eScholarship@UMassChan

• UMass Chan administrative units (departments, schools, programs, centers, or institutes)
• UMass Chan faculty, researchers, staff
• UMass Chan students doing faculty-sponsored research

eScholarship@UMassChan welcomes digital materials in a wide range of formats, including text, images, video, and audio files.  Materials must meet submission and copyright guidelines.  Formats include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Articles -- including preprints (author-created first version of a manuscript before peer review) and postprints (accepted peer-reviewed manuscripts)
• Audio files and podcasts
• Book chapters
• Conference papers
• Datasets (see our Data Deposit Policy)
• Dissertations and other student scholarship
• Electronic books
• Images
• Posters
• Presentations
• Reports
• Videos

Submitting a document to eScholarship@UMassChan does not transfer copyright; it only grants the Library a non-exclusive license to distribute and archive the document. 

Authors often inadvertently transfer copyright to publishers during the article publication process (review Author Rights and Publication Agreements to understand why this is unnecessary!).  However, many journal publishers allow authors to freely and legally post a version of their published articles (see Definitions box) in an institutional archive or repository.  This is called “self-archiving.”  Publishers prohibiting inclusion may grant exceptions if the author requests it.  The library will assist authors in determining if materials are eligible to be deposited.  Authors may wish to consult the Sherpa/RoMEO website, which provides a summary of permissions that are normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement or license.

If your journal or publisher does not give standing permission for self-archiving, ask for permission. Many publishers who do not give standing permission will agree to case-by-case requests.  Here is a template with sample wording to ask permission from a publisher for self-archiving an article:

Dear [insert name of publisher, rights manager or similar],

I am writing to ask permission to post a copy of an article of mine which was published in one of your journals in my institution's repository, eScholarship@UMassChan.

The article is:

[authors names], [date], [title]

[journal name], [volume or number], [pages]

The institutional repository is a not-for-profit service for academic authors, providing access to the full-text of their publications. Full bibliographic details are given for each article, including the journal of original publication, etc.

If possible, I would like to use the published pdf version. The pdf version has an advantage over posting my own version, in that it maintains consistency in appearance of the article wherever it is read. This also maintains a closer association of the article with the journal, through the running headers and the journal formatting and style.

I would be grateful if you could respond at your earliest convenience to give your permission for including this article and to pass on any conditions that are associated. If it would be possible to use the published pdf version of the article for this purpose, then please confirm this.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

More information on copyright  can be found at the Library's Copyright Resources guide.

In order for eScholarship to distribute your submission worldwide, you must agree to the following terms.

eScholarship@UMassChan Non-Exclusive Deposit License

I hereby grant UMass Chan Medical School (UMass Chan) the non-exclusive right to retain, reproduce, and distribute the deposited work (“the work”) in whole or in part, in and from its electronic format, worldwide and without charge.

UMass Chan may make and keep more than one copy of the work for preservation and access and may translate the work to other formats for these purposes, including but not limited to audio, video, and the addition/editing of descriptive information.

I represent that the work is my original work and does not, to the best of my knowledge, infringe upon anyone’s copyright, nor violate any proprietary rights, nor contain any libelous matter, nor invade the privacy of any person or third party.

I represent that third party material included in the work is clearly identified, and I have secured sufficient and appropriate permissions from the copyright holder(s) to agree to the terms of this license.

If the submission is based upon work that has been sponsored or supported by an agency or organization other than UMass Chan, I represent that I have fulfilled any right of review or other obligations required by such contract or agreement.

This agreement does not represent a transfer of copyright to UMass Chan. 

By granting this license, I assert that I, as an author, copyright holder, or authorized depositor, have the power and authority to enter into this agreement and that I have read and agreed to all the terms of this agreement.

"Green" Open Access:  Depositing a scholarly publication for public access in a repository other than that of the publisher, e.g. an institutional repository or a discipline-related repository such as eScholarship@UMMS or PubMed Central (also called "self-archiving")

"Gold" Open Access:  Publishing a scholarly article in a peer-reviewed journal with open access, sometimes financed through article publication charges.

"Hybrid" Open Access:  An option now offered by many traditional publishers where an author can pay a publication fee to make an article open access. 

Embargo:  A fixed delay between the time a publication or data is deposited into a repository and the time it is made public

Version Terminology:  Here are generally accepted definitions for a journal article in its various versions as it moves through the publication process:

• Pre-print: Author-created version first submitted to publisher, before peer review
• Post-print:  Author-created final version after peer review, also known as the "accepted manuscript".  This is the version mandated in the NIH public access policy and in most institutional open access mandates.
• Publisher's version/PDF:  Copyedited version with publisher's formatting and paging

See also the VERSIONS Toolkit, which has practical advice for academic researchers as authors. 

General policies

• Digital Collections Policy: This policy articulates the scope and selection factors for the creation, collection, organization, dissemination, and management of digital content through eScholarship@UMassChan.
• Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Minting Policy: This policy articulates the scope of materials that can be assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) through the Lamar Soutter Library, and the process of obtaining a DOI.
• Digital Preservation: The repository utilizes the bepress Archive service with Amazon's Simple Storage Service(Amazon S3) to create permanent archives for the purpose of ensuring long-term availability and accessibility of repository content.
• Terms of Use: The Terms of Use state the terms and conditions for using the eScholarship@UMassChan repository website.

Policies for specific collections

• Capstone Policies
• Data Deposit Policy
• GSBS Dissertations and Theses Policies
• GSN Dissertation Policies
• International Medical Education Program Submission Guidelines
• Journal of eScience Librarianship Policies

See also our FAQ.

Contact:

Lisa Palmer
Institutional Repository Librarian
Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School
lisa.palmer@umassmed.edu
508-856-4368