FAQ
Who operates the UNT Scholarly Works repository?
UNT Scholarly Works is hosted in the UNT Digital Library and operated by the UNT Libraries. For more information about UNT Scholarly Works, see our webpage or contact us.
What scholarly works are covered by the UNT Open Access Policy?
The UNT Open Access Policy has two goals. For long-term stewardship of all scholarly work created by UNT Community Members, they are encouraged to deposit their works in the UNT Scholarly Works institutional repository. A subset of those scholarly works, namely, the peer-reviewed, accepted-for-publication (post-peer review, pre-typeset) journal articles, is covered by the policy with the requirement of immediate deposit and the setting of the access level to Open Access upon deposit. However, the access level and the granting of the license to UNT by the author will be aligned with the publishers' policies. Further, the author can request, for an individual article, a waiver from granting the license, and the author can request a more restricted access level than what is allowed by a publishers' policy.
What is the process for depositing my materials in the UNT Scholarly Works repository?
The most common way is for UNT Community Members to email their materials to: untrepository@unt.edu. For more options, see the Submissions page about UNT Scholarly Works.
What does the term Open Access mean?
"Open Access" is a term commonly used for a movement that promotes free availability and unrestricted use of research and scholarship. Open Access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge to the reader, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions, so there are no price barriers and no permission barriers.
My discipline already has a practice of publishing preprints in Open Access, disciplinary repositories (e.g., arXiv). Do we need to do anything differently because of the UNT Open Access Policy?
No. The UNT Open Access Policy refers to the accepted manuscripts and versions of record (see Policy for full definitions). Faculty members may continue to publish their preprints as they have been doing. There is no requirement for duplicate submissions of preprints in the UNT Scholarly Works repository, but faculty members are encouraged to deposit their preprints at UNT if they desire.
How does the UNT Open Access Policy affect my current publishing practices?
Authors continue to prepare articles for publication in the same way they always have. The choice of journals in which to publish is left entirely to the authors. The UNT Open Access Policy fosters publishing by encouraging scholars to also deposit their peer-reviewed, accepted for publication, journal articles into our UNT Scholarly Works repository, which increases the value and impact of the research and provides wider dissemination.
How does Open Access benefit our UNT Community Members?
Open Access increases the visibility and impact of an authors' work, and allows for wider dissemination to colleagues and the greater academic community. Studies have shown increased citations for articles that are available through Open Access instead of those only available through subscriptions. Our UNT Scholarly Works repository also provides viewable statistics, which can give UNT Community Members an additional measure of the impact of their work.
How can I check to see if my journal allows public, Open Access to their articles?
RoMEO, part of the SHERPA Services Project, maintains a searchable database that tracks publisher copyright and self-archiving policies. RoMEO is a searchable database available to anyone, including UNT Community Members, and can be searched by Journal titles or publisher names to find the specific policies related to Open Access. In addition, you can contact the UNT Scholarly Works repository directly for information on a particular article, journal, or publisher.
Does UNT have a policy on Open Access?
Yes. The University of North Texas (UNT) was the first public institution in the state of Texas to implement a policy in support of Open Access. After the UNT Faculty Senate voted overwhelmingly to support the policy on March 9, 2011, the policy, “Open Access, Self-Archiving, and Long-term Digital Stewardship for University of North Texas Scholarly Works“, was approved by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs on February 1, 2012. For more information, please see the Policy page.
Does the UNT Open Access Policy affect my copyright or current practices of the publisher?
No. The journal publisher's existing policies regarding copyright and copyright transfer are not affected by the UNT Open Access Policy.
Can I deposit a draft of my publication and meet the UNT Open Access Policy requirement?
To ensure the highest quality of content in the UNT Scholarly Works repository, the policy identifies for peer-reviewed, accepted-for-publication journal articles that an author deposits the "accepted manuscript" (i.e., version of record) if allowed by the publisher's policy. It is that version that is specified under the Policy. For any other scholarly works that a UNT Community Member wishes to deposit in our repository, the Policy notes that the author determines what constitutes the "final version" that is deposited.
Can authors be subject to liability by including their materials in our Open Access UNT Scholarly Works repository?
The UNT Scholarly Works repository follows strict guidelines, in accordance with statements in the UNT Open Access Policy, to ensure that the publishers' policies related to the extent of Open Access and self-archiving are followed. The guidelines make available only the version of work that is allowed by the publishers' policies (e.g., version submitted for publication, accepted manuscript, or final version).