The Florida State University Faculty Senate, in consultation with its Library Committee and staff of the FSU Libraries, voted unanimously this week to adopt a university-wide Open Access (OA) policy.
FSU joins a growing list of major universities with similar policies designed to create a safe harbor for faculty intellectual property rights and dramatically increase the visibility of FSU journal scholarship. Many years in the making, this policy builds upon the Faculty Senate’s Open Access Resolution, which was adopted by a unanimous vote in 2011 and demonstrated the faculty’s support for open access in principle.
Under the new policy, faculty grant FSU permission to share the accepted versions of their scholarly articles for non-commercial purposes and agree to send the accepted, peer-reviewed versions of their articles to Library staff to be made publicly available in DigiNole: FSU’s Research Repository and Digital Library. By granting non-exclusive rights to the university, faculty create a safe harbor against overly-restrictive intellectual property agreements and retain far greater control over their work than they would in standard publication contracts.
Through working with FSU Library staff to make their articles publicly available in DigiNole, faculty will also dramatically increase the visibility of their research, potentially attracting more citations than they otherwise would if their scholarship were available exclusively in pay-walled journals. Making faculty journal articles available in DigiNole also greatly simplifies the process of complying with federal funder public access mandates.
A full copy of the Open Access Policy will be published in the FSU Faculty Senate Bulletin. The Research Repository Team in the University Libraries’ Office of Digital Research & Scholarship will work with FSU faculty toward the successful implementation of the new policy. Please see the OA Policy FAQ for more details about the policy and responses to common questions. Contact lib-support@fsu.edu with any questions, concerns, or requests for more information.
FSU Libraries’ newly formed Office of Digital Research and Scholarship (DRS) provides support, infrastructure and consulting for technology-focused research projects in the areas of digital humanities, academic/digital publishing, data management, and more. DRS is focused on building collaborative research partnerships across campus, and providing platforms for new forms of scholarship. Visit lib.fsu.edu/drs for more information.
Florida State University Libraries’ mission is to drive academic excellence and success by fostering engagement through extensive collections, dynamic information resources, transformative collaborations, innovative services, and supportive environments for FSU and the broader scholarly community.