About Institutional Repositories

Institutional Repositories (IRs) bring together all of a University's research under one umbrella, with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research.

IRs are an excellent vehicle for working papers or copies of published articles and conference papers. Presentations, senior theses, and other works not published elsewhere can also be published in the IR.

To learn more about Institutional Repositories, please visit our IR research page.

DigitalCommons@CIIS General Policies

Mission Statement

The purpose of DigitalCommons@CIIS is to provide an open access repository for research and publications by CIIS faculty, staff, and students, as well as archival content including audiovisual recordings of selected events, lectures, symposia, and conferences with the intention of sharing scholarship, creative works, and academic output with the worldwide community of scholars and members of the public as broadly as possible, and for as long as possible.

Introduction

DigitalCommons@CIIS is an electronic institutional repository maintained by the CIIS Library. It is an open access repository accessible from anywhere in the world. The primary purpose of this repository is to share academic output from members of the CIIS community with the wider public and is not intended as a publicity or promotional platform, nor is it a learning management system (LMS). Academic content such as publications, research data, and lecture notes may be accessed on DigitalCommons@CIIS through links from Canvas (LMS), which is a password protected environment.

I. Content Guidelines

  • All works submitted must be produced or sponsored by CIIS faculty, staff, and alumni. Work produced or submitted by CIIS students must be sponsored by CIIS faculty or staff.
  • The work must be scholarly or research oriented.
  • The work must be in digital form. A variety of common formats are accepted.
  • The author must be willing and able to grant CIIS the right to preserve and distribute the work via DigitalCommons@CIIS.
  • Works can be co-authored by CIIS faculty, staff, or students with non-CIIS authors. The CIIS article co-author is responsible for securing permission agreements from non-CIIS authors before content is posted in DigitalCommons@CIIS.
  • Currently there is no formal limit to size of material but the institutional repository administrator reserves the right to deny inclusion of items that are determined to be too large.

II. Types of Content

DigitalCommons@CIIS accepts a wide range of digital formats, including text, images, video, and audio files. Possible types of content include:

Articles (including those previously published and pre/post prints), theses and dissertations, technical papers, unpublished conference papers, presentations, pamphlets, books, creative and artistic works, software, peer-reviewed journals, high-quality newsletters, data sets, lectures and seminar series, conference and symposia recordings and publications, academic or creative photo collections and galleries, and CIIS Public Program and Performances events.

Each academic or administrative unit is responsible for deciding what content is appropriate for their part of the repository. Any content is appropriate if all applicable policies are followed (e.g., copyright), and is technically feasible.

The following content is NOT permitted for submission/publication to Digital Commons@ciis.edu:

  • FERPA-protected information, except if the individual has authorized release of his or her information in writing.
  • HIPPA-regulated information (protected health information, including any information related to the past, present, or future physical or mental health of an individual), except if the individual has authorized release of his or her information in writing, and such release is in the hands of the publisher.
  • Content barred by law or regulation from publication.
  • Intellectual property for which the submitter does not have permission to submit and distribute.
  • Records protected by privacy laws. Please note that privacy laws vary by state and protect their residents even when they are out of state.

III. Journals and Peer-Reviewed Series

DigitalCommons@CIIS supports publishing peer-reviewed series and journals. If you are interested in publishing a peer-reviewed journal please contact: DigitalCommons@ciis.edu

IV. Removing Content

DigitalCommons@CIIS is intended to be a permanent scholarly record of academic output or activity at CIIS. However, authors may request that a system administrator remove their paper or a version of their paper, an audio or video file, and other types of items. The exception is peer-reviewed series and journals, where removal is not allowed.

V. Copyright and Author Agreements

All materials in DigitalCommons@CIIS are protected by copyright. Authors retain the copyright for all content posted in Digital Commons@CIIS. When submitting content to Digital Commons@CIIS an author agrees to:

  1. Grant CIIS a non-exclusive license to display, distribute, and preserve the document.
  2. Provide proof that the author holds the copyright to the work or has been authorized by the copyright holder to upload the work for distribution.

Before posting content that has been previously published elsewhere to the repository, it is required that the author(s) review agreements with the publisher to ensure repository deposits are allowed. Publisher agreements can be reviewed online at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo. While the listing of publishers is growing, it does not cover all publishers. If an author needs further assistance, please contact: DigitalCommons@ciis.edu

 

Author Rights

  • The author retains the copyright for all works submitted.
  • The author is free to reuse the content, but it is his or her responsibility to check the terms of the publication agreement if a document published in Digital Commons is published elsewhere.
  • Authors may update and add to existing works.

Authors (or those submitting on behalf of an author) sign a Non-Exclusive Rights form outlining the terms and conditions under which the submission is made.

VI. Acceptable Use

User Rights

  • All users must respect the intellectual property rights of the author.
  • Materials may be downloaded for education and research purposes provided due recognition is given to the author.
  • Material may not be copied, distributed, displayed, altered, or used for commercial purposes, unless such use is specified and authorized.

Individuals have the right to download or print a personal copy of materials in DigitalCommons@CIIS. Unless otherwise indicated, individuals do not have the right to make additional copies, post, or distribute any of the materials, unless the use meets a reasonable determination of fair use. Any use of content that exceeds these exceptions requires permission from the copyright holder.

Libraries interested in printing a DigitalCommons@CIIS paper for their permanent collection should contact the center, department, or research unit responsible for posting the content. The requesting library can then gain copyright clearance from the paper's author(s).

Permission does not need to be obtained for linking to or web-harvesting DigitalCommons@CIIS content.

VII. Preservation and Perpetual Access

It is the responsibility of CIIS to preserve and provide perpetual access to the content of DigitalCommons@CIIS. CIIS’ commitment to preserve and provide perpetual access to content in DigitalCommons@CIIS applies only to material housed on servers maintained directly or under contract by CIIS. Links and access to content of any format referenced outside DigitalCommons@ciis cannot be guaranteed by CIIS or DigitalCommons@CIIS.

Contact: Questions regarding the DigitalCommons@CIIS policies should be directed to: digitalcommons@ciis.edu.