Scholars' Mine posting of full text of papers, presentations, or any other work does not mean that authors give up their copyright. Authors who submit their work to Scholars' Mine retain the copyright to their work, unless they explicitly give it away to a third party (such as a publisher). Missouri University of Science and Technology does not seek nor claim copyright on any of the works submitted to Scholars' Mine. The Mine asks all authors who hold copyright to agree to a non-exclusive distribution license, which means that authors agree to allow Scholars' Mine to post the full text of their works. This step is not necessary for authors to complete if a publishers hold copyright to your work.

Some authors are concerned that depositing their work in Scholars' Mine might violate copyright agreements that they have with their publishers. In reality, more and more commercial publishers are recognizing authors' rights to post pre-prints of their work online; many also allow authors to make post-prints available online. This is true even of some of the largest commercial publishers. If you would like to know where your publisher stands on this issue, visit the Sherpa Web site at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php and search under the name of your publisher. If your publisher is not listed in the Sherpa database, Scholars' Mine staff would be happy to help you investigate this issue with your publisher. It is not unusual for you to already have permission to post your work in the Scholars' Mine without having to negotiate a special agreement with your publisher.