Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Coast Research Database?

The Coast Research Database provides an open access showcase of the University of the Sunshine Coast's scholarly research output.
The purpose of the Coast Research Database is to showcase and make accessible the research output of the University to local, national and international communities. This will maximise impact for individual USC researchers and highlight the overall research profile of the University.

 

Who can access the Coast Research Database?

The Coast Research Database is an open access repository. The records of the Coast Research Database contents are available on the web to be searched by anyone using the Internet.
Where permitted, a link to the full-text publication or to the research output is available for viewing and download.

 

Who can deposit research in Coast Research Database?

At least one author of the research should be affiliated with the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Authorised contributors include:

  • USC Teaching and Research Staff (including adjunct staff)
  • USC Students
  • USC Administrative, Professional and Technical Staff

To deposit your research, please contact Coast Research Database staff.

 

What can be included in Coast Research Database?

  • Material to be included in the collection:
    • DEST reportable publications produced by University staff
    • Journal articles
    • Conference papers
    • Book chapters
    • Theses accepted for graduate or honours degrees
    • Reports - technical or project
    • Datasets
    • Images
    • Documentation of creative works
    • Working papers - reviewed
    • Discussion papers - reviewed
  • Material to be excluded from the collection:
    • Material intended for commercialisation (a citation may be added to the repository with details of who to contact for access to the full-text document)
    • Materials which contain confidential content (a citation may be added to the repository with details of who to contact for access to the full-text document)
    • Teaching materials
    • Administrative materials
    • Materials which, if disseminated by the repository would infringe a legal obligation of the University and/or the author/s or the legal rights of the third party (a citation may be added to the repository with details of who to contact for access to the full-text document)

 

What are the benefits for including research in Coast Research Database?

  • For Researchers:
    • Increased exposure of research

      • Coast Research Database will increase the exposure of your research by making it accessible worldwide via the Internet.

    • Maximised impact of research

      • Research deposited in Coast Research Database will experience maximised impact, which can lead to increased citation rates.

    • Indexed by search engines (e.g. Google)

      • Research deposited in the Coast Research Database will be preferentially indexed by search engines such as Google. This will result in high rankings of your research in search engine results.

    • A central store for research

      • Coast Research Database will provide you with a central, searchable store for your research. This will enable you to easily keep track of your full-text research, assist you in keeping your resume updated, and provide easy access to your full-text research portfolio for colleagues and students.

    • Facilitation of research collaboration

      • Coast Research Database facilitates collaboration by making it easy for researchers to share copies of their work with other researchers in the field.

    • Preservation of research

      • Coast Research Database will ensure your research is securely preserved long term.

  • For the University:
    • Highlighted research profile

      • Coast Research Database will highlight the research profile of the University by providing a consolidated centralised showcase of the university's research output (in full-text).

    • Research Quality Framework (RQF) support

      • With advice from the University of the Sunshine Coast Office of Research, Coast Research Database will provide support in meeting Research Quality Framework requirements.

 

Do other Universities have similar Institutional Research Repositories?

 

How does Coast Research Database fit into the current Scholarly Publishing process?

Coast Research Database is complementary to traditional academic publishing processes - not a replacement.

USC researchers continue to submit their research in peer-reviewed scholarly journals for publication, however, where possible, also deposit a copy of their published research in the Coast Research Database.

 

What do I do about copyright?

Copyright ownership does not change hands when you place material in the repository and so will be continue to be retained either by the author/s or the publisher. We are not asking you, nor would we want to encourage you, to transfer copyright to the repository.

However we need to ensure the Library/Repository has the right to make your work available online and to do what is necessary with it to keep it accessible, such as migrate it to updated formats as that becomes necessary. Repository staff will not make material publicly available until we are confident we have authorisation to do so. One of our jobs is to work with you to get it right. See Copyright page and OAK Law Project for further information.

 

Doesn't the publisher own the copyright in my published works?

Some publishers, such as Elsevier and Springer, allow authors to deposit the pre-publication version of their article into a repository. Alternatively, we may be able to link to the published version on the publisher's website. The 'Sherpa' project provides a searchable database of publisher policies regarding repositories and is a good starting point. For conferences, it is best to contact the publisher of the conference proceedings directly.

Repository staff can help you determine what your rights are and assist you to get the necessary clearance to put your paper into the repository.

One of the following will need to apply before you can deposit the work into the repository:

  1. you as the author retain copyright ownership OR
  2. you have transferred your copyright ownership to the publisher however you have retained the right to deposit a version of your work into an institutional repository OR
  3. permission to deposit has subsequently been granted by the publisher.

 

What version of my research can I deposit?

This may depend on what the publisher allows. Publishers sometimes permit the last pre-publication version i.e. the text you send to the publisher, to be included in the repository, but it is always best to double check your publisher's agreement. What you can't do is take the final published version - with all the formatting from the electronic version of a journal, and put that version in the repository - unless of course the publisher has authorised this.

 

What's the difference between preprint and postprint?

A preprint is generally your final text of an article before it goes to a journal for peer review and publication. Once it has gone through the editorial and peer review process, but before proofreading and typesetting, it is known as a postprint. It is preferable to deposit a postprint into the repository, if your publisher allows this.

 

What should I do to ensure that my future publications can be put into the repository?

It's a good idea to check the conditions of a publisher's contract before you sign it. Several websites including http://www.arl.org/sparc/author/ and http://sciencecommons.org/ can help you with wording to add to the contract, allowing you to put your work into a repository, rather than assigning it in full to the publisher. Publishers are encountering this more often as repositories take off around the world. Alternatively, talk to your repository administrator. It may be that we have already come to an institutional agreement with your publisher for repository submission.

 

Can I control who sees my work in the repository?

As a general rule we would prefer that material going into the repository be available without restrictions. However if there are good reasons to restrict access your repository administrator can set this up.

 

What if I revise a paper I've put in the repository? Can I add the new version, or replace the old with the new?

The repository is meant for finished material, not works in progress. However, we know there are times when revisions are needed and we are happy to make sure the most up-to-date version of your work is available in the repository.

 

What if I want to remove something I put in the repository?

Your repository administrator will do this for you upon request.

 

Who can I contact with queries?

For further information please contact Coast Research Database staff.


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