Legal opinion of the University of Zurich
On the initiative of its Main Library, the University of Zurich commissioned Professor Dr Reto M. Hilty and Dr Matthias Seemann to draw up an expert opinion on Open Access. The author of an academic paper, such as an article in a journal, that deals with a topic in depth can publish it in a repository or other server three months after it has been published in full (meaning open access). Reports with a topical relevance, such as newspaper articles, can be published by the author in a repository or other server at any time.
The author's version (accepted manuscript or post-print) can certainly be used for this purpose. According to the expert opinion by Reto Hilty and Matthias Seemann, the version published by the publisher can also be used (publisher's pdf), but without the publisher's logo, which is protected by trademark law or similar.
If an agreement on copyright was concluded when the article was published, such as a written publishing contract, the provisions it contains will apply. In the case of an article with a number of authors the consent of all the authors must be obtained for the publication on a document server.
The legal opinion can be found at the website of the ZORA-repository in german, english or french. There's also a section with frequently asked questions (FAQ) based on the legal opinion.
Procedure to guarantee author’s rights
PhD students can find important information on Open Access in the presentation "Wie publiziere ich meine Dissertation?" (How to publish your dissertation?, by Christian Schlumpf / Dr. Thorsten Uehlein of the libray of the university of St. Gallen, November 2016), albeit only in German.
1. Check a publisher’s stance on self-archiving
The SHERPA/ROMEO-Datenbank database can inform you of important publisher’s positions on copyright and self-archiving.
SHERPA/ROMEO is integrated into Alexandria. Researches who want to publish on Alexandria can check their publishers Open Access policy directly when entering the publisher in Alexandria.
If the publisher allows for self-archiving you can publish your research in Alexandria / EDIS.