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As a researcher at York you are expected to deposit copies of any journal articles you author into the University's research repository (White Rose Research Online).
You will usually deposit and share the "Accepted Manuscript" version of your article. This is the version that has been peer-reviewed by the journal and returned to the author(s) but not yet typeset by the publisher.
A Research Repository is an online platform which enables access to academic research. They may be attached to a particular institution, or they may be independent systems, open to deposits from any researcher in a particular subject area.
Repositories play a role in creating a record of an institution's research output, and also in creating links between different research outputs.
What is an "Accepted Manuscript"?
As part of your publishing agreement with your journal publisher, you are not usually allowed to share the final version of a research article via a repository. The "Final version" is the version that will appear within the journal when it is eventually published.
However, you are allowed to share the "Accepted Manuscript" version of your article. This is the version of the paper that you have sent to the publisher, which has undergone peer-review and been accepted for publication, but has not yet been typeset and edited by the publisher. You may also hear it referred to as a "postprint", "author-accepted version" or simply "accepted version".
Sharing via the White Rose Research Repository (WRRO)For staff at York, depositing research to the institutional repository is the quickest way to enjoy the benefits of open access. This is known as "Green" open access.
White Rose Research Online (WRRO) is the main institutional repository for staff and students at York. WRRO is a shared service for the Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield and is collaboratively managed by the three institutions. It is one of the largest research repositories in the UK, and a prominent example of cross-institutional collaboration.
WRRO is an open access repository and deposited outputs can be downloaded and viewed by anyone with an internet connection.
By depositing the accepted manuscript of your journal articles into WRRO you can fulfil most funder open access requirements. The University's Research Publications policy means you have the right to deposit any accepted manuscript and make this openly available when the final version is published by the journal.
As a Postgraduate researcher, you may interact with repositories in various ways. The University has a mandate to both store and safeguard its research, and to share it with the wider public.
Postgraduates may not have the same familiarity with these processes as more senior staff members, but PGRs are encouraged to engage with them wherever possible, and full support is available. At York, some of the ways you may interact with repositories include:
What is "Green" Open Access?Using a repository allows you to take advantage of "Green" open access. "Green" open access simply means that the research is made openly available via the repository, rather than being openly available within a journal.
In the "Green" route, the article will still be published within a journal, but the final version will be behind a paywall and only available to subscribers. You will instead share an earlier version of the research (known as the "accepted manuscript") via the repository, so that it is openly available when the final version is published.
A repository is a great way to ensure that other researchers can find out about, and gain access to, your previous research. A well-equipped repository can help advertise you to potential collaborators, and show the development of your research focus over time.
Share your research with more audiences (and for free).Depositing a journal article to a research repository is a well-established route to making the work openly available. Most research-intensive universities in the UK are able to share the Accepted Manuscript of journal articles produced by their researchers immediately at the point that the article is published by the journal. Sharing via a repository also has the major advantage of being free-of-charge, meaning that the researcher does not have to secure a funder or institutional grant to pay an open access fee.
Ensure your research is REF-ready (and funder-compliant).When you deposit a copy of an article into an institutional repository, library staff will be able to check the record and ensure that it is made openly available in a way that meets any requirements from your research funder(s). They will also be able to check that the research has been made openly available in line with REF eligibility criteria.
Make your research easier to find.Research outputs deposited into repositories are indexed by search engines including Google Scholar meaning that students and fellow researchers have more chance to find your research and White Rose Research Online is one of the most visited research repositories in the UK