Research & Publication for Medicine & Health

The Writers Workshop supports all writers in the campus community across all forms of academic and professional writing, at any stage of the writing process. We offer writing groups, writing-related presentations, and writing consultations where we provide feedback on essays, research papers, personal statements, cover letters, theses and dissertations, manuscripts for publication, presentations, digital compositions, and anything between and beyond.

Tutorials for Writing, Submitting, Peer Review and Open Access

Presentation tips, resources and examples

Guide to creating a poster session, including the poster, handouts and presenting.

As the Author of a work you are the copyright holder unless and until you transfer the copyright to someone else in a signed agreement.

Authors are typically asked to sign legally binding contracts such as a publication agreement or a copyright transfer agreement (both legally binding contracts) usually transferring ownership of copyright to the publisher who then determines how you may use your own work. They are written by publishers and may capture more of your rights than are necessary to publish the work. Ensuring the agreement is balanced and has a clear statement of your rights is up to you.

"An author addendum is a proposed modification to a publisher's standard copyright transfer agreement. If accepted, it would allow the author to retain key rights, especially the right to authorize OA. Because an addendum is merely a proposed contract modification, a publisher may accept or reject it."[1]

By strategically managing the contract negotiation conversation with your publisher, you will place yourself in a good bargaining position to retain copyright to your article (even if your initial request is rejected). The steps outlined below will help you retain the rights that you need to further develop and disseminate your work following its publication.