Skip to Main Content

Help us improve! Take the LibQUAL Survey and earn a chance at a $250 Campus Bookstore gift card!

FGCU Logo

Institutional Repository: ScholarsCommons

This guide describes what an institutional repository is, how it benefits the university community, and its function.

"How Do I Submit Work?"

Deposit Work

Deposit your work into ScholarsCommons by signing in and clicking the "Add Content" button in your researcher profile. For step-by-step instructions, refer to the ScholarsCommons User Guide below.

"Which Version Do I Archive?"

For published research (e.g. in a book or journal), precautions need to be made in order to abide by copyright law. Many publishing agreements stipulate that you may only archive a specific version of a publication in an institutional repository. These versions may include: 

Pre-Prints: “Pre-print” refers to an original version of a manuscript that is submitted to a journal for publication, before it has gone through the peer review process.

Post-Prints:  “Post-print” or “Accepted Manuscript” drafts have gone through peer review and have incorporated all revisions.

Version of Record: The publisher’s version, also known as the Version of Record, is the final version of an article after it has gone through typesetting and final copyediting by the publisher. This version is usually not permitted to be archived in an institutional repository.

For information on which version you can archive, consult the SHERPA/RoMEO website which provides information on publisher copyright and self-archiving policies. Also consult your publisher to ensure that these guidelines are up-to-date.

 

"Who Retains Copyright To My Work?"

Blue copyright symbol ('c' inside of a circle)
Copyright depends on any author agreement you signed with your publisher, and whether that agreement included a transfer of copyright (copyright assignment). If you no longer hold copyright to your work, or you are unsure, we can work with you to determine whether the terms of your author agreement allow deposit in an institutional repository, and otherwise obtain permission from the publisher to do so. In the majority of cases, academic publishers will allow deposit in an institutional repository, sometimes stipulating an embargo period. The FGCU Library does not require any transfer of copyright, only permission from the copyright holder of the work to include the work in the repository and make it publicly available for download. For more information on copyright, please see the copyright page in the Faculty Scholarship libguide.