Author Services

Whether you are a graduate student or experienced scholar, navigating the publishing landscape can be challenging. We are here to help you find success in sharing your scholarship widely by supporting you through the academic research lifecycle, from the initial stages of collecting data and managing your research materialsto understanding copyright issues and publishing your work.

Services

Support in Navigating the Publishing Process

The world of academic publishing can often seem opaque and complicated, especially to early-career scholars. We are here to help you develop your familiarity with the publishing landscape and navigate the process of sharing your work.

We can help you...

  • Identify reputable journals or alternative platforms best suited for your research
  • Spot low-quality or predatory publishers who might want to take advantage of you
  • Understand the peer-review process and access resources to navigate it effectively, whether as an author or reviewer
  • Interpret academic publishing terminology and standards (e.g., the difference between a post-print and a pre-print, expected roles of copyeditors, etc.)

Authors’ Rights, Publishing Contracts, and Open Licensing

At times, researchers are both creators and consumers of intellectual property, and we are here to help you understand both roles.

We can help you...

  • Understand your rights as an author and retain control over your work
  • Interpret and assess publishing contracts
  • Preemptively license your work for reuse to expand its impact (for example, by applying a Creative Commons license)

Finding Open-Access Publishing Opportunities

Open Access (OA) is a movement that promotes free-to-read, immediate online availability of scholarly outputs, including research articles, data, code, and software. We support OA in a number of ways, including helping researchers find open publishing venues and partnering with publishers to help Pitt scholars publish their work open access for free or at a lowered cost.

We can help you...

Understanding Copyright Principles

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that (as defined by the United States Copyright Office) protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible form of expression, including literary works, music, and images. Copyright is a complex topic, and while we cannot provide legal advice, we are here to help you build your awareness of copyright terminology and issues as they relate to your research and teaching.

We can help you...

  • Understand what kinds of materials U.S. copyright law protects
  • Build your competency with copyright principles like “Fair Use,” “transformative” use, and public domain
  • Perform Fair Use assessments for potential protected reuses of copyrighted material in the U.S.
  • Identify copyright holders and request permissions to reuse copyrighted content

Finding Openly Licensed and Public Domain Materials

The term “public domain” refers to materials that are not protected by intellectual property law and therefore available to be reused freely. Many materials are available for reuse in the public domain or under permissive licenses like Creative Commons that you can use in your teaching and scholarship. We offer support for learning about the available open licenses and finding openly licensed and public domain materials for your research and instruction.

We can help you...

For Instructors

Would you like to talk to your students about their roles as creators, users, and stewards of intellectual property? Do your students need a primer on finding openly licensed and public domain materials for a course project? We provide curriculum support in a variety of ways for arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM courses. Request a teaching consultation or class workshop related to any of our Author Services support areas by filling out the ULS instruction contact form.

We can help instructors...

  • Introduce students to copyright principles
  • Identify learning objectives related to reusing and remixing content
  • Create a digital assignment or classroom activity
  • Plan a Digital Scholarship & Publishing class visit or customized workshop

Read more about Digital Scholarship and Publishing Instruction.

Recommended Resources and Events

Research Guides

Library Events

The Digital Scholarship and Publishing team offers public workshops and instruction sessions by request. Upcoming events can be viewed here. We also facilitate communities of practice and host special events related to Author Services.

International Open Access Week is a global event that takes place each October to raise awareness about open-access issues and encourage collaboration across the international academic community. The ULS often hosts related workshops and special events throughout October – upcoming events can be viewed here!

Upcoming Events