LJMU Research Archive Frequently Asked Questions
What is the LJMU Research Archive?
Why should one self-archive?
How easy is it for me to add papers to the archive?
What can I upload to the archive?
I put my published papers on my own/departmental website, so why should I deposit them in the LJMU archive?
Who can access the articles in the archive?
How will people find my article?
Is this a secure service?
The LJMU Research Archive is an open access digital collection of research created by LJMU researchers. Many Universities now make their research outputs available in this way. The Research Archive provides secure, permanent storage of academic research output, making it visible and available to the academic community and anyone who is interested in research findings worldwide.
There is accumulating evidence that shows that research articles that have been self-archived are cited more often than those that have not. Across most subject areas there is at least a twofold increase in citation rate. In some subject areas it is even higher. This form of Open Access means that research has much more impact than before. Moreover, the research cycle – where work is published, read, cited and then built upon by other researchers – is enhanced and accelerated when results are available on an Open Access basis.
How easy is it for me to add papers to the archive?
There is a deposit guide to help you through this process. You need to register as a depositor before adding any articles. Once you have registered, choose "Deposit an item" from the left hand menu, you are guided through a series of input screens - please see the How to Deposit Guide for further assistance.
Please note, your article does not go "live" until it is has been submitted to the archive's "buffer" for approval where it will be viewed, amended if necessary (e.g. if any typing errors are spotted) and uploaded to the archive.
What can I upload to the archive?
You can upload papers that have:
- Been published whilst working for LJMU.
- Copyright clearance (see Copyright FAQs).
What’s the relationship between my personal web site and the papers in the archive?
If you already have links to full-text articles from your own web page, you should also upload the papers to the archive. Some of the advantages in doing this are:
- Your paper may become more visible through internet search engines such as Google - hits on the archive are likely to be placed higher up the list of search results than a link from your personal web page, thus making your research more visible to the outside world
- Your paper can be retrieved through specialist search services (see How will people find my article)
- The archive takes over the responsibility for preserving your article (for a minimum of 10 years) and will continue to maintain your article should you move institution.
- First, your paper will be much easier for others to find if it is in an archive using general search engines, such as Google, and academic search engines, such as Google Scholar and OAIster.
- Second, the LJMU archive offers services you might otherwise find difficult or time consuming to access. For example, archiving and curation (digital preservation).
- Third, the information held in the LJMU archive can be mined for a variety of purposes, for example, for statistics to feed into the Research Assessment Exercise.
Who can access the articles in the archive?
Anyone with access to the internet; there are no other restrictions.
How will people find my article?
There are a number of potential routes:
- By searching the archive.
- Through specialist search services that harvest OAI-PMH compliant databases (e.g. OAIster from University of Michigan) through conventional search services, such as Google and Yahoo!
- Through a link from your own web page.
Normal security provisions are in place. The archive is backed up each night.
