Rights Retention Implementation: Case Study

This case study explains how and why in 2024 Curtin University Library introduced the Open Scholarship Policy, an institutional rights retention policy applying to scholarly articles. The Policy also articulates the importance of making other research outputs open and encourages the creation of Open Educational Resources.

Who: Organisation Profile

What: Changes implemented

In 2024, Curtin University Library introduced the Open Scholarship Policy. Following consultation with academic staff (from Education, Health Sciences, Law, Business, Science & Engineering, Humanities) and general staff (the Research Office, Legal Services) the Policy was made mandatory with opt-out provisions provided.

The Policy requires or enables the following:

• Prior licence: The institution grants itself a perpetual, royalty-free, nonexclusive, irrevocable and worldwide licence to exercise any and all rights relating to each of the researcher’s scholarly articles, in any medium, and to authorise others to do the same, which takes precedence over any subsequent publisher agreement.
• Repository deposit: Authors are required to deposit their AAM in the institutional repository upon publication, enabling immediate open access without embargo.

Why: Motivation for Change

Funder compliance: Curtin University sought to ensure that researchers could comply with open access mandates from funders (such as the ARC and NHMRC) without incurring article processing charges (APCs) or being restricted by publisher embargo periods. The rights retention approach provides a cost-free compliance pathway (“green open access”) that is accessible regardless of the journal an author chooses to publish in.

Researcher autonomy and equity: The institution was keen to affirm that intellectual property rights in scholarly works belong to researchers, not publishers, and to restore control over how and when research is shared. Rights retention was also seen as a way to achieve the following goals:

• Increasing the visibility, reach and impact of University research.
• Raising the profile of University researchers.
• Advancing opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange.
• Enabling the widest possible engagement with the University’s scholarship, to increase contributions to the knowledge economy and address global challenges.
• Enabling researchers to comply with open access mandates from research funders.

Additionally, the Open Scholarship Policy’s stance on open educational resources:

• Increases equitable access to educational materials, enabling the transformative effect of education to reach more people.
• Facilitates the adaptation of course materials to ensure that teaching is relevant and inclusive.
• Offers cost efficiencies for students.
• Provides opportunities for staff engagement with the global educational community.

Open research culture: The Open Scholarship Policy aligns with projects such as the Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative (COKI). COKI is a research hub for analysis and evaluation of Open Knowledge in higher education. It is also in line with national policies such as the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council open access policies.

How: Developing, Implementing and Managing Change

Planning and Implementation

The process to develop and implement the Policy involved:

1. Curtin University Library started a project group with the goal of creating an Open Access policy.
2. The Library project group conducted a review of existing institutional IP and open access policies within Australia and internationally.
3. We made a decision to pursue a broader open scholarship policy, which included open educational outputs, rather than an open access policy limited to scholarly outputs.
4. We created a draft Open Scholarship Policy with the assistance of the Harvard Open Access Policy wiki and related resources.
5. We coordinated targeted stakeholder engagement with academic staff, research offices, and faculty representatives to discuss the Library’s ideas for an Open Scholarship Policy and gather support.
6. We created a draft policy which was circulated to stakeholders for comment.
7. We consulted with legal counsel to seek advice for the rights retention elements of the Policy.
8. We revised the Intellectual Property Procedures with reference to the rights retention clause.
9. The draft policy was tabled at various University committees for endorsement.
10. During the general consultation period, the draft Policy was posted and staff were invited to provide feedback.
11. Approval was granted via the policy approval process, which involved review by the University Research Committee, Learning and Student Experience Committee, and the Academic Board.
12. The Library developed researcher-facing guidance, including a website with FAQs and an instructional video.

To support implementation:

• Senior leadership endorsement: The DVCA and DVCR sponsored the papers submitted to university committees. The DVCR is the owner of the policy.
• Library and research office coordination: The development of the policy is led by the Library. The Research Office is consulted as part of the stakeholder group.
• Researcher communications: A stakeholder group with broad representation was formed at the very early stage of the development process to address concerns and get buy-in.
• Repository readiness: No change required. Only internal processes.
• Policy integration: The Open Scholarship Policy is a standalone policy and has not been integrated into other policies. It relates to the Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures, the Authorship, Peer Review, and Publication of Research Outputs Policy and Procedures, and the Research Data and Primary Materials Policy.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The policy is due to be reviewed in 2030. Measurement of uptake has yet to be examined.

Challenges and Solutions

Rights retention implementation commonly surfaces the following challenges.

Conclusions

The creation and development of the Open Scholarship Policy was driven by Curtin University Library. The policy provides a clear statement and direction for the University in maximizing the dissemination of research outputs. The rights retention approach has streamlined processes related to the institutional repository: library staff have the remit to deposit scholarly articles without needing to repeatedly check publisher policies.

As we have yet to publicize this policy in earnest, it is difficult to measure its success at this stage. However, by implementing such a policy at Curtin, we have taken a crucial step towards the normalization of such policies in Australian institutions. Conversations with academic staff have shown support for the goals of the policy and an understanding of the need for the open dissemination of research. Thus far, we have not experienced any pushback from publishers.

As Curtin is the 94th institution internationally to enact a Harvard style rights-retention policy, we are joining a global movement that publishers have been aware of since 2008. We intend to create an Open Educational Resource about the Policy and how it integrates with open access and open educational publishing.

When: Timeline for Development and Implementation