Publishing as a government employee (or contractor) can be a confusing and tends to run on a much longer timeline than traditional academic publishing; with manuscript management systems, the need for internal reviews, approvals, and IQA reviews.
For more information about the internal approval process please see the NOAA Framework for Internal Review and Approval of Fundamental Research Communications.
Publishing research results can be a complicated process, and it is important to know your rights as an author; especially in regards to your manuscript. The illustration below shows how a manuscript progresses throughout the publishing process. At each stage throughout the process a new version of the manuscript is created. Who retains "ownership" of the version is determined by the Author's Rights laid out in the Copyright Transfer Agreement with the publisher: all versions created prior to signing this agreement are owned by the author and those created after (such as proofs and the final published version) are owned by the publisher.
The following publisher's allow the use of the final publisher's version (VOR) within the NOAA IR regardless of OA status:
For more information, please reference our Submission Decision Tree.
An embargo is a mechanism for publishers to restrict access to publications for a duration of time as determined by the publisher. Embargoes can be levied on either the publisher's version or the accepted manuscript versions.
The most common embargo periods are between 6 and 12 months in STEM fields, but can be upwards of 24 months or more in the social sciences and humanities. Embargoes are laid out within the publisher transfer agreements, so it is important for authors to review these terms before signing.
Common Myths About Embargoes:
Myth: I cannot submit my article to the NOAA IR until the after the embargo period has passed.
Truth: Per the NOAA PARR plan the publication should be submitted to the NOAA IR within 12 months of publication, regardless of embargo periods. Once submitted, the IR team will determine the end of the embargo date for the author and make sure that the file is available at that time.
Myth: Once the embargo is over, I can freely use the publisher's version of the article on my website and in the NOAA IR.
Truth: Not necessarily. As mentioned above, embargoes can be levied on either version of the publication--oftentimes it is on the manuscript version. The terms of your copyright transfer agreement with the publisher is what will determine which version of the article can be used (either accepted manuscript or the publisher's version). If you are unsure, the NOAA IR staff can help you make that determination.
Please see our Open Access Guide which provides NOAA staff and grantees information on open access publishing, including types of open access, benefits of publishing open access, and help with article processing charges.
Below are a few resources to that can help identify journal policies, credibility, open access policies, and more:
Visit our guide on predatory publishing; a practice by disreputable publishers to exploit the open access publishing model for profit by creating pseudo-academic journals. This guide provides researchers with tools to identify predatory publishers and paper mills.
