If you are new to publishing, you may assume that you have the right to do whatever you want with your publication, e.g. send copies to anyone who asks for it. However, this may not be the case depending on the journal in which you publish. 

SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), explains the issue of author rights and provides tips on how you can ensure that you secure your rights as an author as fully as possible. An addendum that can be attached to publication agreements tailored for US authors is available on the site.

Know Your Rights as the Author

• The author is the copyright holder. As the author of a work you are the copyright holder unless and until you transfer the copyright to someone else in a signed agreement.
• Assigning your rights matters. Normally, the copyright holder possesses the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, public performance, public display, and modification of the original work. An author who has transferred copyright without retaining these rights must ask permission unless the use is one of the statutory exemptions in copyright law.
• The copyright holder controls the work. Decisions concerning use of the work, such as distribution, access, pricing, updates, and any use restrictions belong to the copyright holder. Authors who have transferred their copyright without retaining any rights may not be able to place the work on course Web sites, copy it for students or colleagues, deposit the work in a public online archive, or reuse portions in a subsequent work. That’s why it is important to retain the rights you need.
• Transferring copyright doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The law allows you to transfer copyright while holding back rights for yourself and others. This is the compromise that the SPARC Author Addendum helps you to achieve.

"Author Rights: Using the SPARC Author Addendum" by SPARC is licensed under CC BY 4.0

As of late 2024, several academic publishers have entered into formal agreements with generative AI companies, licensing their published content for use in training large language models (LLMs).

What Does This Mean for Authors?

• Publishers are increasingly monetizing their collections by selling access to their content for AI training. This practice raises important questions about authorship rights, ethical considerations, and the transparency of these deals. While Cambridge University Press is seeking author opt-in, other publishers have not sought input.
• If your work is online, it may already be in AI training data. Many LLMs have been trained on publicly available online content, including open-access papers, preprints, and even paywalled materials that have been scraped. If your work—or parts of it, like an abstract—is accessible online, it is reasonable to assume it could already be part of these datasets.
• While the inclusion of your work in AI training could arguably increase the visibility of your scholarship, as AI models trained on high-quality research may cite or highlight your findings in generated content, there are a number of significant concerns:
  • Your work may be used without your express consent, raising ethical questions about intellectual property and authorship rights.
  • Models trained on your research could misrepresent or oversimplify your findings
  • You may receive no financial compensation or recognition, even if your work contributes significantly to a model's capabilities.

What Should You Do?

• Check publisher policies: Before submitting your paper, review the publisher’s policies regarding AI licensing and training datasets. Some publishers now include explicit clauses about AI usage in their terms of publication.
• Understand consent processes: Look for clear statements about whether you have the option to opt in or out of having your work included in AI training datasets.
• Ask questions about your publishing contract: Can you negotiate language using tools like the Model Publishing Contract for Digital Scholarship or the Authors Guild model clause for prohibiting AI training without express permission.While academic publishers may express unwillingness to incorporate that language, it is worth asking.
• Stay informed: The landscape is evolving quickly. Regularly check resources like Ithaka S+R’s Generative AI Licensing Agreement Tracker to stay updated on publisher practices and the broader implications for scholarly communication.

Authorship and contribution to a publication can be a complicated (and potentially uncomfortable) political and logistical process. These resources can help you discuss and plan how to provide appropriate credit for contributions as you prepare to publish, as well as practices to avoid.

Content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License and is adapted from "Identifying Appropriate Journals for Publication" by University of Alberta Health Sciences Library which is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0