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. And you can access this tool through IRR.
Using Sherpa Romeo in 6 Steps
- Click on the red link Check publisher Open Access Policy on the right side of the metadata form, and enter journal in the search box.
- Read the Journal information section, make sure you are consulting the correct journal.
- 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.
- 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).
- Click on the link at the bottom of the overlay to can view the original policy on the Sherpa Romeo website.
- Click on the Select journal button to save the policy, this will allow you to go back and view at a later date.
