Existing problems and improvement suggestions for copyright agreements of open access journals in China
[Purposes]This study analyzes the issues existing in the copyright agreements of open access(OA)journals in China under the open science environment.It also proposes suggestions for improving the copyright agreements of Chinese OA journals.[Methods]We focused on Chinese(including mixed-language)and English(including journals co-published with international publishers)journals hosted domestically.A literature research method was used to conduct a copyright agreement survey,obtain journal copyright policies,and summarize potential loopholes in copyright agreements.Offline research methods were also employed to complement the research content.Suggestions for strategies to improve OA copyright issues of Chinese journals under the open science environment were developed by consulting with publishing and intellectual property experts.[Findings]The study identifies basic issues with OA journal copyright agreements.These issues include the lack of signed copyright transfer/licensing agreements with authors,unreasonable methods of agreement activation and expiration,the unclear scope of copyright transfer/licensing,incomplete signatures of copyright owners,and the absence of clarified transfer/licensing fees.Additionally,there are problems with confusion regarding the types of transferred/licensed rights,licensing agreements that do not specify exclusive rights,and a lack of clarity on whether rights can be sub-licensed to third parties.[Conclusions]OA journals should further improve their copyright agreements to avoid potential disputes.In the future,it is recommended to carry out copyright training,use modern information technology products to monitor and track copyright usage,and further improve relevant laws and rights protection channels for copyright protection.It is suggested to advance the development of OA by enhancing copyright protection in an open science environment from both journal and national perspectives.
Copyright protectionOpen scienceOpen accessCopyright agreementSub-licensing right
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