Quickfire questions

August 10, 2023

The problem of ‘in progress’ outputs

Sometimes, you may wonder why nothing has been done with your output when you upload it to PIMS. You wait for two weeks – the amount of time we ask you to allow for outputs to be reviewed – but it never appears on your staff profile or on the Research Repository. Why is the Repository Team not reviewing your output?

The answer is that you haven’t completed the deposit process. Outputs with the ‘in progress’ status (the default status when you create a new output) are editable by you, so we cannot review them. The Repository Team will only ever review outputs and make them public once you have pressed the ‘Send to Library’ button and the status changed to ‘in review’.

If in doubt, watch our short video below for a quick reminder next time you’re uploading something.

September 19, 2018

Q: Why can’t I see all my papers when I log in?

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Q: When I log in to the Research Repository I can only see some of my papers, even when I know there are more on the repository. Why can’t I see all of them?

A: When you log in to the Research Repository you are automatically taken to your ‘Manage deposits’ page, also referred to as your workarea. This is where you add new items to the Research Repository, whether through importing information (e.g. using a DOI) or by adding the item manually (clicking the ‘New Item’ button.) This is also where you can see all the items that you have uploaded to the Research Repository and what their status is (e.g. under review, in the live archive, or retired from the repository.)

The key point is that you can only see the items that you yourself have uploaded. If your co-author uploaded the paper then it will appear in their workarea. If the paper was imported via the PubRouter plugin and uploaded by the Repository team (in which case you will have received an email from the Repository team asking for additional information) then it will appear in the PubRouter workarea.

You can also filter which items you see in your workarea – e.g. if you want to concentrate on the papers that you are still in the process of uploading then you can filter the table to only show those papers.

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Items uploaded by other colleagues can still be linked to your staff profile via the inclusion of your UWE email address, which is how we make one record on the Research Repository appear on multiple staff profiles. It will also appear in repository searches for your name.

May 16, 2018

Q: What counts for the REF policy?

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Q: I know that the policy for REF 2021 requires the accepted manuscript of an item to be uploaded to the Research Repository within three months of the date of acceptance but does this apply to everything that I want to submit?

A: The policy only applies to journal articles and conference papers published in proceedings with an ISSN. These items need to be uploaded to the Research Repository before the deadline.

Other items, such as book chapters, creative works, or monographs, do not need to comply with the policy in order to be eligible for the REF. We still encourage UWE Bristol researchers to add these to the Research Repository and to upload the full text whenever possible. You will need to create a record on the Research Repository in order to add the item to your REF CV in any case.

Journal articles and conference papers which were accepted for publication prior to 01 April 2016 do not need to comply with the policy – this is when the policy came into effect.

April 25, 2018

Q: Are you sure you’re allowed to do this?

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Q: I’ve been asked for the full text of my paper and I don’t know if I want to send it. Are you actually allowed to put the full text on the Research Repository? Doesn’t that go against the publisher’s terms?

A: The repository team checks the archiving requirements of every item before it is made publicly visible on the Research Repository. We have a few different tools for this depending on the item type.

For journals we use the Sherpa-Romeo database which contains the publisher archiving policies of many journals. This shows what version we are allowed to archive, what embargo we need to apply, and if a set statement is required. We check all of these against what you have uploaded and will get back in contact if we have any queries, otherwise we apply the embargo and statement as required by the publisher.

For book chapters we have a document, which librarians from many institutions have contributed to, which contains details and links to publisher policies. We also check that the version you have provided is the one we are allowed to archive.

If the policy is unclear, or the journal is not in the Sherpa-Romeo database, we look for the policy on the publisher’s website. We will also email the publisher if there is no policy or if we require further information.

April 11, 2018

Q: Why are there four of me?!

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Q: There are four records for my name on the Research Repository. Can I combine these?

A: When browsing the Research Repository by author (i.e. using the specific ‘Browse‘ feature in the left-hand sidebar as opposed to searching) you may find your name listed multiple times, with different numbers of publications listed.

This happens because the Research Repository records every different instance of a name as a different person (including different punctuation) – so even though Jane Shepard, J. Shepard, J Shepard and Jane C. Shepard are all the same person, the repository gives them all an individual listing.

If you let the repository team know, we can combine the records under one name. This requires opening each record individually and changing the names in the ‘Creators’ field so that they all match.

