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56 journal rights records

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Feb. 2026 publisher snapshot · JCI rechecked Sep. 2026

Last reviewed

Dataset: February 2026 · JCI record: September 2026

Prepared by the Manusights editorial team.

Rights-and-licensing guide

Author Rights and Copyright in Biomedical Publishing

When you publish in a journal, something happens to your copyright, and most researchers don't read the fine print closely enough to know exactly what. The answer depends entirely on which journal you publish in, whether you pay an APC, and what license agreement you sign at acceptance.

This guide explains what copyright transfer and exclusive licensing mean in practice, what you can still do with your work after signing either, and how open-access licenses differ from traditional arrangements.

Quick orientation

Use this page when the journal is already chosen and the next question is what rights you will still control after publication.

This guide is for the contract stage of publishing: copyright transfer, exclusive licenses, accepted-manuscript posting, embargoes, and what open-access licenses really permit. It is most useful before you sign, not after.

56 journalsRights-model comparisonEmbargo and self-archive notesBest for contract-stage planning

Best used with

Open access guide

Use it when rights questions are tied to APCs, mandates, or OA route selection.

Preprint guide

Move there when the real question is what can be shared before submission rather than after acceptance.

Data sharing requirements

Pair manuscript-rights planning with repository and data-availability obligations.

In this guide

The five rights questions most authors actually need answered

Start with the rights model, then move immediately to what you can still do in practice. Most confusion comes from assuming the contract label and the real-world sharing rights are the same thing.

Rights models

Copyright transfer, exclusive license, and open-access licensing in plain terms.

What you keep

The teaching, repository, thesis, and sharing rights authors usually retain.

CC licenses

Which Creative Commons terms actually change reuse rights after publication.

Journal dataset

Publisher-by-publisher embargo and self-archiving rules for the journals most often compared.

SPARC addendum

What to do when the standard contract is narrower than your institution wants.

Three Arrangements You'll Encounter

Traditional / subscription journals

Copyright transfer

You sign over copyright to the publisher. They own the paper. You retain limited rights: typically the right to share a preprint, use the work in teaching, post to an institutional repository after an embargo, and include it in your thesis. JAMA, NEJM, AAAS, and some Elsevier journals use this model.

Common at Springer Nature / Cell Press

Exclusive license to publish

You keep copyright but grant the publisher an exclusive license to publish and distribute the work. The practical effect is similar to copyright transfer: the publisher controls distribution. Springer Nature journals (Nature, Nature Medicine) and most Cell Press journals use this model.

Open access journals

Creative Commons license (open access)

You keep copyright and publish under a CC license: usually CC BY 4.0, which lets anyone use, share, and adapt the work as long as they credit you. PLOS, eLife, BioMed Central, Nature Communications, Frontiers, and most fully OA journals use this.

What You Can Still Do After Copyright Transfer

Even after transferring copyright to a publisher, most author agreements retain a set of standard author rights. These are usually in the agreement itself, but authors rarely read them. Here's what's typically retained:

✓

Post a preprint

You can post a preprint version (the submitted manuscript, before peer review) on bioRxiv, medRxiv, or your personal website. This is separate from the published version and was created before copyright transfer.

✓

Use in teaching and presentations

You can use your own figures, tables, and text in lectures, conference presentations, and educational materials without requesting permission from the publisher.

✓

Post the accepted manuscript to an institutional repository

Most publishers allow posting of the accepted manuscript (post-peer-review, pre-copyediting version) to your institutional repository, typically after a 6–12 month embargo.

✓

Include in your thesis or dissertation

You can include the published paper in your PhD thesis or dissertation. Most agreements explicitly allow this.

✓

Share with colleagues directly

You can email a copy to colleagues who request it for their own research. This personal use right is standard in most publisher agreements.

✓

Deposit in PubMed Central (NIH-funded work)

If your research was NIH-funded, you're required to deposit the accepted manuscript in PMC within 12 months of publication: publishers can't override this under the NIH public access policy.

