eGrove is an open access platform, and its content can be viewed by the public worldwide. Authors must understand whether the terms and conditions in their copyright publication agreement or license agreement with the publisher allow for their material to be added to an institutional repository.
Items in eGrove are assigned persistent URLs to ensure continuing access and security. These URLs do not change and can be used whenever a work is cited.
Works under embargo or copyright will be restricted until the embargo or copyright expires. Metadata for these works (title, author, abstract, etc.) is still visible to all users.
A "Supplementary Material Only" restriction can be set if your work is under copyright but is accompanied by supplementary material that you wish or are required to make openly accessible. The metadata for your primary work will be available, but only the supplementary material is included in the repository. This can include files such as data, images, and videos that contributed to your copyrighted work. This restriction can be used to satisfy a grant’s open data requirement. See an example here.
For more information, read the Copyright and Embargoes sections. If your work requires restriction, or if the restrictions in place need modification, contact egrove@olemiss.edu.
The most widely accepted definition of open access comes from Peter Suber:
"Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions."
Suber's book on open access, conveniently titled Open Access, examines the topic in more detail and is available digitally and free of charge online:
Open access helps make the results of academic research available to those who do not have the resources to pay hefty costs to access research articles, books, and more through traditional venues such as academic libraries and journal subscriptions.
This information is credited to the Open Access LibGuide by Jason Burton. For more details on open access, read the LibGuide here.
Institutional repositories are:
“…widely used as a mechanism for making scholarly works freely accessible on the web ... This can include article pre-prints and manuscripts, technical reports, conference proceedings, data sets, and software, as well as theses and dissertations …They are further useful in helping researchers comply with funder mandates on the accessibility of research data. Libraries are also instrumental in creating repositories for the purpose of digitizing, preserving, and showcasing cultural heritage collections.”
Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). “Repositories – An Overview.” Scholarly Communication Toolkit
eGrove supports open access to the scholarly output of the University of Mississippi by making submitted materials searchable and free to the public.
Consult the Article Considerations page for details about determining whether your work is open access.
