As a researcher, you have the right to choose how your research publications are accessed, shared, and used.

You also need to understand how other research publications are meant to be accessed, shared, and used.

Why is this important?

Have you ever wondered if materials you share with others are copyrighted? Who took the photo, made the graph or wrote the article? If you were to publish research findings of your own, how would you like people to share them? In what way could your research help other researchers in their endeavours to make this planet a better place?

There are two components to copyright: financial and intellectual rights.

Financial rights can be transferred to publishers when publishing research publications in academic journals or books.
Intellectual rights, however, can never be transferred. They give the author the right to be acknowledged when someone is citing a research publication. They also prevent the work from being distorted when shared or used by other parties.

When publishing your work you can choose to have a publication agreement with conditions that transferres the financial rights to a publisher and makes you the only one that can approve copies being made of said work. You are also able to publish your work with Open Access (OA) or by applying a Creative Commons license (CC license).

Read more about Copyright Law.

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Source: Copyright for researchers