DigitalCommons@ONU

As the author(s) of a publication, you carry rights regarding how your work is distributed and protected. Depending on how you choose to publish your work can determine not only how your work is distributed and to who, but also limit your involvement in how it’s distributed.

When working with a publisher to get your work into a journal, your work will typically go through three stages:

• Pre-print - Original version of the work as it was submitted to a journal. While not peer reviewed, pre-prints may still feature or incorporate input from the author's colleagues (fixes for grammatical errors, suggestions for data analysis, etc.). 
• Post-print - Peer reviewed version of the work that has incorporated the suggestions from the reviewers. Post-prints will not be formatted to look as they will in the publication, and depending on the journal, may still be missing a final copyedit. This is the final version of the work before official publication.
• Final publisher's version - Published version of the work that appears on the publisher's website or in the physical publication. Contains necessary formatting to match the journal's other published content. 

Below are some additional links that further explain your rights as an author, addendums that you can make and attach to a publisher's contract, and a database of publishers and their policies that details what version of a work can or cannot be added to an institutional repository.

As part of your author rights, are your rights as a copyright holder. As the creator(s) of a work, you are entitled to certain rights as the copyright holder. Additionally, Ohio Northern University has its own policy regarding intellectual property. While copyright law may seem complex, it’s important to remember how important copyright is to both you as a creator, and as a consumer. Below is more information regarding copyright.