Copyright | Elsevier policy (original) (raw)

Authors’ licensing and copyright options when publishing research articles with Elsevier

In order for Elsevier to publish and disseminate research articles, we need authors to grant us certain publishing rights, which are determined by the author’s choice of publishing model and, in the case of open access articles, the author’s choice of end user license.

Irrespective of the model under which an article is published, Elsevier is committed to protecting and defending authors’ works and their reputation. We take allegations of infringement, plagiarism, ethical disputes, and fraud very seriously.

Elsevier offers two publishing routes for authors to choose from, which have different implications for authors and others:

1. Pay-to-publish, also known as open access, which usually requires a fee from the author, or their institution or funder, to publish. When publishing open access with Elsevier, the author retains their copyright in the article and grants Elsevier a license to publish it. Authors have a choice of end user license:

• If the author selects a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, end users are bound by this license. Each author can re-use their article themselves and also grant others (additional to Elsevier) a license to re-use their article for any purpose without permission from, or payment to, Elsevier.
• If the author selects a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license or a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license, end users are bound by the license. Each author retains the right to re-use the article for their own commercial and non-commercial purposes, including creating derivative works, without permission from, or payment to, Elsevier.

2. Pay-to-read, where articles are free to publish, but usually require a subscription or payment to read. When publishing subscription the author typically transfers copyright to the publisher. However, each author retains the right to re-use the article for certain personal and scholarly purposes, including the creation of some derivative works, without permission from, or payment to, Elsevier.

In all cases, any rights the author grants to Elsevier apply only to the published article. Elsevier does not require, nor ever request, rights to the underlying research itself. Authors (and institutions or employers) will continue to retain patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights relating to the research, as well as the right to use their research data freely and without restriction.