Repository Policies

Metadata Policy for information describing items in the repository

1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
2. The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes
3. The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission.

Data Policy for full-text and other full data items

1. Anyone may access full items free of charge.
2. Single copies of full items can be:    
   1. reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium
   2. for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.
   provided:    
   1. the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given
   2. a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page
   3. the content is not changed in any way
3. Full items must not be harvested by robots except transiently for full-text indexing or citation analysis
4. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium.
5. Some full items are individually tagged with different rights permissions and conditions.
6. This repository is not the publisher; it is merely the online archive.
7. Mention of the repository is appreciated but not mandatory.

Content Policy for types of document & data set held

1. This is an institutional repository.
2. The repository can also include metadata for published items created by authors of the institution when they were employed at former institution(s). The full text or full data item may not be deposited nor a hyperlink made to it without the permission of the repository manager
3. The repository is restricted to:
   1. Journal articles (peer reviewed or scholarly equivalent, accepted for publication or published; no early drafts or submitted for publication items)
   2. Bibliographic references
   3. Conference and workshop papers (accepted for publication or published; peer reviewed or scholarly equivalent)
   4. Theses (of University of Reading staff)
   5. Books, chapters and sections (accepted for publication or published; no early drafts or submitted for publication items)
   6. Datasets (not from September 2015 onwards)
   7. Multimedia and audio-visual materials
   8. Patents (published)
   9. Other special item types
   10. Special materials: Exhibitions, Designs (that have reached the public domain)
4. Deposited items may include:    
   1. accepted versions (author's final peer-reviewed copy in own typesetting, but no early drafts or submitted for publication items)
   2. published versions (publisher-created files)
5. Items are individually tagged with:    
   1. their version type and date.
   2. their peer-review status.
   3. their publication status.
6. Principal Languages: English

Submission Policy concerning depositors, quality & copyright

1. Items may only be deposited by accredited members of the institution
2. Authors may only submit their own work for archiving.
3. Eligible depositors must deposit bibliographic metadata for all their publications as soon as accepted for publication by the publisher.
4. Eligible depositors must deposit full texts of journal articles and conference proceedings as soon as accepted for publication, and optionally the full text or full data version or a representative version or summary of other items, although they may delay making them publicly visible to comply with publishers' embargos.
5. The administrator only vets items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, relevance to the scope of the repository, valid layout & format, and the exclusion of spam.
6. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
7. Items should be deposited as soon as accepted for publication, or at a later stage if this was not possible, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired.
8. Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.
9. If the repository receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed immediately.

Preservation Policy

1. Items will be retained indefinitely.
2. The repository will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.    
   1. It may not be possible to guarantee the readability of some unusual file formats.
3. The repository regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
4. The original bit stream is retained for all items, in addition to any upgraded formats.
5. Items may be removed at the request of the author/copyright holder, but this is strongly discouraged.
6. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:    
   1. Journal publishers' rules
   2. Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
   3. Legal requirements and proven violations
   4. National Security
   5. Falsified research
7. Withdrawn items may not be deleted per se, but will be removed from public view.
8. Withdrawn items' identifiers/URLs may be retained indefinitely.
9. The metadata of withdrawn items will not be searchable.
10. Changes to deposited full text documents are not usually permitted.
11. Errata and corrigenda lists may be included with the original record if required.
12. If necessary, an updated version may be deposited.    
    1. The earlier version may be withdrawn from public view.
    2. The item's persistent URL will always link to the latest version.
    3. There will be links between earlier and later versions, with the most recent version clearly identified.
13. In the event of the repository being closed down, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive.

Last updated: 9th December 2015