Whenever one of your papers is accepted for publication, the editor of the journal (or conference proceedings or book compilation) will send you an agreement to sign. It may be called a "copyright transfer agreement" or a "publishing contract" or an "Author's Agreement," but they are all essentially the same thing. It is probably a confusingly worded legal document that will require that you transfer your copyright to the publisher. It may also include details of payment, if any, or provisions that permit you to use your work in certain ways, such as making copies for teaching purposes.
In many cases, there will be rights that you would like to have that are not included in the standard agreement, such as:
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the right to post the paper on your personal webpage
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deposit the paper into Deep Blue
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the right to distribute a certain number of PDF copies to colleagues in lieu of offprints
Retaining Your Rights With an Author's Addendum
One good way to obtain these rights is to add an addendum to the agreement you sign setting out terms that are important to you. The University of Michigan has prepared an addendum to meet the needs of U-M faculty and students. To use it, simply:
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Attach the addendum to the agreement sent by the publisher, sign, and return it along with the original agreement.
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Make a copy for your records.
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Include a note or cover letter alerting the publisher that it's there.
If you are lucky, the publisher will accept it without objection or with minor adjustments. However, if the publisher insists that no changes can be made to the original agreement, it is up to you to decide whether you still wish to publish with that journal, even if you can't keep all of the rights you want.
If you have questions about using the Author’s Addendum, feel free to contact the U-M Library Copyright Office at copyright@umich.edu.