How does the Open Access policy work with a funder mandate to publicly share my scholarly article?
Answer
The University of Massachusetts Amherst Open Access Policy is an institutional open access policy whereby the University claims non-exclusive, irrevocable, global rights to share a faculty researcher's author accepted manuscript of a scholarly article, book chapter or conference paper. The UMass Amherst Open Access Policy also gives the university "prior license" to the manuscript.
A funder mandate to publicly share your work is typically a condition of the funding contract. U.S. federal funders with public access mandates are based on the Federal Purpose License. The Federal Purpose License (also known as the Government Use License (2 CFR 200.315) gives the U.S. government royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable rights to reproduce, publish or use the government-funded work "for Federal purposes." It also gives the agency the authority to authorize others to use the work.
The Federal Purpose License and the UMass Amherst Open Access Policy are separate but because both are non-exclusive licenses, and they are mutually compatible. However, the funder mandate may have its own specific requirements about where to deposit manuscripts; for instance, federal agencies may require you to deposit your manuscript to the repository designated by the funding agency.