Researcher

Pure is the research information system (CRIS) of the University of Groningen, in which all of the research output within the University is stored. Archiving publications in the University’s open access repository is also referred to as green open access. Learn how to present yourself and your publications in Pure.

Copyright law

Copyright is the exclusive right held by the creator of a work (be it literary, scientific, or artistic) to publish and reproduce that work. Copyright arises automatically from the moment that the creator creates a work. The creator does not need to apply for or register anything to this end (Article 1 of the Copyright Act)

Creator rights

The creator of a work is the person whose creative effort produced the work (Article 4 of the Copyright Act). The creator is almost always also the copyright owner: the copyright holder. The Copyright Act also contains a number of provisions and exceptions from the main rule (Article 7 of the Copyright Act). However, the prevailing practice in the field of scientific research at Dutch universities is different: favouring not the university as employer but the researcher as creator.

Transfer of copyright

If a creator is a natural person, copyright lasts for 70 years after their death and the right passes to their heirs. If a creator is an institution, the copyright lasts for 70 years after the work is first made public.

Article 2 of the Copyright Act stipulates that full or partial transfer of copyright can only be done in writing. The transfer only covers those rights that are expressly stated in the agreement or that necessarily result from the nature or purpose of the agreement.

License

The same result can be achieved with a license as with a transfer. A license is no more than permission from the copyright holder to another to perform certain acts covered by the copyright. Unlike a transfer, the creator retains the copyright under a license.

Retention of copyright

The distinction between transfer of copyright and a license is important if you want to publish your work with a publisher. The Dutch universities have developed a model contract (License to Publish), with which you, as the author, may retain your copyright while contracting to publish.

Creative Commons

Open access literature is published under public copyright licenses (such as Creative Commons licenses). By using a Creative Commons license for your publication, you retain all of your rights but give others permission to distribute, share and – under some licenses – alter the work. With a choice from six standard licenses (available for free), you can determine the extent to which your work may be redistributed and under what conditions.

From 1 May 2021, the publisher’s versions of all short publications (articles and book chapters) authored by UG/UMCG staff that had not previously been made open access were published open access via Pure. This is now always done after six months and stating the source of the original disclosure.

This is possible thanks to Article 25fa of the Copyright Act (also known as the Taverne Amendment), which gives researchers at Dutch universities the right to make their short scientific publications open access after a brief embargo period.

Open access means free, immediate, and permanent access to academic research. By publishing your research open access under a public copyright license, you enable readers to freely consult, distribute, and reuse the material. The University Library open access team can inform and advise you about everything related to open access and open science in a broader sense, with information about publication, deals with publishers, archiving in Pure, and more.

The University of Groningen Press (UGP) supports editors and authors in establishing and publishing digital scientific journals and books. Through this service, the UGP aims to apply its knowledge of digital publishing and the hosting of journals and books to support editors and authors associated with the University of Groningen.

The Digital Competence Centre (DCC) supports your conduct of research throughout the entire research (data) lifecycle, from grant applications to FAIR data archiving. The DCC website provides an overview of the services on offer and information on all aspects of IT and data research at the University of Groningen.

Although the data is openly available to everyone, you are still processing personal data when you want to process social media data as a researcher. You will therefore have to take into account legal and ethical considerations in your research, such as privacy, informed consent and lawful access.

​​Furthermore, you should abide by the terms and conditions of the relevant platform.

For more information on the above aspects: Digital Competence Centre (DCC)'s website Using Social Media Data where the ‘DCC guide to using social media data in research’ can also be found.