On February 1, 2010, the faculty of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University, unanimously adopted an open access policy to guide deposit of the author’s final version of scholarly works in the University’s institutional repository.

The policy, in part, reads:

“Recognizing that academic scholarship hinges upon the ability to access and utilize research output, the Library Faculty of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University (WFU), hereby adopt an open access policy to achieve the widest possible access to and long-term preservation of their scholarly works.

Each faculty member grants Wake Forest University the right to archive and make publicly available the full text of the author’s final version of scholarly works via the University’s open access institutional repository. This provides the University the nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to preserve and redistribute the work. When publisher agreements do not automatically grant permission to archive the author’s final version, the faculty commit to negotiating for such rights. Faculty members will submit an electronic version of the author’s final version in an appropriate format as soon as possible, respecting some publishers’ requests for embargo.

Furthermore, the faculty endeavor to publish their scholarship in open access venues when possible, or alternately to seek the right to archive the final published version in lieu of the author’s final version.

This policy will apply to all scholarship created while a member of the WFU faculty, excluding works previously accepted for publication and works for which authors entered into incompatible licensing or assignment agreements prior to the adoption of this policy, and excepting books and book chapters as necessary. The Dean of the Library will waive the application of the policy for future scholarship upon written notification from the author, who informs the Dean of the reason. ”

The full text of the OA policy can be found at: http://zsr.wfu.edu/assembly/