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Can I publish on the publications server if I have already published through a professional publisher? (secondary / parallel publication)

You are very welcome to use the R&D publications server to publish documents which have already appeared elsewhere, e.g. articles from scientific journals. In this way, you can make your research results available not only to the subscribers of the respective journal, but to the general public on a permanent and free basis (open access). What's more, your online publication is easier to find, and is stored in the long-term archive at the German National Library. Therefore, online publication according to the principles of open access is recommended by the German Rectors' Conference and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Important: please bear the legal conditions in mind. These are governed by your contract with the publisher. When negotiating your contract, make sure that you don't relinquish all rights to the publisher, but retain the right to online publication on a documents server. Many publishers only allow secondary publication subject to certain limitations, e.g. after expiry of a specific period or only with original formatting. The SHERPA/ROMEO-List details the most reputable publishers and their general attitude to open access parallel publications.

-> Since 1 January 2014 there are new secondary publication rights (ยง 38 Par. 4 UrhG).