What version of my scholarly article is covered by the Open Access policy?
Answer
The UMass Open Access Policy asks authors to deposit "an electronic copy of the author’s final version (or better version, if possible)". This is commonly known as the "author accepted manuscript".
The "author accepted manuscript" is the version sent by the author to the publisher after peer review and any revisions made by the author in response peer review. It does not include minor typesetting edits made by the journal or the journal layout.
Authors may also choose to submit the published version, also called the "version of record." In some cases, publishers may prefer authors to not submit the published version, or to do so only after an embargo. If the publisher includes such terms in the publishing contract, the author can choose to accept them or to try to negotiate those terms. The publisher has no separate copyright claim on typesetting or minor copy-edits.
The UMass Libraries do not independently assess which version of a paper a faculty member might upload, nor do the Libraries have any access to review the author's publishing contracts. However, if you have questions about which version of a paper can be uploaded to ScholarWorks, please email scholarworks@library.umass.edu, and if you wish to review your author publishing contract, please contact the Copyright and Information Policy program (copyright@umass.edu).