Digital Commons@Wayne State University Policy

Last Updated: December 18, 2009
A downloadable version of this policy is available at http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/dc_information/2/.

Digital Commons@Wayne State University is an institutional repository maintained by the WSU Library System (WSULS). The purpose of Digital Commons@Wayne State University is to provide an open access publication and research dissemination service for faculty, staff, and students. The WSULS's goal is to provide perpetual access to the intellectual output of Wayne State University (WSU) as broadly as possible.

I. Content Guidelines

All submissions must meet the following guidelines in order to be included in Digital Commons@WSU. Individual departments are allowed to determine policies regarding what intellectual output can be submitted that meet these guidelines:

  • The work must be produced, submitted, or sponsored by WSU faculty, researchers, students, or staff.
  • The work must be scholarly or research oriented.
  • The work must be in digital form. If parts of the item require different file formats, ideally all of the digital pieces will be provided as a set. (For example, a PDF document, with its associated data file(s).)
  • The author must be willing and able to grant Wayne State University the right to preserve and distribute the work via the Digital Commons@WSU.
  • Works can be co-authored by a WSU faculty, staff or graduate student with non-WSU authors. The article co-author is responsible for securing permission agreements from non-WSU authors before content is posted in Digital Commons@WSU.
  • Bibliographic citations or abstracts alone are not accepted without the referenced paper.

II. Types of Content

Digital Commons@WSU accepts a wide range of digital formats, including text, images, video, and audio files. Possible types of content include:

  • Articles (including those previously published and pre/post prints)
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Technical Papers
  • Grey literature (Unpublished conference papers, presentations, and pamphlets)
  • Working papers
  • Books
  • Creative Works
  • Software
  • Peer-Reviewed Journals
  • Data Sets
  • Lectures and Seminar Series

III. Journals and Peer-Reviewed Series

The Digital Commons@WSU infrastructure supports publishing peer-reviewed series and journals. Please note that the same rigors that apply to publishing a journal in print also apply to those published in digital format. Please contact the WSU Web Librarian, (digitalcommons@wayne.edu), if you are interested in publishing a peer-reviewed journal in Digital Commons@WSU.

IV. Removing a Paper

Digital Commons@WSU is intended to be a permanent scholarly record of activity at WSU. However, authors may request that a system administrator remove their paper, or a version of their paper. Once a paper is deposited in Digital Commons@WSU, a citation to the paper will always remain. The exception is peer-reviewed series and journals, where removal is not allowed.

V. Copyright and Author Agreements

All materials in Digital Commons@WSU are protected by copyright. Authors retain the copyright for all content posted in Digital Commons@WSU. When submitting content to Digital Commons@WSU, an author agrees to:

  1. Grant WSULS a non-exclusive license to distribute and preserve the document.
  2. Provide proof that the author holds the copyright to the work or has been authorized by the copyright holder to upload the work for distribution.

Before posting content that has been published elsewhere to the Digital Commons@WSU, it is mandatory that the author review agreements with the publisher to ensure repository deposits are allowed. Publisher agreements can be reviewed online at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo. If an author needs further assistance, please contact the WSULS Web Librarian (digitalcommons@wayne.edu).

VI. Acceptable Use

Individuals have the right to download and print a personal copy of materials in Digital Commons@WSU. Unless otherwise indicated, individuals do not have the right to make additional copies, post, or distribute any of the materials, unless the use meets a reasonable determination of fair use. Any use of Digital Commons@WSU content that exceeds these exceptions requires permission from the copyright holder.

Libraries interested in printing a Digital Commons@WSU paper for their permanent collection should contact the center, department, or research unit responsible for posting the paper. The requesting library can then gain copyright clearance from the paper's author(s).

Permission does not need to be obtained for linking to or harvesting Digital Commons@WSU content. For example, linking to content in a Course Management System such as Blackboard is allowed without the permission of the copyright holder.

VII. Preservation and Perpetual Access

It is the responsibility of WSULS to preserve and provide perpetual access to the content of the Digital Commons.

The WSULS's commitment to preserve and provide perpetual access to content in Digital Commons@WSU applies only to material housed on servers maintained directly or under contract by the WSULS. Links and access to content—of any format—referenced outside Digital Commons@WSU cannot be guaranteed by the WSULS or Digital Commons@WSU.

Contact

Questions and comments regarding the Digital Commons@WSU Policy should be directed towards the WSULS Web Librarian (digitalcommons@wayne.edu).