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Copyright Guide

This guide will help you to find out how copyright affects your study, research and work here at the University of Derby. Please note that information on these pages is for guidance only: it should not be construed as formal legal advice.

Co- authored material

If you have co-authored any papers with other academics, it is polite to seek their consent before uploading anything to UDORA.

You must ensure that all co-authors and their affiliated institutions are named when creating a record for your work within UDORA. Whilst it is unlikely (depending on the contract) that any of you will own the copyright to the work, you will all maintain moral rights. Unless the output has been published Open Access and then is is likely that copyright will remain with the author(s). 

Moral rights are not assigned with copyright; they will always reside with the author(s). Morals rights include:

  • The right to be identified as the author of the work
  • The right to object to distortion, mutilation or any derogatory treatment of your work

Another issue to consider is whether the publisher will permit both or all authors of an article to upload the work to their separate webpages or institutional repositories. It is always best practice to draw up some kind of agreement  in relation to self-archival when you commence a joint paper, to avoid any awkwardness later. You may also wish to include an agreement on the split of any possible royalties, for example, or rights to use the work as the basis for future research.