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Open Access Publishing

University of Galway Research Repository FAQs

The Library supports Green Open Access publishing via University of Galway Research Repository. The Green route involves no costs to researchers and enables you to deposit the final manuscript version of your papers in University of Galway Research Repository, where they will be published on open access. 

University of Galway Research Repository has attracted nearly fourteen million hits (downloads and page views) to date (May 2024)), leaving no doubt that adding your publications to it boosts your citations and increases the visibility of your research. It is the definitive showcase for research from the University of Galway. Don’t miss out on the benefits.

IMPORTANT NOTE about social network sites

Engaging with the University of Galway Research Repository does not preclude using services like LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu for publicising your work; however, if you post your papers directly to a social networking site, you may be in breach of the terms of your publishing contract.

Library staff manage all deposits to the University of Galway Research Repository, which means that we check the publisher's copyright and reuse policies before making it available.

Rather than posting the full paper on any other site, best practice is for you to upload your work to the University of Galway Research Repository and then post a link to it. We will have checked the publisher's policy before putting the paper online, so you can be sure that you will not be in breach of copyright.

How to SUBMIT publications or PhD/MD/Research Masters thesis to the University of Galway Research Repository

  • Go to https://researchrepository.universityofgalway.ie/
  • Login: Enter your University of Galway email address and password (top right)
  • Complete the consent form (only displays the first time you login)
  • To submit your publications or your PhD/MD/ Research Masters thesis click on the following:
    • + to open the left sidebar (top left)
    • Item
    • University of Galway Library Submissions​​​​​​
  • Complete the submission form by using the import feature to search external sources (e.g. Scopus) for your journal article and import its metadata or by completing the submission form manually for your thesis
  • Click on +Deposit (bottom right)
  • To view, edit or delete your submissions select MyDSpace (top right)

Alternatively you can email your publication to researchrepository@universityofgalway.ie and the repository administrator will upload it for you.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

  • Please upload the version of your journal articles required for the University of Galway Research Repository, which is final draft post-refereeing without the publisher's type-setting, formatting, logos and pagination (also known as the post-print). We check and adhere to publisher's policies related to institutional repositories.

  • Please upload a pdf file of your PhD/MD/Research Masters with the recommended file naming convention which is yearnamedegree.pdf (e.g. 2011smithphd.pdf, 2023smithresearchmasters.pdf).

Download below a copy of ‘How to submit’ instructions with screenshots:

What happens to your document after you upload it to University of Galway Research Repository?
On receipt of your file, the repository administrator will:

  • Convert it to PDF to facilitate display and preservation
  • Check open access publication rights specified by the publisherEach publication you submi will be checked by the repository administrator to ensure that your journal or publisher's policy has been met. The copyright and self-archiving policies of publishers are checked using SHERPA RoMEO, the publisher's website or if necessary by contacting the publisher
  • Verify that the final manuscript (also known as the post-print) has been deposited. If the incorrect version has been deposited the author will be contacted by ticket email for the correct version.
  • Apply appropriate embargoes, copyright and licence statements
  • Make metadata publicly available immediately
  • Publish the final manuscript version on open access at the earliest date possible, taking account of any restrictions placed by the publisher or authors
  • Facilitate harvesting by other repositories 
  • Notify the author by email when their publication is on University of Galway Research Repository

What type of material can I publish on University of Galway Research Repository?

We accept the final accepted peer-reviewed drafts (or final drafts where not peer-reviewed) of the following forms of scholarly communication from academic staff and researchers:

  • Peer-reviewed articles
  • Working papers
  • Conference papers
  • Conference proceedings
  • Book chapters
  • Technical reports
  • Datasets
  • Books (monographs)
  • PhD/MD/Research Masters' Theses

Items that are not accepted include:

  • Learning objects (e.g. power point presentations for lectures)
  • Metadata (citations) without a full text item 

Where a paper has multiple authors some collaboration and agreement regarding adding articles (also known as self-archiving) to the repository will be necessary e.g. who should supply the final manuscript version for University of Galway Research Repository. Only one author needs to supply the publication to University of Galway Research Repository.

