Open Access FAQs
Why would an author be interested in pursuing an Open Access option?
Increased citation counts. Studies have shown a positive link between articles that are openly discoverable and citation counts. A 2016 study of over 3.3 million published articles showed that OA articles have, on average, 50% more citations. Citation increases, however, are not a guarantee, and depending on the journal and discipline, results may vary. Click here to view more research.
Who has Open Access Policies?
Over 560 universities have adopted OA policies. (List of University/ Research Institutions with OA policies can be found here: Link to RoarMap: Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies.) This ranges from major universities like Harvard and MIT to mid-sized private Christian universities like Trinity University. The policies most often focus on peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles and their open access through deposit in online Institutional Repositories (IRs).
How are publishers responding to an increase in Open Access?
Many publishers create significant barriers for authors who want to reuse or share their work. Having an institutional open access policy protects you by allowing the institution to work on your behalf. As an example, after implementing mandatory OA at Harvard and MIT, they only have a 4% waiver rate for faculty who’s publisher of choice will not allow an open access copy of their work to be made available online. Because over 500 institutions now have OA policies, most publishers now include options for researchers wanting to make their work available online.
Does depositing my work in an Institutional Repository affect my tenure and promotion?
No, depositing a copy of your published work in our repository does not limit where you publish. The deposit happens after you publish in the journal of your choosing. In fact, metrics gained from downloads and views of your work can be used to help further your career, as well as additional citations and readership that could result from making your research outputs open.
I already post my articles to my personal website / ResearchGate / Academia.edu. Why should I submit my works to DigitalCommons as well?
Academia and Researchgate maintain that they are not a repository, instead they are websites that link researchers, and also have a sharing platform. Most publishers who allow depositing of articles into repositories specify that the repositories are non commercial, therefore it’s often not in the publisher’s agreement to post on Academia or Researchgate which are both commercial.
Another point to keep in mind is that these websites might not be stable, and can be purchased by large publisher groups. One example is Mendeley, another researcher / sharing website, which was purchased by Elsevier, a large publisher in 2013. (This led to Elsevier sending out ‘take down notices’ to researchers posting their work on Academia and Researchgate, and also led to the outcry of many scientists upset that their work they had posted on the website was now owned by a large publisher). Depositing your work in an institutional repository does not limit you from also posting your work on these networking sites.
DigitalCommons @ ACU FAQs
What is the purpose and goal of DigitalCommons?
Digital Commons @ ACU (DC@ACU) aspires to increase awareness and accessibility of the intellectual output of Abilene Christian University. We preserve and provide access to student and faculty work, such as working papers, published articles, conference papers, presentations, senior theses, graduate theses and dissertations. University Special Collections and Archives utilizes DC@ACU to disseminate uniquely-held or otherwise unavailable archival materials, rare books, and periodicals.
How do I upload my content to DC@ACU?
Create a new account by clicking on the "My Account" tab in DC@ACU, or clicking here. After setting up your DC@ACU account, you can click on the "Submit Research" link to the left, select your College, Department, or Degree Program, and then follow the directions.
Alternatively when submitting works to Activity Insight, journal articles will be automatically uploaded to DC@ACU by a library staff member (as per the Open Access policy). If you would not like to have your works uploaded, you can check the "Do Not Add to Digital Commons" box.
You may also email pdfs directly to dc@acu.edu
What version of my paper can I deposit in the repository?
The version deposited will depend on the publisher’s agreement. Ideally, the final published version would be the one deposited, however when publisher agreements are restrictive, and do not accept an addendum, the author’s final manuscript (after peer review) may be used. If you need help determining your publisher's policy or which version of paper to deposit, please email dc@acu.edu or look at the Copyright Help tab for more information.
Why is there an opt-out waiver? When do I need one?
The only legal effect of the Open Access Policy is to create a limited license for the University to make scholarly articles available for non-profit open access purposes. Without this license agreement, most publishers will not allow a deposit, therefore an overarching policy must be in place as leverage to deposit in the repository.
In some circumstances, an author may wish to revoke that license to the University. The policy provides for this, by including an option for any author to request a waiver of the policy, which will be automatically granted. A waiver invalidates the limited rights that are shared with the University under this policy. Clicking the "Do Not Add to Digital Commons" box when submitting to Activity Insight is proof and authorization of your no questions asked waiver.
Who sees my submissions to DC@ACU?
Anyone can access the articles and works posted on Digital Commons @ ACU. In fact, if you search on Google, search results will bring up articles in our repository. Articles can also be found using ACU's online library catalog search. Open access allows your research to be seen and read by the public, and used freely by other researchers.
How can I view the statistics of my article downloads?
The Author Dashboard is a personalized reporting tool for authors in Digital Commons available via each author’s My Account page. The Author Dashboard allows authors to view download counts in real time, learn where their work was downloaded around the world, and discover from which institutions their work was accessed.
For more information: See the Author Dashboard guide.
For an author to receive these emails, his or her email address must be included in the author metadata with the submission, and his or her paper needs to have been downloaded at least once in the month prior to the delivery of the email.