Many publishers allow authors to openly share a version of their work, typically the author's accepted manuscript (AAM), in their institutional repositories either immediately or after a certain embargo period has passed. At UWA, this is the UWA Profiles and Research Repository. This process is also known as self-archiving.

UWA authors are responsible for depositing copies of their AAMs in the UWA Profiles and Research Repository under the UWA Research Integrity Policy. 

Also known as the post-print, the AAM is: 

• the final draft version of a scholarly paper that has been accepted for publication by a journal, after peer-review and incorporating any suggested revisions

• it typically includes all of the changes and edits that were made during the peer-review process, but has not yet been copyedited or formatted by the publisher.

It is NOT:

• the submitted version, also known as the preprint. While preprints can often be made available too, they haven't been through the peer review process and do not meet the requirements of the  ARC and NHMRC Open Access funding mandates, or the UWA Research Integrity Policy.

• the proof or the final published version that has undergone copyediting, typesetting and branding 

The image below shows where the AAM usually fits within the scholarly publishing process:

'Which version to upload' image courtesy of Digital Services, University of Cambridge used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The image below compares a typical AAM with the published version of the same journal article, demonstrating the lack of publisher applied copyediting, typesetting and branding. 

So how do you know if the journal you hope to submit to permits AAMs to be made available? And if they do, whether they will permit your AAM to be made available immediately upon publication, or specify a set period you have to wait before you can make an AAM accessible. 

To find out a journal's policy try the following:

• Check the journal’s website for their policy on Open Access and self-archiving/AAMs.
• Sherpa RoMEO is a searchable database of publisher's policies regarding the self-archiving of journal articles on the web and in Open Access repositories.
• If you are already in the submission process, check your publishing agreement.
• Contact the journal directly if you're not sure what their policy is. 

We recommend checking a journal's policy before submitting, especially if your funding/ grant requires immediate open access, like the NHMRC. If the journal you want to publish with doesn’t permit AAMs to be made available, see the next step on amending your publication agreement.

If a publishing agreement does not specifically grant you the right to self-archive a copy of the AAM, it may be possible to cross out the relevant section of the existing agreement and insert a statement about the rights you wish to retain.

The UWA Research Integrity Policy states (section 10(B)(4)):

avoid transferring copyright to the publisher and ensure publication contracts allow self-archiving of the Author's accepted manuscript in the UWA Profile and Research Repository.  If self-archiving is not included the publisher contract, then University Authors will request inclusion of the following addendum -

If you do this, ensure you contact the publisher or journal editor to let them know what you are doing and why. If you amend the agreement you need to ensure that the publisher/journal editor acknowledges – and agrees to – the amendments in order for them to be valid.

For NHMRC-funded research, the NHMRC provide a statement that authors must use when submitting the manuscript for publication, see more on the OA Funder Mandates page. 

For more information on publishing agreements and copyright, see the University Library’s Copyright and publishing webpage.

To deposit your AAM in the UWA Profiles and Research Repository, first check whether the publication is already in the Repository.

If the publication already exists in the Repository, follow these instructions in our Repository support guide to add your AAM to the existing publication record.

If the publication isn't listed in the Repository, follow the instructions in our Repository support guide to add the publication, choosing from a range of methods. Each set of instructions includes a step on adding your AAM.