Self-archiving (secondary publication)
Even if your scientific contribution has already been published by a publisher, there is the possibility of secondary publication of your publication on an institutional or disciplinary repository. This option is particularly well established for journal articles, but secondary publication is also possible for books. Second publication can take place before, with, or after the first publication and depends on the open access policy of the respective publisher.
In Germany, the second publication right also grants second publication independently of publishing agreements. All articles can be published open access under certain conditions (e.g., publicly funded research, 12-month deadline, and manuscript version).
If researchers wish to deviate from these conditions, for example, if they want to use the publisher's version or want to second-publish a book, the terms of the agreement must be examined more closely.
The decisive factor here is whether the publisher of the first publication has been granted an exclusive or a simple right of use. In the latter case, secondary publication is possible without restriction. If you have transferred exclusive rights of use to the publisher, a second publication is not possible without the express consent of the publisher. You can find out which rights of use you have transferred to the publisher in the publishing agreement.
Before signing the publishing agreement, it may be worthwhile to negotiate with the publisher to transfer only simple rights of use. You can add the SPARC author addendum to the publishing agreement. This is a legal instrument that amends the publishing contract and allows you to retain important rights to your articles.
Using the Sherpa Romeo database, which summarises the open access policies of journal publishers from around the world, you can research the copyright and open access archiving policies regarding embargo periods and manuscript versions for each journal.
Repositories of the Berlin University Alliance institutions
- Freie Universität Berlin: Refubium
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: edoc-Server
- Technische Universität Berlin: DepositOnce
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin: uses the repository of Freie Universität Berlin (Refubium)
Additionally, you can find suitable repositories via the search tools OpenDOAR and ROAR.
We would be happy to advise you on the subject of second publication and your publication options