More information on repositories and open research

Includes general repository FAQs, repository policies and open research glossary

General repository FAQs

What is the UWE Bristol Research Repository?

The UWE Bristol Research Repository is an open access online repository providing a central record of the University's research output as well as, whenever possible, immediate access to the full text. It covers the whole range of UWE Bristol's output including books, book chapters, conference papers, images, and journal articles. The only exclusion is learning objects which are housed separately in Blackboard.

The repository is accessible to anyone via the internet and is highly visible to search engines. The intention is to bring UWE Bristol's research to as wide an audience as possible.

What is open access?

Open access is a means of making research results freely available online. It is not self-publishing or a way to bypass peer-review and publication, but a way of archiving and providing free, online copies of research outputs.

Open access gives researchers the ability to make their research results available to anyone via the internet, regardless of whether or not their library has a subscription to the journal in which their research was published.

Wherever possible material placed in the repository is open access, maximising the chances of other researchers, practitioners, policy makers, students, and the public locating and reading the research.

What are the benefits of including my research in the repository?

Depositing will increase the visibility of your research. This is particularly relevant if people looking at your research don't have a subscription to the journal you have published in.

The repository is indexed by standard search engines such as Google Scholar and also by specialist repository services such as CORE and OpenDOAR. Material held in a repository generally appears higher in search engine rankings than it would if it was stored on University or personal webpages. This increases the likelihood of readership, citation and impact of your research, resulting in a raised research profile for UWE Bristol. As such, the repository has the potential to act as a catalyst for research collaboration.

Creating a central record of research output facilitates the creation of CVs, personal profiles and funding bids.

It will help you to comply with funding requirements. Many research funders, including all the UK Research Councils, now require that the output of funded research be made available on open access.

The repository is central to the University's preparations for research assessment exercises such as the REF.

Isn’t published research already available to everybody?

Unfortunately not. Because UWE Bristol Library Services has invested heavily in online journals it may sometimes appear as if everything is available, but in fact journal subscriptions continue to be a significant barrier to dissemination both within the educational community and beyond. Open access to the repository offers global access to UWE Bristol's research output.

Additionally, not all research is published in journals, and the repository can make other materials, such as theses, working papers, conference papers etc. available to all.

Do other universities have institutional repositories?

Yes, most UK Higher Education institutions have their own institutional repository. IRUS-UK records over 150 UK institutional repositories with more being added all the time.

How do research funders regard repositories

Many research funders, including all the UK Research Councils, now require that the output of funded research be made available on open access. Sometimes deposit in an institutional repository will meet this requirement.

Sometimes deposit in a subject repository such as UK PubMed Central is required. Sometimes the use of open access journals or a publisher's paid open access option is encouraged.

The SHERPA JULIET service summarises research funders' policies regarding open access to published output. It also summarises their policies regarding the archiving of datasets. You should check the funder's requirements before depositing.

Repository policies

Policies on using Project Information and Management System (PIMS)/UWE Bristol Research Repository content and metadata.

Metadata policy

For information describing items in the repository:

  1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
  2. The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes and re-sold commercially provided:
    • the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given.
    • the repository is mentioned.

Data policy

For full-text and other full data items:

  1. Anyone may access full items free of charge.
  2. Copies of full items generally can be:
    • reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium.
    • for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.

provided:

  • the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given.
  • a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page.
  • the content is not changed in any way.

Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder.

Content policy

For types of document & data set held:

  1. This is an institutional or departmental repository.
  2. The repository holds all types of materials except:
    • Learning Objects.
    • Special materials: Learning Objects.
  3. Items are individually tagged with:
    • their version type and date.
    • their peer-review status.
    • their publication status.

Submission policy

Concerning depositors, quality & copyright:

  1. Items may only be deposited by registered students, and employees of the organisation, their delegated agents, or others by arrangement.
  2. Authors may only submit their own work for archiving.
  3. The administrator only vets items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, valid layout & format, and the exclusion of spam.
  4. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
  5. Items can be deposited at any time, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired.
  6. Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.

Take-down policy

UWE Bristol will immediately remove from public view, pending investigation, any material deposited in the repository where there is an allegation of infringement of intellectual property rights or copyright violation.

Disclaimer

UWE Bristol has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.

UWE Bristol makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.

UWE Bristol makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.

UWE Bristol accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement.

Open research Glossary

A glossary of open-access research terms.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

The fee paid to a journal to make a research output open access via the publisher's website.

Creative Commons License

A series of licenses that can be applied to outputs, setting out varying permissions for use and all requiring attribution to the original creator. Often applied to outputs published open access via the gold route.

Research Data Management Plan (RDMP)

A Research Data Management Plan is a document drawn up at the start of the research process. It outlines how all research data will be generated or collected, managed, stored and preserved, shared, or disposed of.

Embargo

The time that must pass prior to making published content available in a repository. Can be up to two years after publication.

FAIR Data

A set of guiding principles to make research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable. More information about the FAIR principles is available on the go-fair website.

Gold Route

Making a research output immediately open access via the publisher's website, usually involving a fee.

Green Route

Making the accepted manuscript of a research output open access via a repository, often after a specified embargo period.

Hybrid

A journal which requires subscription but also publishes open access articles when an APC is paid.

Metadata

Information used to describe data.

Open Access (OA)

The online, free availability of research outputs without the restrictions on use commonly imposed by publisher copyright agreements.

Open Research Data

Data that is freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright but normally under a licence.

Project Information and Management System (PIMS)

A research information system that records the full lifecycle of a researcher's work, from the initial bidding stage through to final publication.

Raw Data

Un-analysed, original data which may contain personal data of subjects.

Research Data

Research data can be in any form, e.g. electronic or hard copy, video, audio, artefacts, machine readouts. The exact definition of what is considered to be research data varies by discipline.

Research Dataset

A research dataset is produced and analysed as part of a research project.

Research Data Management (RDM)

The practice of ensuring research data is well managed during and after the lifecycle of a project.

Research Data Repository

A digital repository of research datasets to allow discovery, preservation, and re-use.

Research Output

A research output is a product of a research project and can appear in a variety of mediums including (but not limited to) a publication such as a journal paper, physical artefact, exhibition, or performance. It will most likely have a deposited record in UWE Bristol's Research Repository and/or may be published via publishers in the research domain.

Research Repository

An online database where research outputs are stored, allowing world-wide open access to an institution's research.