Research in Computer Science and Informatics at the University of Portsmouth

Guidance on submitting items to the Institutional Repository

The institutional repository (aka Parade) is now available. SOC/CT/ECE and other related staff are encouraged to self-deposit their publications.

How do I access the repository?

The URL for the repository is http://eprints.port.ac.uk/ . You should be able to login using your standard University login and password.

Once you have logged in, you should be able to "Manage Deposits".

What should and should not go in the repository?

Everything you are involved in as an author that has a research or knowledge transfer purpose should go in the repository. This covers things like:

Normally, you would convert your submission to PDF format, but other formats are acceptable where this isn't possible or appropriate.

If the paper is also available elsewhere on the web (e.g. on a publisher's or conference web site), include the URL(s) for that/those in your repository entry under "Related URLs".

If your paper reports on a scientific experiment you did, you might include the data in the repository. If your paper refers to a program you've written, you might want to include the program source code. Zipping up collections of these files almost certainly is easier to manage than depositing each file individually.

The repository is NOT for teaching materials (unless you have written a book or something comparable for an external audience). It's not for working drafts of things either (unless you intend them to have very wide external exposure).

How is the repository reconciled with publishers?

What to make public?

Different publishers have different polices on whether or not they allow authors to also archive their papers to repositories or other web sites. The policy of very many publishers can be found in the SHERPA RoMEO database at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/

In general, our approach (depending on the publisher's policy) is:

Policy Response
Publisher does not restrict submission to repository Add final version of paper to repository immediately
Publisher leaves copyright with author Add final version of paper to repository immediately
Publisher allows post prints (final version submitted after refereeing) to be posted Add the post print version to the repository
Publisher allows preprints (initial version submitted before refereeing) to be posted Add the preprint version to the repository
Publisher allows republication in a repository after a certain time Add the paper to the repository and set the embargo so that it only becomes visible after the requisite time has passed
Publisher has no policy on this Add the paper to the repository. If the publisher subsequently objects, it can be removed from public access.
Publisher prohibits republication in a repository

Add the paper nevertheless, but restrict its visibility so that the general public cannot access it.

If the paper is available online elsewhere (even if only to subscribers of that web site), add a "Related URL" to the journal/conference web site to your repository entry.

Publisher explicitly prohibits any uploading to a repository Fill in all the other information the repository requires, but do not upload a copy of the paper. This should be considered very much a last resort.

 

Embargoes

We would recommend that if you submit a journal or conference paper to the repository, you place an embargo on it until the date your paper appears in print or the date of the conference. Quite reasonably, publishers often expect to be the place of first publication. An embargo can be set when you upload the document.

Another way of managing this is not to submit your paper to the repository until after it is published, but we prefer you to submit it as soon as you know it has been accepted for publication, and to arrange a suitable embargo

How do I submit my publications?

Login to the repository and under "Manage Deposits" select "New item". Follow the steps.

General advice on depositing can be found in the Institutional Repository Depositors Guide (IRDG). Guidelines specific to the Computer Science and Informatics departments (SOC, ECE, CT) follow.

Department/Research Groups headings

The IR has all UoP departments listed and you can choose from a menu. At the moment, Research Groups are identified elsewhere (see below).

If the paper is written by people from more than one department, make sure that all relevant departments are selected (the menu allows multiple selection - use CTRL-click).

The department to choose for each author is normally the one in which they are:

However, if someone has recently moved departments, it may be more appropriate to choose the department they did the work in, or both their old and new departments. Bear in mind that this choice will dictate which department(s)' list of publications the paper may appear in.

Funders

Where the work has been funded (entirely or in part) by an external funder, list them here. We may wish to automatically generate a list of all publications arising from a funder's grants.

Normally, for well-known funders (e.g. research councils), use their acronym (e.g. EPSRC) rather than the full name. Spell government departments out in full (because their names change more often!).

Projects

Use the Projects section to identify both Research Group and Research Project. The aim of this is to enable us to automatically generate a list of publications associated with a particular established research group or a specific project.

As with departments, multiple authors might require multiple research groups to be specified. In addition, a single author may be associated with multiple research groups - include them all. Further, a particular publication might span more than one project - include them all.

Critical to this is for us to use a consistent set of group and project names. A list of "approved names" exists - inform Jim if you would like to add to it.

Uncontrolled keywords

As it says, these are uncontrolled. You may wish to copy here the keywords included in the paper. Add any others that you think might attract readers to the paper.

Additional information/Comments and Suggestions

Use "Comments and Suggestions" to give instructions/advice to library staff who have the responsibility to check each deposit. Things to mention here might include:

Subject headings

The next step of the deposit process asks you to identify one or more subject areas.

Each department has an obvious Subject category of its own (Computing, Creative Technologies and Electronic and Computer Engineering). However, interdisciplinary or applied work should be recognised by choosing additional subjects. Staff in CT and ECE who regard their work as part of the wider subject area of "Computer Science" (e.g. those who are likely to be included in a Computing REF submission), should always choose "Computing" in addition to their department's home category.

The following subject headings may be appropriate to use (list based on my knowledge of current or recent work):

In particular, it would help enormously if all publications in the area of health informatics included both "Computing" AND "Health Sciences".

Joint authorship

Before depositing a paper that you have jointly authored with other University of Portsmouth people, check that it is not already in the IR. There should be only ONE copy of each paper.

If the original depositor has missed out crucial information (e.g. your department or research group), either contact them and ask them to update the deposit, or contact library staff to request a change be made.

Conclusion

Remember, the aim of all this is to maximise the chances that someone will see your publication. Therefore, when in doubt, the rule of thumb is that it is better to include more departments/project names/subjects than less.

If you have any questions about this, or comments, or suggestions, please let Jim know. This includes if specific research groups want to mandate additional policies.