Publications and Sponsored Research Guidelines
The University is a publicly funded teaching and research institution focused on protecting our researchers’ right to publish and openly disseminate research results. This includes:
- Protection of researchers’ academic freedoms including the right to disclose research results with minimal delays
- Graduate students must be able to defend and publish theses without interference
- Ownership of academic publication copyrights must reside with the authors
Although the University preserves the right to publish, it is important to note that research results arising from a project may not be academically significant to justify publication. The University works with all our sponsors to negotiate research agreements that balance sponsor’s interests with the University’s publication requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Publications may include: journal articles, books, conference proceedings/papers, dissertations, theses, research reports, abstracts, posters, editorials, letters, review articles, case studies, methodology papers, books/chapters/volumes/collections, white papers, reports, data summaries, archives, teaching materials, etc.
The University requires the right to publish research results arising from a research project while respecting any confidentiality obligations between the University and research sponsor.
Advance copies of proposed publications will be provided to the sponsor prior to publication. The sponsor will, within a defined review period (usually 30-90 days), review the proposed publication to ensure no confidential information belonging to the sponsor has been inadvertently included in the publication. Following such review, the University will be free to publish.
Information received from a sponsor subject to confidentiality terms cannot be publicly disclosed without the permission of the original provider. Researchers should ensure they discuss any publication requirements with their sponsor upfront to ensure agreement on what information can be included in a proposed publication.
In the event there is a need to protect or formally register intellectual property (i.e. copyrights, patent filings, etc.), proposed publications can be delayed for up to a maximum of six months to allow for intellectual property registrations. Following this delay period, the University will be free to publish.
As with all University researchers, students must retain the right to publish. Research agreement terms will contain provisions ensuring that graduate students can defend and publish theses/dissertations without interference or delay.
The University encourages open dissemination of research results. In addition, many government funding programs also restrict the ability to classify research results arising from use of the government funding as confidential/secret. Notwithstanding the above, not all research results are scientifically significant enough to publish. There may also be limited scenarios which do not involve public funding, students or other factors which require publication. In these very limited scenarios, the University may agree to waive our right to publish.
Copyright ownership will reside with the University researchers/authors that contributed to the proposed publication.