About UNCOpen

An institutional repository (IR) is a “digital collection capturing and preserving the intellectual output of a single university or a multiple institution community of colleges and universities” (SPARC Institutional Repository Checklist & Resource Guide). Many institutional repositories are run by university libraries with the primary aim of making the research, scholarship, and creative works of the university openly available while insuring long-term preservation.

The benefits of using an institutional repository include:

• Long-Term Preservation: IRs are usually hosted by historically sustainable institutions such as universities, government agencies, or nonprofit associations. IRs support the missions of these organizations, which are committed to preserving the work of its affiliates long after individual scholars have left the institution.
• Access: IRs promote Open Access and the reuse of research and data, increasing the accessibility and impact of authors’ works.
• Discoverability: Works housed in IRs can be found by other researchers and users through open web search engines, increasing their visibility.
• Support: Many publishers now support authors putting some version of their work into an institutional repository. Librarians at the institution are available to assist you with decisions about submitting your work and understanding copyright implications.

Websites like ResearchGate and Academia(.edu) are for-profit social networking platforms for academics. Like Facebook or LinkedIn, their purpose is to connect individuals with common interests. Users create profiles, list or post their publications, and build connections with other scholars. These entities make money from user engagement and advertisement sales, and some features may only be available through an extra cost to the user. While these sites can be valuable when trying to connect with other experts in your field or getting the full text of a hard-to-find manuscript, there are drawbacks to relying heavily on these platforms:

• Profit-Driven: Commercial companies tend to be driven more by profit than mission. If a product or service is no longer profitable, they could discontinue it without providing an alternative or even notifying users.
• Terms of Use: Using these sites may mean that your privacy is at risk and that your personal data, or even your research itself, may be used in ways you did not intend.
• Copyright Infringement: Depending on the publisher of your work, you may be specifically prohibited from posting your work on a commercial website. If a complaint arises, the platform takes no responsibility for the actions of its users.

Learn more in Fortney and Gonder’s post from the Office of Scholarly Communication at the University of California, “A social networking site is not an open access repository.”

UNCOpen primarily showcases the research, scholarship, and creative works of the UNC community while Digital UNC encompasses an array of unique primary source materials curated by the Archives & Special Collections (ASC) department. ASC materials reflect the history of both the institution and the wider world based on the collection policies and priorities of the university archives. In some cases, collections span across both platforms, or the usability of a collection might be higher with one platform over the other. We do our best to clarify these cases through collection descriptions and by linking related collections between platforms.

UNCOpen focuses on collecting work of students, faculty, and staff that was created during their time at UNC. Other work and special projects may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

UNCOpen accepts a wide variety of content, including:

• Journal articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters
• Dissertations, theses, and capstone projects
• Gray literature and reports
• Slide decks, poster presentations, and recordings
• Datasets
• Artwork
• Open educational resources

Yes, UNCOpen currently hosts both open access journals and event communities. These types of collections can be branded with customized designs and run with your own administrators and editors with the support of the UNCOpen administrator and Digital Commons consultants.

The journal publishing platform includes tools to manage submissions and conduct peer review. Each journal interface is customized to meet the specific needs of the publication. Whether you want to move an existing journal from another platform or start an entirely new publication, the UNC Libraries can work with you to launch your publication on the site.

An event community can be used for conferences, symposia, and workshops affiliated with UNC. Event organizers can use built-in workflows to manage proposal submissions, create schedules and programs, and publish conference materials such as proceedings, slides and handouts, and recordings.

If you would like to propose the creation of a new journal or event community, contact the UNCOpen administrator or the University Libraries (libraries@unco.edu).

Note that not all collections allow for self-submission. Follow these general guidelines based on your role at UNC and the type of content you’re planning to submit.

