• Section 1 - Purpose and Scope
• Section 2 - Definitions
• Section 3 - Policy Statement
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Section 5 - Guidelines

Section 1 - Purpose and Scope

(1) The purpose of this Policy is to enhance the research profile of Southern Cross University by establishing open access to scholarly outputs of University Staff and Students via the institutional repository; ePublications@SCU. It supports Australian Government initiatives and mandates that advocate the improvement of access to publicly funded scholarly information without economic restriction via institutional repositories.

Scope

(2) This Policy applies to the research outputs of all University staff and students including emeritus and adjunct professors.

Section 2 - Definitions

(3) For the purposes of this Policy:

1. ePublications@SCU
   1. is the institutional repository of Southern Cross University;
2. Open Access
   1. means permanent, free online access to research and scholarly publications through a central repository on the public internet; and
3. Post-print
   1. means the manuscript version of a work (article/paper), accepted for publication, following peer review and revision. The post-print need not include the publisher formatting and layout. This should be the author's final version.

Section 3 - Policy Statement

(4) The University Library will make all Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) and Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) eligible research outputs available on open access via the institutional repository wherever copyright, intellectual property and publisher agreements permit.

(5) Where copyright, intellectual property and publisher agreements do not permit research outputs to be made available on open access, the University Library will create a metadata only record for the research output. The metadata only record will:

1. identify the owner of the research output; and
2. provide contact details and a link to the published version where possible.

Section 4 - Procedures

(6) Any published research outputs of University Staff or Students eligible for inclusion in HERDC or ERA must be submitted to the institutional repository via the Office of Research Publications submission forms.

(7) All research outputs from Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded research where the SCU researcher is the primary investigator must be deposited in the institutional repository as per the ARC and NHMRC open access mandates.

(8) Publications metadata for all submissions will be entered into the repository and the post-print made available on open access in the institutional repository subject to publisher conditions.

(9) Any higher degrees research theses must be submitted to the institutional repository for inclusion on world-wide open access subject to the relevant Specific Award Rules.

(10) The institutional repository may also host non-refereed literature, including but not limited to:

1. creative works;
2. conference papers;
3. presentations;
4. research reports;
5. working papers;
6. technical reports;
7. metadata of research data; and
8. other data in formats as required and acceptable to the Team Leader, Copyright and Scholarly Publication Services.

(11) Works may be excluded from the repository if:

1. the author plans to commercialise the work;
2. the author of a thesis has applied for restricted access to apply as per the University Specific Award Rules;
3. the author has entered into a contract that does not permit deposit;
4. the work contains confidential information;
5. the work does not respect cultural sensitivities;
6. the work is defamatory, misleading or deceptive; or
7. the work breaches copyright or intellectual property rights of any third party.

Roles and Responsibilities

(12) Staff and students submitting publications via DoR to ePublications@SCU must:

1. provide research output metadata within one year of publication;
2. supply a post print with their submission or when requested by ePublications staff;
3. ensure that ARC and NHMRC grant ID numbers are included with their submission/s;
4. ensure that a post print is supplied for all ARC and NHMRC funded research outputs; and
5. negotiate copyright permission with publishers, if needed, to ensure that post prints can be deposited into ePublications@SCU.

(13) University Library staff must:

1. ensure copyright compliance;
2. provide advice on retaining copyright;
3. provide advice on what constitutes a post-print;
4. ensure submissions are deposited into ePublications@SCU;
5. provide a platform that complies with ARC and NHMRC requirements; and
6. maintain a non-exclusive right to host the research outputs of Southern Cross University staff and students.

Section 5 - Guidelines

(14) Nil