SPEC Kit 311: Public Access Policies · 13
or unit was an Office of Research or equivalent. The
most often cited units were an Office of Research, an
Office of Grants and Contracts, a General Counsel’s
Office, or an Office of Sponsored Projects. As one re-
spondent noted, “The Health Sciences Library director
worked with the School of Medicine’s Associate Dean
for Research Administration and the University’s
Office of Sponsored Projects Administration in devel-
oping the PAP support program.” In some cases, the
library initiated the partnership: “The Library brought
existence of NIH mandate to attention of Office of
Sponsored Projects and suggested strategy to comply
with it.”
Resources and Services for PAP Compliance
Support
Though the intent in this survey was to differentiate
between resources and services, no strict definition of
terms was given. This resulted in significant overlap
in the responses about the specific types of resources
and services offered by the responding institutions.
Web sites were most often referenced by respondents
as resources, but group presentations and one-on-one
consultations predominated whether they were des-
ignated as resources or services.
No matter what term is used to categorize activi-
ties, it is apparent from the survey that ARL libraries
are drawing from a wide range of actions to support
PAP compliance. Ninety percent of the respondents
publish a Web site with PAP information. Almost the
same number offer copyright addenda to help authors
retain the right to comply. The majority of respondents
employ group presentations (e.g., PowerPoint presen-
tations, tutorials, workshops, classes). Over half of the
respondents review copyright agreement forms, and
between 30% and 40% responded that their institution
maintains a listing of journal publisher policies, sam-
ple letters to publishers, and FAQs. One quarter of the
respondents offer blogs, and an equal number offer
brochures or pamphlets. In direct service to authors,
slightly fewer than half provide third-party submis-
sions to institutional repositories on behalf of authors
and 28% provide third-party submission services.
Selected examples of ways that responding libraries
provide PAP compliance support are highlighted in
the following Representative Documents section.
Personalized, one-on-one consultations stand out
as the premiere means of active communication of
information about PAP compliance within ARL li-
braries. Among the 30 respondents who track con-
sultations the number per institution ranges from 2
to over 100. One respondent noted that one-on-one
consultations are “very effective and very much ap-
preciated by the PI.” If e-mail consultations are also
included, the number of faculty/staff served increases
many times over. One library reported an average of
20 e-mail consultations a week and added, “These are
very effective as it allows for more information to be
included that can be retained for future use.” Some
libraries reported that consultations also involved
support staff for authors: “A large portion of these
consultations are with support staff who will handle
deposit for many faculty members in a department.”
Commonly asked questions in one-on-one con-
sultations included: “How do I comply?” “Do I need
to comply?” “How do I retain the right to comply?”
“How do I find my PMCID number?” “How do I sub-
mit an article?” “What is this publisher’s policy?”
“Can I retroactively comply?”
Thirty libraries also reported giving classes, work-
shops, or presentations about PAP compliance in 2008.
The number of sessions offered most often ranged
between one and ten per institution however, the
number of participants reached often soared into the
hundreds. Clearly, presentations (whether generic or
geared to specific departments) are a popular way to
communicate to institutional community members
about PAP compliance.
Respondents noted some interesting examples of
other services and resources, including:
• Customized list of publisher policies regard-
ing the NIH Public Access Policy from the
journals most frequently used by campus
authors
• Web form for NIH-funded authors for third-
party submissions by the library
• Review of citations to be included in a
proposal, progress report or application to
confirm that documentation of compliance
is noted for applicable citations.
or unit was an Office of Research or equivalent. The
most often cited units were an Office of Research, an
Office of Grants and Contracts, a General Counsel’s
Office, or an Office of Sponsored Projects. As one re-
spondent noted, “The Health Sciences Library director
worked with the School of Medicine’s Associate Dean
for Research Administration and the University’s
Office of Sponsored Projects Administration in devel-
oping the PAP support program.” In some cases, the
library initiated the partnership: “The Library brought
existence of NIH mandate to attention of Office of
Sponsored Projects and suggested strategy to comply
with it.”
Resources and Services for PAP Compliance
Support
Though the intent in this survey was to differentiate
between resources and services, no strict definition of
terms was given. This resulted in significant overlap
in the responses about the specific types of resources
and services offered by the responding institutions.
Web sites were most often referenced by respondents
as resources, but group presentations and one-on-one
consultations predominated whether they were des-
ignated as resources or services.
No matter what term is used to categorize activi-
ties, it is apparent from the survey that ARL libraries
are drawing from a wide range of actions to support
PAP compliance. Ninety percent of the respondents
publish a Web site with PAP information. Almost the
same number offer copyright addenda to help authors
retain the right to comply. The majority of respondents
employ group presentations (e.g., PowerPoint presen-
tations, tutorials, workshops, classes). Over half of the
respondents review copyright agreement forms, and
between 30% and 40% responded that their institution
maintains a listing of journal publisher policies, sam-
ple letters to publishers, and FAQs. One quarter of the
respondents offer blogs, and an equal number offer
brochures or pamphlets. In direct service to authors,
slightly fewer than half provide third-party submis-
sions to institutional repositories on behalf of authors
and 28% provide third-party submission services.
Selected examples of ways that responding libraries
provide PAP compliance support are highlighted in
the following Representative Documents section.
Personalized, one-on-one consultations stand out
as the premiere means of active communication of
information about PAP compliance within ARL li-
braries. Among the 30 respondents who track con-
sultations the number per institution ranges from 2
to over 100. One respondent noted that one-on-one
consultations are “very effective and very much ap-
preciated by the PI.” If e-mail consultations are also
included, the number of faculty/staff served increases
many times over. One library reported an average of
20 e-mail consultations a week and added, “These are
very effective as it allows for more information to be
included that can be retained for future use.” Some
libraries reported that consultations also involved
support staff for authors: “A large portion of these
consultations are with support staff who will handle
deposit for many faculty members in a department.”
Commonly asked questions in one-on-one con-
sultations included: “How do I comply?” “Do I need
to comply?” “How do I retain the right to comply?”
“How do I find my PMCID number?” “How do I sub-
mit an article?” “What is this publisher’s policy?”
“Can I retroactively comply?”
Thirty libraries also reported giving classes, work-
shops, or presentations about PAP compliance in 2008.
The number of sessions offered most often ranged
between one and ten per institution however, the
number of participants reached often soared into the
hundreds. Clearly, presentations (whether generic or
geared to specific departments) are a popular way to
communicate to institutional community members
about PAP compliance.
Respondents noted some interesting examples of
other services and resources, including:
• Customized list of publisher policies regard-
ing the NIH Public Access Policy from the
journals most frequently used by campus
authors
• Web form for NIH-funded authors for third-
party submissions by the library
• Review of citations to be included in a
proposal, progress report or application to
confirm that documentation of compliance
is noted for applicable citations.
