscriptions or payment, thus disseminating this knowledge well beyond the typical audience.  Moreover, many granting agencies require that an institution have an Open Access policy in place in order for researchers to receive funding.

Click here to go to the Open Access Task Force webpage and FAQs

Proposed Policy:

The Faculty members of Arizona State University are committed to disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible. In keeping with that commitment, the Faculty adopts the following policy.

1. Faculty members are encouraged to grant a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to Scholarly Works to Arizona State University to exercise any and all rights under copyright as are necessary to achieve the goals of open access, dissemination, and preservation and to authorize others to do the same, provided that this license is solely for educational and non-commercial purposes.  When granting this license, Faculty members will provide, at no cost to the university, a copy of those Scholarly Works to the university so that the university may exercise its rights given by this license and  comply with its obligations to sponsors or other third parties. This expressly includes the right for the university to deposit Scholarly Works in any university or third party repository.
2. However, upon accepting or receiving an external grant or contract which includes a public or open access policy, each Faculty member automatically grants to Arizona State University the license as defined in section one to any Scholarly Works resulting from that grant or contract.
3. Under this policy, the author retains copyright ownership, unless that author chooses to transfer rights to other parties, such as a publisher. Arizona State University retains only the limited rights outlined in section one.
4. The policy applies to all Scholarly Works authored or co- authored while the person is a member of the Faculty. Not included in this policy are any articles completed before the adoption of this policy and any articles for which the Faculty member entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement before the adoption of this policy, nor any Scholarly Work that is not related to Arizona State University.
5. The Office of the Provost will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the Faculty as needed.
6. The University Senate will review the policy no less frequently than every three years and a report will be made available to the Faculty.