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Open Access at Northumbria University

Self-archiving and repositories

Depositing the accepted manuscript of your published research into a repository enables you to make your research available openly. This is an important element of many Open Access policies, and is often referred to as green OA, or self-archiving.

 

Which repositories are available at Northumbria?

 

Northumbria Research Link (NRL) was retired at the end of 2024. All research outputs deposited to NRL will now be available in Pure.

Pure is the central source of data about research outputs at Northumbria University, so depositing details of your work in Pure informs other systems at the University about your activity without the need to duplicate information. Information on depositing to Pure is available on the staff intranet.

 

Which version should I deposit?

 

You should deposit your accepted author manuscript. This is the final author-generated version of the paper that exists prior to the publisher applying typesetting and formatting to the paper, and it typically includes all changes suggested following peer review and communications with the editor. It is often a simple text file.

 

When should I deposit my accepted manuscript?

 

For new publications, due to the Open Access requirements of REF2021, you should upload the manuscript as soon as possible after receiving notification of acceptance from the journal. If you are not the corresponding author, you may need to request the accepted manuscript from a co-author. 

It is possible to add an accepted manuscript at any time, even if a paper has already been published. This can retrospectively enable Open Access to your research. 

 

Can my accepted manuscript be shared immediately?

 

In some cases it will be possible to immediately share the accepted manuscript, however many publishers require you to temporarily restrict access to the manuscript. This is known as an embargo. Embargoes vary in length, and can be applied to the file once it has been deposited - you should not wait to deposit the manuscript just because an embargo will apply. You can check how long an embargo a journal requires by checking their webpage, or using resources like Sherpa Romeo.