If you have an account in the Researcher Metadata Database (RMD), you can use that account to deposit the accepted manuscript version of a scholarly article in ScholarSphere. This satisfies Penn State’s open access policy. For basic information about RMD, please see Using the Researcher Metadata Database.
If you follow the link for a publication in your publications list in RMD or in an open access policy reminder email, it will take you to the page for that publication in RMD. You can use the “Upload to ScholarSphere” section of that page to deposit the accepted manuscript in ScholarSphere.
- If you’re not sure whether you retained the right to share your accepted manuscript in an institutional repository like ScholarSphere, consult Sherpa Romeo, a database of journals’ self-archiving policies. In Sherpa Romeo, look for the following details:
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- Article version: In most cases, you should deposit the accepted manuscript version.
- Location: Look for information about depositing in an institutional repository or posting on an institutional website. The rules for these are often different from the rules for a personal website (where you may be able to share sooner) or a for-profit article sharing sites, such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu (where you may not be able to share at all).
- License, if any: The license choice for articles deposited in ScholarSphere can vary by journal. By default, you should use “All rights reserved.” However, some journals require authors to add one of the Creative Commons licenses when sharing the accepted manuscript.
- Embargo, if any: If your publisher requires an embargo, you can set that in ScholarSphere, so that the article will automatically become available once that embargo expires.
- Other requirements: The publisher may ask you to include other information along with the deposit. Even if the publisher doesn’t require it, you should include the DOI and journal title to help people find your article.
You can also find this information in your publishing contract or on your publisher’s website. If you have questions about your rights as an author, please contact the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright for assistance.
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- Locate the appropriate version of the article (usually the accepted manuscript) and upload it in the “File” box at the top of the form. If you need to include more than one file (e.g., figures or images for the article in separate files), you can.
- Review the fields for “Title” and “Subtitle,” making corrections if necessary.
- In “Description,” enter the article’s abstract if available. Otherwise, provide a brief summary.
- In “Publisher Statement,” you can add any text that your publisher asks you to include with the deposit. For instance, some publishers ask you to include a preferred citation here.
- In “Journal Name,” add or correct the title of the journal, if necessary.
- In “DOI,” enter the DOI for the article if it has one. Many publishers require this, and it is very helpful to readers looking for your article.
- In “License,” select “All rights reserved” unless your publisher allows or requires something different.
- In “Embargoed until,” enter the date the embargo expires, if the article version you’re depositing has an embargo. If the embargo has already expired, or if there is no embargo, leave this field blank.
- Review the ScholarSphere Deposit Agreement and check the box to indicate agreement.
- Click “Submit Files” to deposit the file(s) in ScholarSphere with this metadata. You will receive a confirm message on the screen, as well as an emailed confirmation.