Publishing
On our document server RWTH Publications you can professionally publish online in the interest of Open Access free of charge. Your contribution will be assigned a stable address and can be viewed worldwide and reliably cited..
The document server lends itself to:
- the initial publication of reports, pre-prints, workshop proceedings and more
- the second publication of articles that have already been published (self archiving)
Publishing in the Three Steps
1. Select a License (optional)
We recommend using standardized open content licenses in order to individually determine the terms of use for your publication. In the "Wissenschaftsbereich" or academic field we have established so called DPPL (Digital Peer Publishing License) and the CC license (Creative Commons). Please contact your publisher about legal framework conditions in the case of a second publication. If you are uncertain about anything, please contact us.
2. Upload the Document
Enter the most important information about your publicatio via the online form and then upload the file (PDF format).
3. Author's Agreement
At the end of the online form you will be shown the Author's Agreement, which you must sign and send to us. In doing so, you transfer the simple right of use to the University Library. You retain exclusive right of use and can publish your contribution again at any time.
Has you work already been published by a publisher?
Numerous publishers are starting to allow a second publication on a university's publication server. If you no longer have the publishing contract, you can use the so-called SHERPA/RoMEO list for assistance. Legally you are allowed a second publication under certain conditions independent of the publisher. Refer to § 38 (4) of the Copyright Law as well as the FAQs on Second Publication Rights from the Alliance of Science Organizations.