Creative Commons Licenses Explained

CC BY 4.0(Attribution)

Anyone can use, share, remix, and build on the work, including commercially, as long as they credit you. The most permissive and most common OA license. Used by PLOS, eLife, Nature Communications, BioMed Central, Frontiers.

Funder note: Required by NIH (for OA compliance), Wellcome Trust, UKRI, Gates Foundation

CC BY-NC 4.0(Attribution: Non-Commercial)

Use, share, and remix allowed for non-commercial purposes only. Commercial reuse requires separate permission. Some journals offer this as an alternative to CC BY.

Funder note: Not acceptable for Wellcome, UKRI, or Gates Foundation mandates, which require CC BY. NIH public access (PMC deposit) does not specify a license and is compatible with CC BY-NC.

CC BY-ND 4.0(Attribution: No Derivatives)

Can be shared with attribution but can't be modified or built upon. Rarely used in biomedical research because it limits reuse in meta-analyses and systematic reviews.

Funder note: Not acceptable for most funder OA mandates

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0(Attribution: Non-Commercial: No Derivatives)

The most restrictive CC license: share only, no modification, no commercial use. Occasionally offered by hybrid journals for lower APC tiers.

Funder note: Not acceptable for NIH, Wellcome, UKRI, or Gates mandates

Author rights by journal

Search rights models, embargoes, and self-archiving rules across the journals biomedical researchers compare most often. Export the current view or copy rows into a lab or library copyright guide.

JournalRights model
NEJMCopyright transfer
LancetExclusive license
JAMACopyright transfer
The BMJCopyright transfer
NatureExclusive license
ScienceCopyright transfer
CellExclusive license
Nature MedicineExclusive license
PNASCopyright transfer
Nature CommunicationsOA / author retains
eLifeOA / author retains
PLOS ONEOA / author retains
Scientific ReportsOA / author retains
BMC MedicineOA / author retains
Genome BiologyOA / author retains
PLOS MedicineOA / author retains
BMJ OpenOA / author retains
Frontiers in ImmunologyOA / author retains
Science AdvancesOA / author retains
Journal of Clinical InvestigationOA / author retains
CirculationCopyright transfer
Cancer CellExclusive license
ImmunityExclusive license
NeuronExclusive license
Cell MetabolismExclusive license
Cell Host & MicrobeExclusive license
Cell Stem CellExclusive license
Molecular CellExclusive license
Developmental CellExclusive license
Current BiologyExclusive license
Cell ReportsOA / author retains
Nature NeuroscienceExclusive license
Nature GeneticsExclusive license
Nature MethodsExclusive license
Nature BiotechnologyExclusive license
Nature ImmunologyExclusive license
Nature Structural & Molecular BiologyExclusive license
Nature Chemical BiologyExclusive license
Molecular PsychiatryExclusive license
JAMA OncologyCopyright transfer
JAMA CardiologyCopyright transfer
Lancet OncologyExclusive license
Lancet NeurologyExclusive license
Lancet Infectious DiseasesExclusive license
European Heart JournalExclusive license
JACCCopyright transfer
Circulation ResearchCopyright transfer
BrainExclusive license
Journal of NeuroscienceCopyright transfer
GUTCopyright transfer
GastroenterologyCopyright transfer
HepatologyCopyright transfer
BloodCopyright transfer
Nucleic Acids ResearchOA / author retains
Science Translational MedicineCopyright transfer
The EMBO JournalExclusive license

For authoritative, up-to-date self-archiving policies, use SHERPA/RoMEO as the publisher-policy source of truth.

The SPARC Author Addendum

If you're publishing in a subscription journal and want to retain more rights than the standard agreement provides, the SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Author Addendum is a legal instrument you can attach to a publisher's copyright agreement.

The addendum modifies the standard agreement to let you retain the right to use the work in future publications, post the final published version to your institutional repository, and preserve your rights if the publisher is acquired or the journal ceases publication.

Publishers aren't required to accept the addendum, but many do. Your institution's scholarly communication librarian can advise on whether to use it and how to negotiate with a specific publisher.

