Lincoln U Research Archive: Deposit Guidelines and FAQ

About Lincoln University Research Archive
Depositing Research into the Archive
Copyright and Publication
About Open Access
1. What is Open Access?

About Lincoln University Research Archive

What is Lincoln University Research Archive?

Lincoln University Research Archive provides a platform for the collection, organisation, access, annotation and preservation of the University's research outputs in digital formats.

What do you mean?

OK. What we're trying to do is collect together, in one place, the research produced by members of Lincoln University. This is an example of what is known as an "Institutional Repository".

What are the benefits of Lincoln University Research Archive?

By collecting the research output of the University into a single online space, we hope to achieve several benefits :

we'll know where to find all this research;
we'll know that it is safely backed up;
we'll have some hope of preserving it in the future, when file formats become obsolete.

In addition, because Lincoln University Research Archive is indexed by OAIster, nzresearch.org.nz, Google, Google Scholar, and other search engines :

other people will be able to find the research too.

Because other researchers can find our research, they

will not waste time and money duplicating the research;
will be able to build on our research;
will be able to cite our research;

all of which :

increases exposure to the world of our research activities;
enhances the reputation of the University by making our research more widely accessible and visible;
boosts the potential impact of our research;
leads to increased citation of our research.

In addition, Lincoln University Research Archive :

assists with reporting and auditing requirements (PBRF).

How is Lincoln University Research Archive organised?

Content is organised into collections and communities.

What is a Community?

Communities are just a way of grouping together collections of items in a way that makes sense. Typically, they are based around faculties and departments, or research centres, but may encompass other logical groupings. A community may contain one or more collections, and may also contain sub-communities, thus allowing a hierarchical organisation.

What is a Collection?

A collection is a grouping of items that are similar in one or more ways. For example, all the articles and conference papers for a department, or the reports in a research report series.

What is an Item?

Items are the basic archival elements of Lincoln University Research Archive. Each item is owned by one collection, but may appear in other collections.

An item comprises the actual document (which may consist of one or more files, or bitstreams) plus the associated descriptive metadata.

What kinds of document can be included in the Research Archive?

We will accept items associated with the research carried out by the University academic community. This includes materials such as:

journal articles (at the preprint or postprint stage)
book chapters
discussion papers
research reports
conference papers
theses

Other materials associated with research will be considered for deposit on a case-by-case basis, for example :

data sets
audio or video files
software

We have some general guidelines to help determine if a work is appropriate :

the work should be of a scholarly nature
the work must be created or sponsored by affiliated faculty or staff, or by academic or research units
the work should be completed and ready for distribution.

In addition, previously published items should have clearance from the copyright owner for inclusion in an institutional repository. This is covered in more detail in the section on Copyright and Publication.

Who can add content to Lincoln University Research Archive?

Any member of the academic staff of Lincoln University, or affiliated bodies, or anyone undertaking research at the University, is welcome to add their research content to the Research Archive. See the next section for how to get involved.

Library staff will also be adding content.

Who can view content in Lincoln University Research Archive?

As a matter of principle, Lincoln University Research Archive is an open access repository, meaning that anyone with access to the Internet may access, view and download content.

It is possible to restrict access to some content if required, for example for an embargo period or to authorised users only. It is advisable to deposit restricted items into the Archive for preservation, even if open access is not allowed. However, we would normally want to make a description of the item openly available, even if the full item is not. Contact us if you require more information on access restriction.

Depositing Research into the Archive

How can I contribute my work?

The first step is to Log in to the Research Archive, using your Lincoln network username and password. This automatically registers you as a Research Archive user.

Once you have done this, send an email to Roger Dawson to explain which collection(s) you would like to deposit into, and perhaps a brief description of the type of material to be deposited. If it is a specific named series of reports, for example, we may need to create a collection for you.

We will then contact you when you are able to submit items, which you do by logging in and using the online submission form.

Submissions will be validated and approved by Library staff before being made available through Lincoln University Research Archive.

Do I need special software?

No. The deposit process, and access to items, is done entirely through standard web browsers.

What file formats can I deposit?

Each collection may have particular guidelines about type of materials that are acceptable; for example, a thesis collection is intended just for theses and associated materials (e.g. data sets). Aside from collection restrictions, we can accept any file format that can be stored on your PC.

For presentation purposes, the Adobe Acrobat PDF format is best for textual materials, since the reader for PDF is freely available and widely used.

For the purpose of long term preservation, we prefer file formats which are supported, or at least known to us.

How can I convert my file to PDF?

Software to create PDFs is available in most University departments and two PCs in the ITS Resources Room (adjacent to the ITS Service Desk) have Adobe Acrobat software installed. We prefer that Adobe Acrobat be used for conversion, and have provided some guidelines for producing quality PDF files.

If you want or need to do the conversion on your own PC, the free software Pdf995 can be downloaded and installed.

If you are likely to be converting many documents, you should consider purchasing a copy of Adobe Acrobat, which can be done through ITS.

For assistance with converting other file formats please contact us.

I don't have time for this!

