Open Access at Muhlenberg College

The Muhlenberg College faculty approved the following resolution in support of open access in November 2014.

The faculty of Muhlenberg College is committed to disseminating the results of its research and scholarship as widely as possible. In keeping with that commitment, the faculty adopts the following resolution:

Each member of the faculty and staff grants to Muhlenberg College permission to make his or her scholarly journal articles openly accessible in the College’s Institutional Repository, as permitted by publishers’ policies and/or copyright agreements. To assist the College in cataloging and distributing the published scholarship of its faculty, each faculty and staff member will, upon publication of the article, provide an electronic copy of the author’s final manuscript of the article, along with the appropriate bibliographical data, to the Scholarly Communication Librarian. This copy will be provided free of charge and in an appropriate format (such as PDF), as specified by the Library Committee in consultation with the Office of the Provost.

The resolution will apply to all scholarly journal articles published while the person is a member of the faculty or staff except for any articles published before the adoption of this resolution; or any articles for which the author requests a waiver. The Scholarly Communication Librarian will automatically waive application of the resolution for a particular article upon written request by the author. Waivers will only be granted after the bibliographical data of the publication have been submitted.

Scholarly articles are understood to be articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The author’s final manuscript is understood to be the last version the author sends to the publisher after completion of the peer-review process. While this Open Access resolution only covers peer-reviewed journal articles held in the Institutional Repository, members of the faculty and staff are encouraged also to provide bibliographical data and, where possible per copyright owner permission, the full text, of any other publications (such as chapters and essays in edited volumes, reference articles, non-peer-reviewed articles, monographs and visual, audio, or multimedia works), for inclusion in the Institutional Repository.

The Scholarly Communication Librarian, in consultation with the Office of the Provost, will be responsible for interpreting this resolution, establishing guidelines for its implementation, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the faculty from time to time. The resolution will be reviewed by the Library Committee after three years and a report presented to the faculty.

The day-to-day administration of this resolution will be the responsibility of the Scholarly Communication Librarian or another member of the current library staff designated by the Library Director. The designated library staff member will process the publication data and texts submitted in accordance with publisher copyright policy and/or agreement and process any faculty waiver requests.

The text of this resolution is adapted with permission from the policy at the College of Wooster, whose policy was based on those of Harvard University and Oberlin College.