As you submit articles this spring, keep in mind the language of the journal publication agreements.
Many academic authors inadvertently give away the copyright to their work by signing broad publication agreements that give the journals the copyright.
Generally, most law journals have amended their publication agreements to account for authors retaining copyright, thus retaining the ability to share their work (or use their work) as they see fit.
But there are likely some journals that are behind in updating their publication agreements. If you want to use or share the work that you created, it is best to make sure that you retain the right to do so.
That’s where the SPARC Author Addendum may be useful. If you find that a publication agreement does not contain language allowing you to retain copyright, you might decide to include this addendum to ensure that you do, in fact, retain copyright.
Additionally, if you are unsure about the rights granted by specific journals, please visit SHERPA/RoMEO for more information about publisher copyright policies.
The Reporter 