To prevent this from happening in the first place, please ensure you always enter your name in one consistent format.

March 28, 2018

Q: I uploaded my paper so why is there no record for it?

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Q: I deposited my paper on the Research Repository but it isn’t showing up – what’s going on?

A: The most likely explanation is that the deposit process was not completed. The final step in depositing the paper is hitting the ‘Deposit Item Now’ button on the Deposit screen:

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Just clicking through to the Deposit screen is not enough – you must click this button.

You can tell when an item has been successfully deposited because the item status will change from ‘User Workarea‘ to ‘Under Review‘. Later, once it has been checked by a repository administrator, it will be moved to the live repository and the status will change to ‘Live Archive‘.

March 14, 2018

Q: Why isn’t my paper appearing on my staff profile?

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Q: My paper is on the Research Repository but doesn’t appear on my profile page. Why?

A: The staff profile system automatically creates a list of your publications from data on the live Research Repository (so items that are in your work area or under review will not appear on your staff profile.) It uses your UWE email address (@uwe.ac.uk) to identify your papers and add them to the list, so there are two steps you need to take when you want to add a publication to your staff profile:

  1. Add it to the Research Repository
  2. In the ‘Creators’ field, add your name AND your UWE email address. Without your email address the system will not pick up your paper – it will be visible on the Research Repository but will not appear on your staff profile.

There is also an option to mark records that you do not want to appear on your staff profile – this is automatically selected as ‘yes’, so do not change the status if you wish the items to appear.

It can also take up to 24 hours after an item is made live on the Research Repository before it will appear on your staff profile.

If your item is still missing, contact the repository team for more information – it might be a simple spelling mistake in the email address.

February 28, 2018

Q: Why isn’t the full text showing?

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Q: I’m sure I uploaded the author’s accepted version of my paper when I deposited it, but the full text isn’t showing – did I not upload it properly?

A: You may not see the full text of your paper immediately if you upload it to the Research Repository. Many journals allow us to archive the author’s accepted version but only after observing an embargo period (the green open access route.) These typically range from 6-24 months depending on the journal and subject. The embargo is typically applied from the date that the article version of record is published online.

Once the version of record is published online, the repository team will apply any required embargo. This will automatically expire at the appropriate time, at which point the full text will be publicly visible and downloadable.

Other reasons that your full text may not be visible: we aren’t permitted to archive the version you uploaded, we are awaiting information from the publisher, or there was no full text uploaded with the record. If you are unsure, contact the repository team and we can check for you.

February 14, 2018

Q: What version should I upload?

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Q: What version of the full text should I upload to the Research Repository?

A: The version we are most frequently permitted to archive is the author’s accepted manuscript (also called AAM, accepted version, or post-print).

Dateofacceptance

This is the version of the text that is accepted by the publisher. For journal articles this is after the article has gone through peer review, and any changes resulting from peer review have been incorporated, but before any publisher formatting is added. This means we cannot use proofs, as they feature publisher formatting (of which the publisher holds the copyright.)

This is the version required to comply with the HEFCE policy, and is the version that most journals allow us to archive anyway. For book chapters this is also the version we are most likely to be able to archive, so if in doubt – upload the accepted version. The repository team will check the publisher requirements and get in touch if a different version is required.

January 31, 2018

Q: Why can’t I edit my record on the repository?

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This is a new series of posts in which we answer some of the frequent questions we receive in the team, which have relatively short, simple answers.

Q: I want to make a change to an item on the Research Repository, but I can’t find an edit function?

A: Once you deposit an item to the Research or Data Repositories you cannot edit the record anymore – it can only be changed by a repository administrator. This is highlighted on the deposit page, the last step in the deposit process. If you know you still want to make changes to a record then do not deposit it at this point! In your repository work area (accessed through the ‘Manage deposits’ link at the top of the page when you log in) you can see the status of any items that you have uploaded.

If the item status is ‘User Workarea‘ then you can still edit this item. Open the record or click the pencil and paper icon next to it to make any changes.

Status

If the item status is ‘Under Review‘ ‘Live Archive‘ or ‘Retired‘ then you cannot edit the item. If there are any changes you wish to make you will need to contact the repository team with the details of the record and the edits that need to be made. The repository team can then update the record for you.