Guidelines

This English translation is provided for your convenience only. The original version in German takes precedence and is binding.

Part I - General Regulations

§ 1 Definition and purpose of the publishing house

(1) Kassel university press (hereinafter referred to as “kup”) is a subdivision of the University Library Kassel (UB) of the University of Kassel (University).
(2) kup is part of the publication services of the UB and publishes scholarly works of users who belong to the authorized user group according to § 6.
(3) The present guidelines regulate the tasks and organization as well as the use of the services of kup (publication services).

§ 2 Mission

(1) kup supports its users in electronic and print-based publishing. Following the principle of Hessian Higher Education Act (HessHG § 3 para. 1 p. 2), kup aims to make scientific publications unrestrictedly available to the public under the Open Access principle and also to enable publications that are difficult to publish on the commercial publishing market due to their content specialization. The details of the publication services offered are regulated in § 8.
(2) The fees for publication services and sales proceeds are generally used for kup’s work, in particular to cover ongoing costs.

Part II - Organisation

§ 3 Governing body

The governing body of kup is the Publication Management.

§ 4 Publication Management

The management of kup (hereinafter referred to as the Publication Management) is the responsibility of the library’s directorate. It is responsible for all matters concerning kup; it decides in particular on:
a) the fees for publication services,
b) the conclusion of publication contracts with users,
c) the staffing of kup,
d) the responsibilities within kup, and
e) decisions on the programmatic design of kup.
 

Part III - Usage

§ 6 User Groups

(1) Distinction is made between the following user groups of kup:
a. Professors as well as scientific, artistic, administrative, and technical staff of the university as authors of scholarly publications or editors of a series or an anthology.
b. Non-university users who use publication services as part of a joint project with the university,
c. Doctoral and postdoctoral students of the university on publication of the dissertation (generally excluding cumulative dissertations) or post-doctoral thesis until completion of the doctoral or post-doctoral procedure,
d. Students, early students, and guest students of the university with the consent of a university lecturer supervising the publication.

§ 7 Rights and Duties of the Users and the Publishing house

(1) Publication services are provided based on written publication contracts between the users and kup. The contracts in particular regulate the granting of copyright usage rights and the costs expected to be paid by the users according to § 9.
(2) A prerequisite for using the publication services is that the user grants kup copyright usage rights to his/her work to the extent required for the production and distribution of the respective publication. kup generally only needs the simple usage rights for the electronic and printed form of a publication. The user must agree to kup’s general open access orientation and allow kup to distribute the publications freely (usually under the Creative Commons license CC BY or CC BY-SA). The user must provide a manuscript ready for publication. The formal requirements of kup must be observed.
(3) A further prerequisite for using the publication services is that the user assures that the university’s rules on ensuring good scientific practice and the usual scientific standards have been observed in the respective publication project and that third party rights are not affected.
(4) kup has the right to refuse publications or to publish them at a later date. By submitting a manuscript, the user agrees that kup may submit the manuscript for review to internal or external reviewers under obligation of confidentiality. The final decision on the design of the publications shall be made by kup, taking into account the user’s opinion. kup undertakes to exercise the usual care in the handling of publication projects.

§ 8 Publishing services

(1) Publication services include:

• Consulting services for users on developing an optimal publication strategy and, if necessary, in organizing the content review process for the publication; these are not included in the price calculation according to § 9, but are considered as the university’s own contribution.
• Formal review of incoming manuscripts, preparation of the PDF file produced by the author for publication, design and creation of the cover, if necessary with the help of an external service provider, organization of the production of physical media (e.g., printing).
• Open Access publication and long-term archiving,
• Submission of the publications to the German National Library as well as inclusion in the Directory of Available Books (printed works are available for at least five years—the electronic provision is for at least 15 years), forwarding to aggregators, supplying the stationary and online book trade.

(2) For additional services (proofreading, formatting, editing, language editing, typesetting, translation, special cover design, graphic work), third party providers shall be engaged if required. Their services shall be agreed and invoiced separately with the users.

§ 9 Financing of the publishing services

(1) The user shall bear the direct production costs for the first edition of the respective publication project. Besides the copies requested by the author or editor, the first edition shall include two mandatory copies for the German National Library, two display copies for kup, and any copies for series editors. The production costs depend on the scope of the publication project (number of copies required, number of pages and color illustrations of the publication, type of binding, print quality, and other individual parameters if applicable).
(2) In addition, the user shall pay a publication fee and a graphics fee to cover the services listed under § 8, (1).
(3) The anticipated costs for the publication project (direct manufacturing costs and fees) are specified in the publication contract. If the cost calculation of the publication contract deviates from the actual costs (e.g., due to changed number of pages, higher edition, higher effort), the calculation will be adjusted and the user will be informed before publication. The final costs are due with the publication of a publication project. More detailed information on the applicable prices will be provided on kup’s website.
(4) The retail price of the printed publication shall be determined by kup. The income from the sale of books belongs to kup. Royalties are not distributed as a matter of principle, as no profits are made with the publishing activities.
 

Part IV - Final Provision

§ 10 Entry into force

These guidelines shall enter into force on the day following their announcement at the University of Kassel.

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