I had a couple of other topics I wanted to talk about this week but we’ll go back to what’s currently turning my stomach: author self-archiving rights.

I just got the author contract for a book chapter I turned in last fall.  It’s only been four months, I assume that’s a relatively speedy turn around?

It’s only a one page contract, so there wasn’t a lot of legalese to wade through. There is one clause I take exception to though: “All rights are assigned to the editors” (who then hand them over to the publisher). Now, I asked for self-archiving rights when the manuscript was accepted in December.  At that point, my editor said it shouldn’t be an issue. However, it’s not listed on the Writer’s Agreement form I’m being asked to sign.

And so, I emailed back and asked how they’d like me to handle that. One colleague suggested that I print, add the addendum, initial, sign, and return.  It may come down to that.  What I would prefer is that I will get an updated contract that says that I reserve the right to self-archive in an institutional repository.

I’ll update once I get an answer.