Rice Open Access Policy: Home

Read the full text of Rice's Open Access Policy here.

Passed in 2012, Rice's Open Access Policy was designed to make faculty research widely and freely available through the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive. The policy applies to all faculty represented by the Rice Faculty Senate.

A critical aspect of the Open Access Policy is that it does not require transfer of any copyrights to the University. Rather, it builds on the Rice Copyright Policy through provision that the University will make published articles written by faculty members available for open dissemination.

Articles are made publicly available in the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive (RDSA), an open access repository managed by Fondren Library. The RDSA serves as an online publishing platform for a wide variety of material, including theses and dissertations, journal articles, research center publications, datasets, and academic journals.

Authors are encouraged to submit their publications for deposit in the RDSA at any time, either via email (openaccess@rice.edu) or webform. Note: By notifying the library that you want an article deposited, you are indicating that you have read and agreed to the RDSA Non-Exclusive Deposit License.

Library staff also monitor recent Rice publications and send email invitations to deposit specific works.

Occasionally, a publisher may require that you obtain a waiver of the policy from the University. You may request one using this webform.