Tohoku University Open Access Policy Guidelines
March 13, 2018
This guideline defines items necessary for implementing "Tohoku University Open AccessPolicy".

(Objective)
1. Tohoku University has a mission to widely disseminate research outcomes createdat our university, based on the ideas of "Research first" and "Open doors", whichhave been the university’s principles since its foundation. Therefore, as a researchoriented university, in order to diffuse "Knowledge" to the public, and to contributeto the sustainable development of human society as a fellowship of knowledge open
to the world, Tohoku University has established the following Open Access Policy.
As a research-oriented university, Tohoku University set the missions is to open researchoutcomes to public and to promote Open Access Policy.
Mission Statement of Tohoku University
Mission Statement of Tohoku University is listed as follows-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 A university centered on ground breaking research
We aim to consistently produce top research in a broad spectrum of fields, not just in thenatural sciences, but also in social sciences and the humanities. We will create and develop
educational programs that respond to a rapidly changing knowledge-based society, andhost international forums to encourage the exchange of ideas.
We will reinforce our reputation as an international research base through establishingclose ties and collaborations with local and foreign research networks. And we willcontinue to develop our four campuses as places that enable students to combine thepursuit of innovation with the responsibilities of leadership.
(Source: “Tohoku University Fact Book 2018” Mission Statement)

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Open Access
Open access refers to free, unrestricted online access to academic publications. There are
two ways of achieving open access:(1)Green Open AccessSelf-archiving. Refers to researchers being able to deposit full texts in their own website
or an institutional repository.
(2)Gold Open Access
The publication costs, known as ‘article processing costs’ (APCs), are paid by the author or
his or her institution and then open access. Many of the gold open access journals are of
the following types:
・An open access journal consisting entirely of author payments, without thesubscriptions from users.
・Subscription-type journal that allows the author to select the open access option at thedissertation level.
In this policy, the target of registration to TOUR is both (1) and (2).

(Definition)
2. In this policy, "research outcomes" mean academic papers authored/written by theacademic staff of our university which are published in academic journals issued bypublishers, academic societies, universities and research institutes, etc. They include
papers co-authored/written with outside researchers.
The target of "research outcome" is an academic paper registered in the Tohoku University
information database.

The academic staff of our university
The target of the academic staff is full-time faculty members (professors, associate
professors, senior assistant professors, assistant professors, research associates) among
Tohoku University information database users.

（Access Rights）
3. Tohoku University provides open access to the research outcomes through Tohoku
University Repository ("TOUR" hereafter). However, copyright is not transferred toTohoku University.

Tohoku University Repository"Tohoku University Repository: TOUR" aims to gather and publish the results of researchand educational achievements of our university. TOUR provides bibliographic informationsuch as author and title. Additionally, it grants full access to research / educational results2free of charge.
TOUR : https://tohoku.repo.nii.ac.jp/
Tohoku University Repository Guidelines : https://tohoku.repo.nii.ac.jp/?page_id=38

Copyright
The copyright of the scholarly research registered in TOUR is not transferred to Tohoku
University.

(Waiver)
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, Tohoku University
makes specific research outcomes not accessible to the public owing to unavoidable
reasons such as those relating to copyright.
Unavoidable reasons such as copyright
The reasons are as follows. See "Non-Disclosure Procedures" in the implementation
procedure(1) Agreement from the co-author(s) cannot be obtained.
(2) Agreement from the publisher cannot be obtained.
(3) Research outcomes contain contents infringing on the other’s right.
(4) Misconducts in research, such as falsification, etc., are found.
(5) Publisher permits only the author’s pre-print version, and author have judged that it
is not suitable to open due to the mistakes that have been pointed out by peer-review.
(6)Others **: Reasons such as "patent pending" do not apply because it covers articles alreadypublished in academic journals(Non-retroactive)
5. This policy exempts research outcomes published prior to its implementation orcontractually conflicting with it.
This policy applies to research results published after the enforcement this policy.
“Research contractually conflicting” with the policy after it was enforced is given a “Waiver.”However, if the faculty member wishes to the results before the enforcement of this policy, heor she can post on TOUR.

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(Submission of Research)
6. The academic member of staff shall submit his/her research outcomes that can bemade public in TOUR as soon as possible unless an exceptional case arises. Allother issues related to the operation of TOUR (registration, disclosure, usage
conditions, etc.) shall be implemented in accordance with the Tohoku University
Institutional Repository Operational Guidelines.
Submission
Submission methods and procedures can be found in “How to submit data to TOUR” inthe implementation procedure.
The submission is free of charge. Even when the author pays the article processing fee (APC)
to the Gold Open Access Journal, the university will not cover the cost.

(Monitoring)
7. Tohoku University monitors its open access consistently to see if it is operating
effectively based on this Policy.
The Tohoku University Library Open Access Committee check the list of materials which
registered to Tour compare with the list registered to Tohoku University information
database, and evaluate the effectiveness of Policy.

(Others)
8. Open access issues unstated in this policy shall be negotiated by the parties
concerned.
If it is necessary to coordinate with relevant departments and publishers, the parties
concerned, such as the Open Access Committee, shall discuss.

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