Repository Guidelines
October 2022
1. Content Guidelines
The NC State University Scholarly Publications Repository (SPR) contains scholarly or research-oriented works submitted or accepted for publication and works already published, such as books and chapters, journal articles, patents, technical reports, conference papers or proceedings, master's theses and dissertations, software, and data sets, along with digital audiovisual media or other associated materials. Other publications appropriate to particular disciplines or artistic works may be included upon request of a college, unit, or departmental authority.
The SPR contains links to over 27,000 scholarly publications produced by NC State faculty and researchers since 1997, with limited pre-1997 publications. As the SPR grows, it will include additional publications, and the associated works where available.
The works in the SPR are intended to be permanent contributions, not ephemeral works in progress, and should be ready for public dissemination. Questions about appropriate content may be directed via an email to repository@ncsu.edu.
For each work submitted, the contributor must hold copyright or otherwise have the right to post the content in the repository. See Section 6 on Copyright for more information.
2. Who may contribute
Contributions to the SPR are accepted from current NC State faculty members, graduate students, and researchers with valid Unity ID credentials. Such contributions may include works created by former NC State affiliates, with endorsement by the appropriate college, unit, or departmental authority.
3. Who determines SPR policy
The Libraries’ Research Strategy Oversight Committee and its various subcommittees advise on policies and guidelines for the repository, including content guidelines, and consider any requests to withdraw content from the repository.
4. Role of Colleges and Departments
Colleges, departments, or other units may elect to determine specific content guidelines for their members’ contributions to the SPR, within the general parameters of “scholarly or research-oriented works.” The Libraries reserves the right to seek approval from the appropriate college, unit, or departmental authority if works are submitted to the SPR that do not fall within these guidelines.
5. Management of Repository
The SPR is maintained for North Carolina State University by the NC State University Libraries. Support services provided by the Libraries include:
- submission support for users;
- information about use of the repository and associated services; and
- notification to contributors of any changes to content, e.g., format migration.
The Libraries provides technical services for the NC State University Scholarly Publications Repository, including:
- upgrading and administering DSpace software and associated applications;
- developing system enhancements;
- performing bulk loads of electronic content and metadata; and
- preserving content according to standard digital preservation practices.
6. Copyright
Placing material in the SPR will not alter previously existing copyright ownership status. Contributors to the SPR must represent that they either own or possess (perhaps through permission from the copyright holder, e.g., the publisher) all of the rights necessary to contribute the work. In brief, an NC State University author has the right to post works in the repository if any of the following is true:
- the author holds the copyright;
- the publisher’s policy allows it;
- the publisher holds copyright and grants permission; or
- the university shop right is invoked—pursuant to NC State's Copyright Regulation
For further information, see “Guidelines for Determining Your Rights to Deposit Works in the NC State University Scholarly Publications Repository” (Appendix D).
7. Confidential information
Submitting work to the repository requires you to attest that the work contains no confidential or proprietary information. Confidential information includes data that can uniquely identify someone, such as a Social Security number, credit card number, or driver's license number. Proprietary information is information, such as patentable information, that is owned, or may be owned by someone else.
8. Persistent access
The Libraries intends to preserve and provide access to the full-text works deposited in the SPR indefinitely, as part of the University’s archival record. In addition, the SPR creates a persistent web address for each work in the repository (a “handle” — e.g., https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.2/77) that will be an enduring link to all of the individual files associated with that work. Links to content referenced outside the repository cannot be guaranteed.
9. Metadata
The principal descriptive information collected for each work consists of a complete citation, including, where appropriate, authors, title, year, publication information (book or journal title), volume, issue, paging, identifying numbers, publisher, and publication type (article, book, book chapter, conference paper, technical reports, patent, other). Information about the NC State University affiliated author(s) is also captured, including a full name and a listing of affiliated department(s) and/or campus unit(s). All submissions are reviewed by library staff to normalize names, departments, and publication information. The Libraries reserves the right to edit any metadata associated with works submitted to the repository.
A list of metadata fields (see Appendix A) is available for help in describing submissions to the SPR.
10. Terms and Conditions of Use for Repository Content
Users of the repository (that is, those searching for or downloading contents) will be presented with this information: “Use of this repository constitutes full acceptance of and agreement to these Terms and Conditions. Users may not remove any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices from downloaded materials. Use of any materials or works, in whole or in part, from the repository in any manner that is unlawful or infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any party is prohibited. The user is solely responsible for all use or misuse of works accessed via the repository. The repository site is provided on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ basis.”
11. File Size and Format Support
Over time, documents stored in the SPR will be preserved as is or migrated to new platforms depending on the level of support designated for a particular format.
Some file formats in the repository will be fully supported, some formats will be partially supported, and others will be unsupported. Fully supported file formats (e.g., .pdf) are those that the Libraries will make readable and retrievable for the foreseeable future, employing migration and archival techniques as necessary.
Partially supported file formats are those for which the Libraries will recognize, but cannot guarantee full support for the foreseeable future. Examples of partially supported file formats are proprietary formats (e.g., .doc).
Unsupported file formats are those that the Libraries can only support as bit streams.
The Libraries maintains a list of supported file formats (see Appendix B).
Individual files deposited in the repository should normally be less than 2 GB in size (we enforce a limit of 3GB). Growth in the total size of a collection of files associated with a research project and deposited into the repository normally should not exceed 15 GB per year. If you have questions about these size limitations, please contact repository@ncsu.edu.
Appendices
Appendix A - Metadata Fields for the Scholarly Publications Repository
Appendix B - File Formats in the NC State University Scholarly Publications Repository
Appendix C - NC State University Scholarly Publications Repository Submission License description
Appendix D - Guidelines for Determining your Rights to Deposit Works in the NC State University Scholarly Publications Repository