Institutional Research Repository

If your item was previously published, e.g. a journal article, you may have signed over copyright to your publisher. Prior to depositing a copy to IRR, you need to determine whether your publisher permits self-archiving and which version of the paper you can deposit. You can use Sherpa Romeo to check this.

Sherpa Romeo is an online resource that aggregates and analyses publisher open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis. You can access this tool through IRR.

Using Sherpa Romeo in 6 Steps

1. Click on the red Check publisher Open Access Policy link on the right side of the metadata form, and enter the journal title in the search box.


2. Read the Journal information section; make sure you are consulting the correct journal.


3. Check the Open Access pathways section to see the Open Access policies for the Publisher Version, Accepted Version and Submitted Version of your article. Click on the dropdowns to expand the sections.


4. Pay attention to the following sections: OA Fee, Embargo and Location. These sections tell you if you need to pay to make your work Open Access (OA Fee), if you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can make that version Open Access (Embargo) and where you can put that version once it is Open Access (Location).


5. Click the link under Open Access Pathways to view the full policy information on the Sherpa Romeo website.


6. You can save the policy information for the journal by clicking on the Apply Changes button. This will allow you to go back and view it at a later date.

If you can't find information on your journal in Sherpa Romeo, you can check the publisher's website. There may be information on copyright and archiving policies in sections such as About this Journal, Copyright Policies or Author Guidelines. You can also contact the Library.

There are generally 4 versions that a manuscript goes through during the publication process. It is important to know the difference between them, as it can help you determine which version you are legally able to upload to IRR.

• Pre-Print or Submitted
  This is the version which the author submits to a journal. It has not yet been peer reviewed.

• Post-Print or Accepted Manuscript
  This version has been peer reviewed, and may have undergone revisions based on that review. It does not have the final publisher branding, typesetting and copyright statement. Accepted Manuscripts are generally able to be uploaded to an institutional repository such as IRR; an embargo or publisher copyright statement may also need to be added.

• Proof
  When a publisher starts to make changes to an Accepted Manuscript, such as typesetting and inserting branding and copyright statements, it becomes the Proof version. The publisher generally holds copyright to this version, meaning it cannot be deposited in the same way as an Accepted Manuscript.

• Published
  This is the final, published version of the manuscript. Also known as the Version of Record, it has the full publisher formatting, branding and typesetting, and will include a copyright statement. It is rare to be able to upload a Published version of an article unless an Open Access fee has been paid to the publisher.

There are signification copyright implications around the manuscript version you choose to upload to IRR. You can also check Sherpa Romeo for information about a specific journal's policies. Please contact the Library if you are unsure which version to use.

Source: Unlocking Research (Open Research at Cambridge)