Open Access Publishing

You may choose to publish open access or be required to do so to meet funders’ mandates. Open access publishing often involves article processing charges (APCs) to cover production costs. We work with select publishers to help reduce these costs for LAU authors.

Many of our publisher agreements now include APC discounts for LAU-affiliated authors. Each publisher has its own eligibility requirements to receive the negotiated discount.

Available Discounts

To review our transformative agreements and the list of publishers offering APC discounts, and to determine which options best meet your needs, contact the Electronic Resources Unit at eresources@lau.edu.lb.

Transformative Agreements & APCs

You can benefit from APC waivers or discounts in two different ways: either through the transformative agreements that LAU has with some publishers, or through automatically available waivers from the publishers or from Research4Life. Research4Life partners with over 200 publishers and provides full APC waivers for authors in low- and middle-income countries in Group A (where Lebanon is listed) and discounts for countries in Group B. To review our transformative agreements and list of publishers offering APC discounts and determine which options best meet your needs, click here to review LAU’s agreement and eligibility.

Explore resources on Open Access journal policies and APC waivers:

Research4Life

Assists institutions in lower-income countries by providing free or low-cost access to academic journals and books, while also securing Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts from publishers to help their researchers publish open access for free.

JISC Open Policy Finder

The Open Policy Finder assists researchers and institutions by summarizing journal open access policies, checking compliance with funder mandates, and identifying institutional transitional agreements to help reduce or cover Article Processing Charges (APCs).

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Assists researchers and institutions by indexing vetted, peer-reviewed open access journals, enabling users to easily verify journal quality, identify open access options, and filter for publications that do not charge Article Processing Charges (APCs).

Have questions? Contact the Electronic Resources Unit for assistance.

Copyright

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression.

The Lebanese American University observes and abides by Lebanese Law No. 75 of April 3, 1999, on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property, as well as the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17), since LAU operates both in Lebanon and the United States.

Copyright in Teaching

Copyright plays a key role when choosing course materials and providing them to your students. We advise instructors teaching online to consider the following points to make informed decisions about using third-party materials.

Are you limited by contractual terms?

Make sure you are aware of any contractual terms that may affect your use of a work — for example, review the terms of use of the website you rely on for access. Ultimately, it is your decision whether to comply with the terms you have accepted or to seek a different agreement. Keep in mind that disregarding contractual terms can lead to legal consequences.

Do user’s rights apply?

In most cases, LAU instructors may perform or display many third-party works in their teaching, provided there are no contractual limitations. Fair Use and personal/educational use exceptions allow the use of copyrighted materials in certain cases, and are more likely to apply when instructors limit the amount of third-party content used, keep the duration brief, and share it with a small audience — typically your students.

Can you switch to low-risk options?

Try linking to resources when possible, instead of sharing or streaming third-party materials. Choosing public domain or Creative Commons licensed materials is also a good alternative.

Posting on Blackboard

Posting parts of copyrighted materials on Blackboard is covered by Lebanese Law, articles 25 and 26, and by the U.S. TEACH Act. These exceptions permit non-profit institutions like universities to make limited copies of protected materials for students without author permission, and allow students single photocopies for criticism, citation, or education. Under the TEACH Act, instructors may digitally transmit limited portions of copyrighted works to students enrolled in an online course without obtaining permission, as long as specific conditions are met.

Copyright for Theses & Dissertations

Authors who submit their work to the institutional repository (LAUR) retain the copyright to their work, unless they explicitly give it away to a third party. LAU Libraries do not seek or claim copyright on any of the works submitted to LAUR.

All students are required to sign a Thesis Copyright Release Form — a non-exclusive distribution license agreement. This agreement authorizes the inclusion of their work in the LAU Institutional Repository, enables its distribution, and ensures the long-term preservation of both the work and its associated metadata.

A non-exclusive distribution license means that authors may make other copies of their work available on other websites or through other means without obtaining permission from LAU. They may also formally publish their work, in the same or a revised form, without obtaining permission from LAU.

For any questions, please contact archives@lau.edu.lb.

Faculty Publications

LAU full-time faculty members are encouraged to deposit their scholarly publications, including post-prints (accepted manuscripts), in the University’s institutional repository to ensure long-term preservation and wider dissemination of their research. Including faculty publications in the repository significantly increases visibility and web traffic to the University’s platform.

Faculty-authored works published under open access may be archived, preserved, and made freely accessible through LAUR, in full compliance with applicable copyright laws and publisher policies.

When full-text archiving is restricted due to copyright or publisher policies, a metadata record will be created. This record will include a DOI or a URL directing users to the publisher’s official version of the work. Archives staff verify publisher policies using trusted tools (e.g., Open Policy Finder) to inspect each publisher’s policy and ensure compliance before making any content available.

For any questions, please contact archives@lau.edu.lb.

Permissions

Most of the LAU Library collections are licensed, meaning the authors or publishers own copyright for most of them. It is the user’s responsibility to assess the legal requirements and obtain any necessary permission from relevant copyright holders.

We typically can only grant or deny permission for the use of the collections we own. If you would like to request a reproduction of a library item — such as a photograph, a poster, or archival material — please contact the Archives and Special Collections. The librarian will review the copyright status, approve the request if permissible, and provide you with a quotation.

Forms & Statements

Syllabus Statement

For instructors to include on their syllabi to inform students about copyright and academic integrity: “Your work as a student at the Lebanese American University will often involve considerations related to copyright and academic integrity. The LAU Intellectual Property Policy provides information about your rights and obligations under copyright law. You can also contact the library for advice on copyright-related matters (reference@lau.edu.lb).”

Author’s Addenda

Link to Author’s Rights Retention resources.