The Swiss legal system recognises the freedom to publish. Authors are free to decide themselves where they wish to publish the results of their research. When research is funded by public money, there is a public interest in transparency and free access to the publication. SNSF grantees must therefore make their publications publicly and freely accessible in electronic form (Open Access requirements). These requirements are met when a scientific work is published via the Gold Road. The SNSF also accepts publication via the Green Road.
The copyright of scientific works is governed by the Federal Copyright Act. This Act as well as the law on publisher agreements based on the Code of Obligations define how copyright is transferred from the authors to the publishers that publish the scientific works. The provisions of the publisher agreement and the general conditions agreed between the parties to the contract define the rights that are actually transferred to the publisher as well as the conditions and rules governing the transfer. Specific licences and copyrights are concerned here. Unfortunately a number of publishing practices are in conflict with Open Access. The SNSF advises its grantees to reserve the right to Open Access in their dealings with publishers – e.g. by already adopting the Rights Retention Strategy when submitting an article manuscript. The SNSF is campaigning for the recognition of the right to re-publish; this would enable authors to make publications that are the result of publicly funded research openly accessible in all cases.
General implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations (PDF)
