The Plan S Rights Retention Strategy allows authors to publish in the subscription journal of their choice whilst retaining copyright to the author accepted manuscript of their work. Authors are expected to deposit their outputs in an Open Access repository without embargo whilst retaining copyright via a CC-BY license under zero embargo. This ensures maximum dissemination and exposure for your outputs. If you chose to publish in a subscription journal which does not support a transition to Open Access, then you can use the RRS to ensure compliance with Plan S. The strategy allows researchers to retain their right to use their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) as they please including sharing within academic networks, and with whomever they choose under CC BY conditions.
As signatories of Plan S, UKRI, Wellcome Trust, and others have introduced rights retention into their revised Open Access policies to align with Plan S principles (see the funder policies section of this guide for further information on these requirements). If you receive funding from one of the signatories of Plan S, and choose to publish in a subscription journal, you must invoke rights retention. Each funder may have nuances in their policies so it it best to be sure of your obligations at the start of your project.
Non-funded Research and Rights Retention
Rights retention can be utilised even if you are not in receipt of funding from an external organisation. As the original copyright holder, you own the rights to your work until it is signed away. If you wish to retain copyright over the author accepted manuscript of one of your publications, you can inform the publisher at the point of submission to their journal.
The University of Derby and Rights Retention
We want to ensure that all of our researchers feel empowered to publish wherever they choose. We have expertise in the library and colleagues who can provide advice and guidance around rights retention, creative commons and matters relating to copyright. See the help and support tab of this guide for further information.
Please consult the University Guidane Note on Rights Retention which provides futher information on when and how to invoke this simple yet effective strategy.
Further guidance on the RRS and how to use it can be found below via the attached handout.
You may also find this recording useful which was made during Open Access Week 2022. Find out more from experts, Sally Rumsey and Johan Rooryck from cOAlition S on Why the Plan S Rights Retention Strategy Matters.