SPEC Kit 310: Author Addenda · 19
Survey Questions and Responses
The SPEC survey on Author Addenda was designed by Karen Fischer, Collections Analysis &Planning
Librarian, University of Iowa. These results are based on data submitted by 70 of the 123 ARL member
libraries (57%) between February 2 and March 20, 2009. The survey’s introductory text and questions are
reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents.
Recent developments in scholarly communication, such as the NIH public access policy, growing interest and use of institutional
repositories, open access and new models of publishing, and the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Science Open Access Policy, are raising
the topic of author rights with increasing frequency. In the current environment of publishing, it is more important than ever to
manage copyright in ways that serve author interests and those of the scholarly community.
Faculty at many large academic institutions have endorsed author addenda, to be used by authors when signing a publication
agreement. These addenda, if accepted by the publisher, allow the author to retain rights to use their work in several ways. Some
examples are: freely posting their article on their own Web sites, depositing copies of their work in a repository (institutional or
disciplinary), and using their work in future works, such as new editions or in ways not yet imagined. In short, an addendum
allows authors to share their research more widely, and gives them the added benefit of increasing the impact of their research and
creative outputs.
The use and success of author addenda at ARL institutions has not been studied as of yet. This survey is designed to answer the
following questions:
• To what extent are author addenda being promoted and used at ARL institutions? Are there institution-wide implementations?
• How are libraries promoting the use of addenda?
• Within a library’s organization, who is spearheading efforts to educate and train librarians to promote an author addendum?
• What talking points are librarians using to educate authors about author addenda?
• How successful are addenda as a negotiating tool for authors?
For the purposes of this survey:
• endorse means a formal act by your institution (either by administrators, or by the faculty governing body) in support of
author rights and the use of an author’s addendum.
• promote means active outreach to authors to educate them about author rights and to encourage the use of an author’s
addendum.
Survey Questions and Responses
The SPEC survey on Author Addenda was designed by Karen Fischer, Collections Analysis &Planning
Librarian, University of Iowa. These results are based on data submitted by 70 of the 123 ARL member
libraries (57%) between February 2 and March 20, 2009. The survey’s introductory text and questions are
reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents.
Recent developments in scholarly communication, such as the NIH public access policy, growing interest and use of institutional
repositories, open access and new models of publishing, and the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Science Open Access Policy, are raising
the topic of author rights with increasing frequency. In the current environment of publishing, it is more important than ever to
manage copyright in ways that serve author interests and those of the scholarly community.
Faculty at many large academic institutions have endorsed author addenda, to be used by authors when signing a publication
agreement. These addenda, if accepted by the publisher, allow the author to retain rights to use their work in several ways. Some
examples are: freely posting their article on their own Web sites, depositing copies of their work in a repository (institutional or
disciplinary), and using their work in future works, such as new editions or in ways not yet imagined. In short, an addendum
allows authors to share their research more widely, and gives them the added benefit of increasing the impact of their research and
creative outputs.
The use and success of author addenda at ARL institutions has not been studied as of yet. This survey is designed to answer the
following questions:
• To what extent are author addenda being promoted and used at ARL institutions? Are there institution-wide implementations?
• How are libraries promoting the use of addenda?
• Within a library’s organization, who is spearheading efforts to educate and train librarians to promote an author addendum?
• What talking points are librarians using to educate authors about author addenda?
• How successful are addenda as a negotiating tool for authors?
For the purposes of this survey:
• endorse means a formal act by your institution (either by administrators, or by the faculty governing body) in support of
author rights and the use of an author’s addendum.
• promote means active outreach to authors to educate them about author rights and to encourage the use of an author’s
addendum.
