PHD Discussions Logo

Ask, Learn and Accelerate in your PhD Research

Question Icon Post Your Answer

Question Icon

1 year ago in Open Access Movement By Meghna R

What are institutional repositories and how do they support the open access movement?

My university keeps emailing me to deposit my papers in the "institutional repository." What is it, why should I bother, and how does it fit into the bigger OA picture compared to publishing in a Gold OA journal?

All Answers (1 Answers In All)

By Shabir Ahmed Answered 1 year ago

Your institutional repository (IR) is your university's free, permanent, and compliant Green OA channel. It's a database where you upload the accepted manuscript (post-peer review, pre-typeset) of your articles. It supports OA by: 1) Providing Immediate, Free Access: Bypassing journal paywalls for anyone, anywhere. 2) Complying with Funder Mandates: Most funders (NIH, ERC) allow Green OA through repositories. 3) Increasing Visibility: IRs are indexed by Google Scholar, boosting your work's findability. 4) Preserving Scholarship: Universities commit to long-term digital preservation, safeguarding work beyond volatile journal platforms. It complements Gold OA; you can publish in any journal and still achieve OA via your IR (check the publisher's embargo policy). Depositing takes 10 minutes and significantly amplifies your work's impact. It's a simple, powerful act of scholarly citizenship.

Your Answer