Practical note

Three rights assumptions that regularly cause trouble

Assuming the final PDF can be posted anywhere just because the author wrote the paper.
Treating accepted-manuscript posting rights as identical across publishers when embargo rules vary substantially.
Signing the standard agreement before checking whether the funder, institution, or library expects broader retained rights.

References

  1. Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2026). Open-access terms and author rights. American Society for Clinical Investigation. Rechecked September 2026. [jci.org ↗]
  2. SHERPA/RoMEO. (2026). Publisher copyright policies and self-archiving database. Jisc. Retrieved February 2026. [sherpa.ac.uk/romeo ↗]
  3. SPARC. (2006). Author Rights: Using the SPARC Author Addendum to secure your rights as the author of a journal article. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. [sparcopen.org ↗]
  4. Creative Commons. (2013). About the Licenses. Retrieved February 2026. [creativecommons.org ↗]
  5. National Institutes of Health. (2023). NIH Public Access Policy. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [publicaccess.nih.gov ↗]
  6. COPE Council. Discussion document: Who owns peer reviews? Version 2, September 2017. [publicationethics.org ↗]
  7. Suber, P. (2012). Open Access. MIT Press. (Open access edition available.) [mitpress.mit.edu ↗]
Data note: Rights information is a February 2026 snapshot from publisher agreements, with the JCI record rechecked in September 2026. Publisher policies and copyright arrangements change, particularly as funder OA mandates evolve. Always review the specific author agreement at acceptance. SHERPA/RoMEO is a useful directory for self-archiving policies. For accuracy corrections or updates, contact hello@manusights.com.

Cite this resource

Citation formats

Free to use and cite, with attribution. See the reuse policy for what you may republish.

APA
Manusights. (2026). Author rights and copyright in biomedical publishing (Dataset snapshot February 2026; JCI rechecked September 2026). https://manusights.com/resources/author-rights-guide
MLA
Manusights. "Author Rights and Copyright in Biomedical Publishing." Manusights, dataset snapshot Feb. 2026; JCI rechecked Sept. 2026, manusights.com/resources/author-rights-guide.
Vancouver
Manusights. Author rights and copyright in biomedical publishing [Internet]. Dataset snapshot Feb 2026; JCI rechecked Sep 2026. Available from: https://manusights.com/resources/author-rights-guide

Related guides in this collection

Open Access Guide

Use this when the rights question turns into an APC or mandate decision.

Data Sharing Requirements

Pair copyright and licensing decisions with repository and data-availability planning.

Preprint Guide

Use this when the main rights question is what can be shared before journal submission.

Reference Library

Return to the broader publishing reference library for timelines, checklists, and compliance guides.

← Open Access GuideAll ResourcesPreprint Guide →

Frequently Asked Questions

What rights do I keep after signing a copyright transfer agreement?

Even after a full copyright transfer, most publishers grant authors retained rights by default: use in teaching and lectures, inclusion in a thesis or dissertation, posting the accepted manuscript (not the final PDF) on a personal or institutional website after any embargo period, and sharing with colleagues for personal use. Subscription journals typically require a 6-12 month embargo before self-archiving the accepted manuscript. Open access journals licensed under CC BY retain all rights with the author and allow immediate reuse by anyone.

Can I post my published paper on my lab website or ResearchGate?

It depends on the journal and which version you want to post. For most subscription journals, you can post the accepted manuscript (the peer-reviewed version before publisher formatting) on your personal or institutional website after the embargo period (usually 6-12 months). Posting the final publisher PDF is typically not allowed without an open access license. ResearchGate and Academia.edu exist in a gray zone: many publishers tolerate it but it is technically a violation for subscription content without permission. For open access papers with CC BY licenses, any version can be posted anywhere immediately.

What is a SPARC Author Addendum and should I use it?

The SPARC Author Addendum is a proposed contract addendum that asks a publisher to leave authors with specified rights, such as using the work in teaching and depositing an accepted manuscript. Publishers are not required to accept it, so discuss it with your institution or funder before relying on it. NIH's public-access policy provides a no-embargo deposit route for in-scope peer-reviewed articles, but it does not remove the need to review the publishing agreement and the rights required for your particular route.