An institutional repository is an archive for collecting, preserving, and disseminating digital copies of the intellectual output of an institution (Crow, 2002).
Our institutional repository, Digital Commons, aspires to increase the awareness of the intellectual output of ACU, with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research, as well as providing students and faculty with a place to point to in promoting their own work. It is an excellent vehicle for working papers or copies of published articles and conference papers. Presentations, senior theses, uniquely held items, and other works not published elsewhere can also be published in Digital Commons (DC@ACU).
With over 500 colleges and universities in the Digital Commons Network, you will also have access to their peer-reviewed papers, articles, and journals – of which your work, when submitted, will become a part. DC@ACU, built on a platform and metadata standards that integrate Google and Google Scholar, allows a larger audience to locate your work.
But why should I create my own DC@ACU account?
When you create your own account on Digital Commons, you have the ability to upload your own scholarly works and articles at your convenience. You will also be more in control of the metadata fields associated with your submissions, which will make your work easier to find for others.
When you create an account, you will also receive monthly download reports for your uploaded works, and you will have access to the Author Dashboard, which has many features including letting you see where your work is being downloaded in real time.
To Create an Account:
Go to digitalcommons@acu.edu and click on the "My Account" link near the top.
Click "Sign up" and choose an email that you want associated with your DC@ACU account. This email is where your reports will be sent.
1. Directly from your account on DC@ACU - after logging in, click on the "Submit Research" link (located to the left under "For Faculty") and select your College, Department, or Degree Program. Follow the directions to fill out the required and optional information. See video above for more information.
2. When submitting intellectual contributions to Activity Insight, if it is a journal article, it will automatically be uploaded to Digital Commons (as stated in the Open Access policy). If you would like to opt-out of the policy and not have your article uploaded to Digital Commons, please check the "Do Not Add to Digital Commons" box when submitting your work to Activity Insight. Checking this box will count as proof and authorization of your waiver to opt out of the policy. See above video for more information.