Navigating copyright law can be a confusing part of sharing your academic work online. As an author, you might naturally want to make your work accessible to your peers, but knowing whether or not you can share your work isn't always clear.
The good news is that most journals have policies that allow for some form of self-archiving. However, after your paper is accepted for publication, the journal's publication agreement dictates what you can and cannot do with your manuscript.
Understanding pre-prints and post-prints
When discussing self-archiving, it is crucial to understand the different versions of your paper.
- Pre-print: This is your original manuscript before it has gone through peer review.
- Post-print: This is the version of your paper that has been peer-reviewed and accepted by the journal. It does not include the publisher's final formatting.
While pre-print and post-print self-archiving is becoming more common, authors must always check the specific publishing agreement and copyright policies for the journal they intend to publish with.
Our policy at Academia.edu
As publication agreements vary from user to user, journal to journal, and paper to paper, we are not able to say whether you can upload any specific full-text of a work to Academia. We recommend contacting your publisher if you are not sure.
To learn more about copyright and Academia.edu, please visit our Copyright Policy FAQ.