When you submit an item to Nazarbayev University Repository (NUR), you will be asked to accept our non-exclusive license. This verifies that you hold the copyright to the work (or you have secured the appropriate permission from the rights holder), and gives NUR the non-exclusive right to distribute and preserve it.
Copyright on works that have been previously published is typically transferred from the author to publisher. However, many publishers still allow authors to deposit their work into institutional repositories. The steps below will help you determine whether or not you can deposit the work in NUR.
If you signed a publication agreement and you still have access to it, review its terms and see what it says about copyright and posting the work online. If the agreement provides for a complete transfer of copyright or an exclusive license, then you should also look for provisions indicating what rights you might retain in your work or for time limits on exclusive licenses.
Many publishers post authors' rights policies on their website (generally with the author submission instructions or copyright notices). This is a great place to check if your publication agreement is not clear or not readily at hand. Additionally, a major resource on journal publisher policies is SHERPA/RoMEO. The database covers most major academic publishers, but it is not yet universal. If the database has your publisher, it will indicate to what extent publishers permit authors who have signed publication agreements to post their work online.
If you are unsure about your rights to post your work online, or you are not satisfied with those rights, contact the publisher and request permission to deposit your work in NU IR. The right place to start depends on the publisher - it might be the journal editor, the permissions department of the publisher, or someone in journal production. Contact as many people as needed to find the person with authority over these issues and request permission.
Nazarbayev University has adopted the Creative Commons license
An important element of open access is that the end user can clearly see how and for what purposes they are permitted to reuse your work. Creative Commons Licenses are free, simple and standardised. They clearly explain what reuse permissions you as the author will allow or not allow for your work. There are 6 different licences that you can choose from. You will need to check if your funder (SHERPA/FACT) or publisher (SHERPA/RoMEO) stipulates a particular licence in order to make your work green or gold open access.