Faculty/Staff: From the UNCOpen homepage, click on “Submit Content” in the menu on the left. On the following page, select the collection where you’d like the content to appear. You will be prompted to log in (or create an account if you do not already have one). Once you have logged in, review the submission agreement and complete the submission form once for each work you’d like to submit. Your submission will be reviewed and approved by an administrator, and you will receive a notification when it has been posted to the repository.

Students: The process for student work depends on its type. For instance, theses may be self-submitted through UNCOpen, but dissertations will be automatically entered into the system by University Libraries staff once they are available through the ProQuest submission process. Some work may be collected centrally through an event organizer, a department, or the Graduate School. Work that does not fall within the scope of existing Student collections is accepted as long as it is accompanied by a student research sponsor form signed by a faculty member.

If you’re not sure how or where to submit, contact the UNCOpen administrator.

The system generally accepts any file format. Each record has a primary file associated with the record and the option to add additional or supplemental files. Many collections will automatically translate the primary file into PDF format if it is not already in that format. The primary file receives a cover page and is the file for which download counts and other metrics are collected. Supplemental files are not converted to PDF and do not collect usage metrics.

When making a submission, the primary file should be uploaded on the main page of the submission form. If you have additional files to add, select the checkbox under “Additional Files.” After clicking “Submit” you will be taken to a page to add supplemental files. Supplemental files can also be hidden from public view. This can be helpful for preserving related records, such as permissions or forms, without making them openly available.

It is important to understand who owns the copyright to your work. In most cases, the author is the original copyright holder. However, when publishing articles or books, some or all rights may have been transferred to the publisher. You can check this by reviewing any publishing agreements you signed when working with the publisher. If the author does hold copyright, it is recommended that they consult with any coauthors before submitting the work to an open repository.

For journal articles, you can also look up the standard permissions of the journal or publisher using the tool SHERPA RoMEO. The version of the article that you are allowed to post may vary depending on the publication. In some cases you may be permitted to post the published version, while in others you may only be allowed to post the unformatted accepted version.

Ultimately, it is the contributor’s responsibility to determine whether a work is allowed to be posted. The University Libraries is happy to help you navigate these and other copyright questions. For assistance with copyright, visit our Copyright for Authors & Creators guide or contact the Scholarly Communication department.

Yes! UNC librarians are happy to assist you with deposit and copyright clearance. Contact the UNCOpen administrator to ask about support for submitting your work.

Neither UNCOpen nor the University Libraries can grant permission for the use of work posted in the repository. This includes the use and reproduction of tools, surveys, questionnaires, or other instruments appearing in dissertations or theses. Administrators of UNCOpen are also not permitted to provide personal information of authors unless it is already publicly available through the record accompanying their work.

If you are seeking permission to reuse materials available through the repository, it is your responsibility to locate the copyright holder and contact them. The University Libraries can assist with understanding and navigating copyright questions. For assistance with copyright, visit our Copyright guide or contact the Scholarly Communication department.

For additional support, contact:

• Nicole Webber (nicole.webber@unco.edu), Scholarly Communication Librarian
• University Libraries (libraries@unco.edu)

We recognize that not all materials in the repository are accessible to all users. If you'd like to request materials in an accessible format please contact the University Libraries (libraries@unco.edu) or the Disability Resource Center (DRC@unco.edu).

UNCOpen values the accessibility of its website and contents for all users. UNCOpen administrators work with bepress and UNC's Disability Resource Center to increase accessibility of the platform. See bepress' Accessibility Statement for more information.

Due to the cooperative nature of the repository, authors are ultimately responsible for ensuring that all files submitted to UNCOpen are accessible. See the links below for resources on accessibility best practices:

• Disability Resource Center: Resource Page
• WebAIM Articles on Document and Media Accessibility
• Disability & Philanthropy Forum: Creating Accessible Resources

To request changes to a record of one of your works, email the UNCOpen administrator specifying the changes to be made. Please include your name, the title of the work, and the link to where it appears in the repository.

Please see our Policies & Guidelines documentation for more information on the repository.