LBNL authors often have questions about the publishing forms (e.g., license agreements, copyright transfer agreements, publishing agreements) that journals and publishers ask them to sign for scientific and technical publications. Scientific and technical publications include academic, technical, or professional journals, symposia, proceedings, and contributions to chapters of book compilations, but NOT books. Please contact OLC@lbl.gov if you plan to write a book.
Some common publishing form scenarios are outlined below, along with some general guidelines. We hope to update this page as more information about author’s experiences becomes available. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, contact publications@lbl.gov.
General guidelines:
Copyright in publications resulting from work performed at LBNL is generally owned by The Regents of the University of California. Thus, most LBNL publications are “company/institution owned” works, or “work made for hire in the course of employment”. Some publishers vary the language slightly in their publishing forms, but in most cases the correct choice is the one that most closely represents this scenario.
LBNL authors should request that the journal or publisher include the following Government rights clause in the publishing form if it is not in the form already.
“This manuscript has been authored by employees of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges, that the U.S. Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.”
Publisher specific examples:
Elsevier: Elsevier has a specific form/box for LBNL authors. The correct choice is “work made for hire”. You can see a copy of the form here.
If appropriate, also check the “contractor of the U.S. Government” box under “I am the sole author of the manuscript” or “I am an author signing on behalf of all co-authors of the manuscript” and insert the UC/DOE contract number (DE-AC02-05CH11231).
Wiley: the correct choice is usually on the last page of their copyright form. Choose “company/institution owned work”. Add the Government rights clause, if needed. You can see a copy of the form here.
Cambridge University Press (Open Access): the correct choice is the second one, which says that your employer (LBNL) owns the copyright. You can see an example of this here.
IEEE: Authors can sign the form at line (1) under “General Terms”. Add the Government rights clause, if needed. You can see a copy of the form here.
in the bottom right or navigate to