Sometimes.

It may be possible to negotiate a publication agreement so you keep some important rights. Publishers do not always need full copyright transfer in order to publish your work. Some allow authors to keep copyright while granting the publisher a licence to publish the work.

Ways to ask for this include:

• reviewing the agreement carefully before signing,
• asking to revise or remove terms in the agreement,
• attaching the Canadian Author Addendum to request retention of certain rights,
  • see the CARL Guide to using the Canadian Author Addendum,
• mentioning any funder or institutional requirements, and
• explaining clearly which rights you want to keep and why.

Publishers may not always agree, but it is often worth asking before you sign.

You may be able to share your published work through MROAR
The Library’s Open Access Repository (MROAR) helps preserve and share the scholarship, research, and other intellectual contributions of the MRU community. For MRU authors, MROAR is often a good place to increase visibility and provide stable access to work. Repository submissions are subject to the Submission Agreement.

What version can I share?
That depends on your publication agreement. Some publishers allow authors to archive a preprint (a version before peer review), an accepted manuscript or postprint (the final peer-reviewed manuscript before publisher formatting), or in some cases the published version. Other publishers place limits on what can be shared, where it can be shared, or when it can be made openly available.

What is an embargo?
An embargo is a delay before the full text can be made openly available. A repository can often accept the deposit now and release the file later, after the embargo period ends. In some cases, the item record can still be visible while the file remains closed.

Are there other places I can share my work?
In some cases, authors may also choose to share work in a disciplinary or general repository, such as Zenodo or OSF.

How do I check?
Start by reviewing your publication agreement. You can also check Open Policy Finder, which summarizes archiving policies for many publishers and journals.

Need help?
If you are unsure what version you can deposit in MROAR, whether an embargo applies, or whether another repository may also be appropriate, contact the repository team for assistance.