Repository Policies

Metadata Policy

for information describing items in the repository

1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
2. The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes provided the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given.
3. The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission.

Data Policy

for full-text and other full data items

1. Anyone may access full items free of charge.
2. Copies of full items generally can be:
   • displayed or performed
   • for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.
   provided:
   • the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given
   • a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page
   • the original copyright statement is given
   • the original rights permission statement is given
   • the content is not changed in any way

Content Policy

for types of document & data set held

1. This is an institutional or departmental repository.
2. IRep holds all types of materials.
3. Deposited items may include:
   • working drafts
   • submitted versions (as sent to journals for peer-review)
   • accepted versions (author's final peer-reviewed drafts)
   • published versions (publisher-created files)
4. Items are individually tagged with their publication status.
5. Principal Languages: English

Submission Policy

concerning depositors, quality & copyright

1. Items may only be deposited by accredited members of the organisation, or their delegated agents.
2. Eligible depositors must deposit bibliographic metadata for all their publications.
3. Eligible depositors must deposit full texts of all their publications, although they may delay making them publicly visible to comply with publishers' embargos.
4. The administrator only vets items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, and relevance to the scope of IRep
5. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
6. Items can be deposited at any time, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired.
7. Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.
8. If IRep receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed immediately.

Preservation Policy

1. Items will be retained indefinitely.
2. IRep will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
3. IRep regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
4. The original bit stream is retained for all items, in addition to any upgraded formats.
5. Items may not normally be removed from IRep.
6. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
   • Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
   • Legal requirements and proven violations
   • National Security
   • Falsified research
7. Withdrawn items are not deleted per se, but are removed from public view.
8. Withdrawn items' identifiers/URLs are retained indefinitely.
9. URLs will continue to point to 'tombstone' citations, to avoid broken links and to retain item histories.
10. Changes to deposited items are not permitted.
11. Errata and corrigenda lists may be included with the original record if required.
12. If necessary, an updated version may be deposited.
13. In the event of IRep being closed down, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive.