A publication agreement sets out the arrangements agreed on by an author and a publisher.
Amongst other things, it stipulates the conditions under which an article is published and thus made accessible to a wider public.
The publication of a scientific/scholarly article in a periodical is therefore always based on a publication agreement. In this context, it is important to promote the interests of both the author and the publisher as effectively as possible, even though they may sometimes diverge. Determining precisely what each party’s interests actually are can help each one understand the other’s position better.
The checklist for publication agreements can help authors and publishers to determine what rights they wish to retain when they transfer the copyright in a publication or grant a licence.
Go to the Checklist of key needs for authors and publishers when publishing a journal article or
>> Download the checklist for publication agreements (PDF|16 Kb) (in Dutch)
This checklist was produced as part of a work package (funded by SURF and JISC) in the area of publishing agreements that was developed under the auspices of the Zwolle Group. The focus here is on achieving a proper balance between the interests of the parties to copyright arrangements for scientific/scholarly works.
A variety of different definitions of “preprint” and “postprint” are used in scientific/scholarly communication. The definitions used in this checklist are in line with those used by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers in its response to the report Scientific Publications: Free for all? (November 2004) produced for the Science and Technology Committee of the UK House of Commons.