Staff at the University of Galway can deposit in University of Galway Research Repository co-authored papers where the lead author isn't a staff member at the University of Galway.

Can I upload my preprint to the University of Galway Research Repository?

It is preferable to post preprints to an appropriate preprint server. Preference should be given to discipline specific, community recognised servers which are well subscribed and supported within the discipline. ASAPbio maintains an updated list of preprint servers. If you are unable to find an appropriate preprint server you can deposit your preprint in the repository. To learn about preprints see the following publication:

Kristina Hettne, et al. (2021). A Practical Guide to Preprints: Accelerating Scholarly Communication (1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5600535

IMPORTANT NOTE about book chapters

  • Book chapters are difficult to discover.  Google and Google Scholar searches do not usually retrieve them. If they are in an open access institutional repository such as University of Galway Research Repository they become more visible
  • Some publishers allow book chapters to be self-archived in an institutional repository such as University of Galway Research Repository
  • Library staff will always contact the publisher for permission to archive on University of Galway Research Repository if they have not published a policy on their website

Which version of my article should I publish on University of Galway Research Repository?

  • The Library adheres to the publisher's policies relating to 'self-archiving' on institutional repositories such as University of Galway Research Repository
  • Most publishers will not permit authors to make the published pdf version of their articles available in repositories
  • The version required for University of Galway Research Repository is the final draft after peer review and editing has occurred but before publication. It is the copy without  the publisher's type-setting, formatting, logos and pagination (also known as the post-print)
  • Authors should keep a suitable version of all articles for self-archiving in University of Galway Research Repository. PDF is the preferred format for University of Galway Research Repository to facilitate display and preservation
  • We check and adhere to publisher's policies and explicitly promote and link to the published version
  • Many articles have multiple authors. In order to avoid different versions of the same article being made available in different repositories we advise that you collaborate with co-authors on the version of the article to be used for this purpose

Benefits for the author

  • Increased exposure / impact
  • Potential readership is greater than that for publications where the full-text is restricted to subscribers only. University of Galway Research Repository has attracted nearly fourteen million hits (downloads and page views) to date (May 2024)
  • Long-term access and preservation
  • Compliance with funders requirements
  • Extra discoverability through global search engines such as Google and harvesting services like OpenAIRE
  • Usage statistics
  • Very little admin required on your part
  • Compliance with University Open Access Policy which requires that "authors  of peer-reviewed articles and peer-reviewed conference papers resulting from research carried out at University of Galway must deposit a copy in the University of Galway Research Repository. The final manuscript version should be deposited upon acceptance for publication"

Deposit Agreement

Authors submitting material to University of Galway Research Repository must do so under the terms of a Deposit Agreement which has been framed by the Technology Transfer Office. It outlines the responsibilities of the author and the library.

End User License

The End User License outlines conditions under which a user can use material deposited in University of Galway Research Repository. The Creative Commons Share-a-like end-user license has been approved by the Technology Transfer Office. The default End User License for University of Galway Research Repository is Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland (CC-BY-NC-ND).

Important Note:

Your funder may require a different End User License for your submission to University of Galway Research Repository. In such cases the repository administrator will select the appropriate Creative Commons license. For example, if you are funded by Science Foundations Ireland or another Plan S funder, the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license will apply.  To view it go to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Applicable End User License details are displayed in the metadata of the record on University of Galway Research Repository.

A wealth of statistical information for publications that you’ve uploaded to University of Galway Research Repository is available.  Find your most popular publications based on either item views or downloads or the most popular items and authors for your College, School or Research Centres.  If you want to know where readers of your publications come from consult the statistics by country. Queries should be sent to  researchrepository@universityofgalway.ie

  • The University of Galway’s policy on Open Access to Research Outputs, adopted by the Academic Council in October 2015, aims to promote open access to the University’s publications.
  • Authors of peer-reviewed articles and peer-reviewed conference papers resulting from research carried out at the University of Galway must deposit a copy in the University of Galway Research Repository.
  • The University of Galway Research Repository enables easy discovery of publications through global search engines such as Google and complements IRIS by linking from author profiles to the full text of University publications.
  • Read an update on the state of Open Access at the University of Galway)