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National University Institutional Repository

This guide is designed to provide you with an overview of the IR, how to use it for your research, how to submit your own work to it, and how to get in touch with the library with questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I submit my work to the NU Institutional Repository (IR)? 

The NU Institutional Repository allows our university to collect, store, and showcase scholarly and creative works, as well as make them accessible to the world.

Benefits of submitting your work include:

  • Results of your research collected in one place
  • Increased potential for your publications to be cited by others
  • Wider dissemination (not limited to journal subscribers)
  • Ability to upload associated content (datasets, video/audio files, etc.)
  • Satisfactory for many grant requirements that stipulate researchers must publicly disseminate the results of grant-generated research
  • Long-term preservation, accessible from any computer at any location
  • Easier discovery in common internet search engines (such as Google)
  • Optional levels of access, compliant with your publishing agreements
  • Easy to view, download, and navigate
  • Permanent links to your work 
  • Statistical tracking
  • Simple submission process
  • Expert assistance finding publisher licenses 

Who can add items to the NU Institutional Repository?

Currently, the IR is accepting submissions from faculty and staff of National University for all scholarly work. National University students and alumni may submit master's theses & doctoral dissertations completed at National University, Northcentral University, and John F. Kennedy School of Law.

Will my publisher allow me to submit my manuscript to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes. Publications must be designated as either

  • open access (freely available to view worldwide) or
  • restricted (unavailable for full text view). 

If you are unsure whether your publisher will allow you to submit to the Open Collection, you can check your permissions in one of three ways:

  1. Do-it-yourself - Use our guidelines to check your publication agreement and verify the terms of your license. 
  2. Schedule a 1-1 copyright consultation - Meet with Danielle Steinhart our internal copyright expert, to review your license terms. 
  3. Ask us to check - Go ahead and submit your work to the repository, and select "I'm not sure - Can you help me?" under the Access question. Our team will review your publisher's standard licenses and follow up with you by email.

Can I submit an accepted manuscript to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes, you may submit the accepted manuscript for deposit in the repository if the publisher allows it.

Send us a PDF copy of your final manuscript version as you submitted it- you should include revisions made through the peer/editorial review process (if applicable) but should not include publisher branding or final editing. 


Can I submit a pre-print to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes, you may submit a pre-print (submited) version of a publication for deposit in the repository if the publisher allows it.

Send us a PDF copy of your submitted draft - you should NOT include revisions made through the peer & editorial review process, nor include publisher branding or final editing. 


Can I submit embargoed content to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes, you may submit your manuscript for deposit in the repository, even if it's under an embargo (a period of time post-publication that you must wait before the publisher allows it to be publicly shared in our repository). 

You must note the embargo when you submit your manuscript. 


Can I submit posters or presentations from conferences to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes, faculty & staff may submit your research dataset for deposit in the repository.


Can I submit student dissertations & theses to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes, we welcome current students and alumni to submit their thesis or dissertation to our NU Masters and Dissertations (Open Access).  Please use the Thesis & Dissertation Deposit Form.  Note that we cannot accept theses or dissertations completed at another institution. 


Can I submit datasets to the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes, the NU Institutional Repository includes content from a growing number of faculty and student research conferences and symposia. If you would like to include your poster or presentation, please use this form. 


What formats can you accept in the NU Institutional Repository?

The IR can accept multiple formats for all digital works. We prefer to accept PDFs for written works. Please contact us if you have a question about the format of your work. 


What is the "Scholarly Work (Restricted)" collection in the NU Institutional Repository? 

The full text/file of items in our restricted collections will NOT be available to the public, only the description. 

You should only submit to our restricted collection if you are unable to submit either:

  1. any version of your manuscript to our open collection, or
  2. any version that you are comfortable with to our open collection. For example, you may be allowed to submit your pre-print, but you may not be comfortable with that version being public.

In those cases, please instead submit your most complete (published or accepted) version of your manuscript to our restricted repository.

Why submit to our restricted collection at all, then? You may wish to do so if you want a record of your publication available in the same location (i.e. the NU Institutional Repository) as your other scholarly work (in our open collection). 

 


Can I track the impact of my work in the NU Institutional Repository?

Yes! Simply open your item in the repository, click on the "full item page" button, and then the "show statistical information" button.


Can I deposit my publications in the NU Institutional Repository myself?

We need to review all publications to make sure they meet our guidelines for inclusion in the repository, so please submit your work via the following forms: