The answer is “It depends!”

Depends on what? It depends on:

• What rights you signed over to the publisher (consult your contract)
• What rights the publisher grants you for reuse (see Project RoMEO for standard practices of many publishers)
• “What” you can actually post, if allowed—is it your “text” or “their PDF”?

You should always consult your contract first. But, Project RoMEO has compiled a list of existing journal publisher copyright transfer agreements to guide you. Also see the Academic Journal Policy Database created by the University of Cincinnati. Be very careful to note the distinction between “yes—you may post your 'text' (ie, a PDF of your corrected, accepted MS Word document in a PDF format)” vs “you may post the actual PDF version as it appeared in print”. You will find that many publishers allow the former, but few allow you to put up the actual PDF as published in the journal.

In all cases, we suggest your citation include a link to the full-text published version (use the URL or DOI for permanent retrieval). This way, people viewing your manuscript will be able to connect to the “published version” if they are members of the MBLWHOI Library or at an institution with a subscription to the journal.

Examples:

Crump BC, Hopkinson CS, Sogin ML, and Hobbie, JL. 2004. Microbial biogeography along an estuarine salinity gradient: combined influences of bacterial growth and residence time. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70 (3): 1494-1505. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1494-1505.2004

Gagosian, RB . 2004. The largest void on Earth? Science 304 (5672) 795. DOI: 10.1126/science.304.5672.795

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