You may be pleasantly surprised at how little time is required to deposit an item. However, we understand the time constraints under which academic staff work these days, so ...

Can I just give you my work and have you upload it?

We want your material in Lincoln University Research Archive, so yes: we will be pleased to assist you in any way we can with your material, including :

item deposit;
copyright permissions;
scanning;
bulk import of multiple items.

Be aware, however, that our resources are finite, and this kind of effort will take time.

Before we deposit material on your behalf, you will be required to sign and return the Deposit Licence we email to you.

To discuss your options, please contact us.

How many items can I deposit? Is there a limit on the overall size of a collection?

No. There is no limit on the number of items an individual or Community can submit to Lincoln University Research Archive, and there are no limits placed on the size of communities or collections.

Is there a limit on file size?

In theory, the system can handle any size file, but there are practical limitations deriving from network bandwidth and the capacity of a user to download your content to their desktop.

Since web-based submission requires that you upload files from your own desktop, this should not be a problem.

For files that are too large for you to practicably upload, (such as very large data sets or large audio or video files), please contact us.

Can I delete a file after depositing it?

Because Lincoln University Research Archive is intended to provide for long-term, permanent access to research outputs, we strongly discourage removal of content from the system, and individual users are not authorised to remove items directly. However, there may be circumstances in which it is necessary to remove an item. In such cases, please contact Lincoln University Research Archive staff and we will take the appropriate action.

The permanent URL of any withdrawn item will contain a record with the item's metadata, and a note indicating that the item has been withdrawn from view (please note the item will normally still exist in our database but will not be made available for viewing, downloading or searching). The item's metadata will not be searchable, nor made available to search engines, but will be displayed when a citation elsewhere links directly to the item.

Can I still link to my papers from my own web site?

Yes. Lincoln University Research Archive can relieve you of maintenance chores for your files but you can still link to individual papers in Lincoln University Research Archive from your personal or department web site.

Copyright and Publication

Do I retain copyright to my work in Lincoln University Research Archive?

Yes, you retain any rights that you had prior to deposit. In the case of a published article where the publisher has granted special permission to you in order to deposit a paper, you will continue to retain those rights. We only require that you click on a Deposit Licence that grants us permission to make your work available, and confirms that you have the right to deposit it.

Why do I need to agree to the Deposit Licence and what does it say?

The Deposit Licence is an agreement between you and Lincoln University, allowing us to make the work available through the Research Archive, and to copy the item for preservation purposes. It is a LIMITED, NON-EXCLUSIVE agreement, meaning no copyright transfer occurs, and you retain all the rights you had before the item was deposited. The licence also asks you to confirm that you do indeed own the copyright on the item, and have the right to deposit it in Lincoln University Research Archive.

Please note that if you have published the work elsewhere, your publishing agreement may limit your ability to deposit items in repositories such as Lincoln University Research Archive.

What rights do I grant the University when I deposit my work?

You grant to Lincoln University the non-exclusive right to:

reproduce, translate (as defined below), and/or distribute your submission (including the metadata and abstract) worldwide, in any format or medium for non-commercial, academic purposes only.
translate the submission, without changing the content, to any medium or format, and keep more than one copy of your work for purposes of security, back up and preservation.

See the full text of the Deposit Licence for more information.

May I deposit copies of published articles?

Yes, but your agreement with the publisher must allow you to do so, or you must obtain permission from the publisher.

Most journal publishers do not permit depositing of the published version, so you will probably need to deposit either a pre-print (draft before refereeing) or post-print (final draft after refereeing) version.

Will posting preprints here compromise my chances of publication?

Many journal publishers now recognise the importance of "self-archiving" of your work in a local "institutional repository", and allow you to do so. It is important when signing publisher agreements to bear this in mind.

For information on protecting your rights to your intellectual property, go to www.arl.org/sparc/author/addendum.html.

How can I find out a publisher's deposit policy?

Most publishers are happy for authors to "self-archive" copies of their papers in their institution's repository.

For a list of publishers' policies regarding the authors rights to publish pre-prints and post-prints in a repository such as Lincoln University Research Archive, go to www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php. Or you can check your journal or publisher's policy using the forms below:

The Australian OAKList is also useful.

Where can I get more information about copyright issues?

For more information about copyright, contact us.

About Open Access

What is Open Access?

The open access movement is about using the Web to open the research literature of the world to any user wishing to access it, for free. All that is needed is access to the Internet, and enough bandwidth to download the document.

The benefits of this approach are that:

publicly funded research is made publicly available
researchers will be able to access and use all the literature, rather than just what appears in the journals that their institution can afford. Open Access means that usage and citations will be based on what research is best and most pertinent, not just what is affordable
researchers will gain an increase in citations to high quality work, wherever it is published (a piece of research hidden in either an obscure or an expensive journal is not likely to be cited today). Research shows a 50% to 250% increase in citations when documents are made freely accessible online.

Where can I find out more about Open Access?

There's a comprehensive discussion, with many useful links, on Wikipedia. The SHERPA site also has a good explanation.

This page has been based on the FAQ for Adelaide Research & Scholarship, University of Adelaide, with thanks.