DigitalCommons@WayneState Policy

Last Updated: June 26, 2013
A downloadable version of this policy is available at http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/dc_information/2/.

DigitalCommons@WayneState (DC@WSU) is an institutional repository maintained by the WSU Library System (WSULS). The purpose of DigitalCommons@WayneState 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 DC@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, or staff. Work produced or submitted by WSU students must be sponsored by WSU faculty, researchers 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 DigitalCommons@WayneState.
  • 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 DigitalCommons@WayneState.
  • Bibliographic citations or abstracts alone are not accepted without the referenced paper.

II. Types of Content

DigitalCommons@WayneState 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  • Grey literature (Unpublished conference papers, presentations, and pamphlets)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 DigitalCommons@WayneState 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. If you are interested in publishing a peer-reviewed journal in DC@WSU, please contact WSU Libraries' Scholarly Communications Team at digitalcommons@wayne.edu or fill out the project proposal form at http://www.lib.wayne.edu/forms/digitalcommons/.

IV. Removing a Paper

DigitalCommons@WayneState 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 DC@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 DigitalCommons@WayneState are protected by copyright. Authors retain the copyright for all content posted in DC@WSU. When submitting content to DC@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 DC@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 WSU Libraries at digitalcommons@wayne.edu.

VI. Acceptable Use

Individuals have the right to download and print a personal copy of materials in DigitalCommons@WayneState. 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 DC@WSU content that exceeds these exceptions requires permission from the copyright holder.

Libraries interested in printing a DC@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 DC@WSU content. For example, linking to content in a Course Management System such as Blackboard is allowed without the permission of the copyright holder.

i. Metadata Harvesting and Re-use

Metadata may be freely harvested from DC@WSU, using OAI-PMH or other means (OAI queries supported at http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/do/oai/?). Metadata found in DC@WSU may be freely reused in both non-commercial and commercial systems. Links to download full-text should point back to digitalcommons.wayne.edu. (Policy based on http://arxiv.org/help/oa/metadataPolicy).

VII. Preservation and Perpetual Access

It is the responsibility of WSULS to preserve and provide perpetual access to the content of DigitalCommons@WayneState.

WSULS's commitment to preserve and provide perpetual access to content in DC@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 DC@WSU cannot be guaranteed by the WSULS or DC@WSU.

Contact

Questions and comments regarding the DigitalCommons@WayneState Policy should be directed towards WSU Libraries’ Scholarly Communications Team at digitalcommons@wayne.edu.