Research, innovation and assessment · Switzerland
USI's CCdigitallaw develops rights retention guidelines for Swiss universities
Under a swissuniversities mandate, a USI competence centre is preparing guidance on how Swiss universities can keep research publications openly accessible and help researchers retain their rights.
According to USI, swissuniversities has given a mandate to CCdigitallaw, a competence centre at USI, to develop rights retention guidelines for Swiss universities.
USI said a central question of the mandate is how universities can make researchers' publications freely accessible without being bound by agreements with publishers.
USI said the work also addresses how universities can support researchers in keeping the rights they need.
Why it matters
The guidelines are being developed for Swiss universities under a mandate from swissuniversities, so their content will bear directly on how those universities approach open access and researchers' rights in relation to publisher agreements.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
The announcement sets out the questions the mandate addresses but gives no timeline, draft content or detail on how the guidelines would interact with existing publisher contracts. Their practical effect on institutional publishing arrangements remains unknown until the guidance appears.
What to watch
- When the guidelines will be published and whether swissuniversities will recommend or require their adoption is not stated in the announcement.