Handling Embargoes
Some of the items to be submitted to the repository may be subject to an embargo which states that the material within the item may not be publicly distributed for a certain period of time. In the case of published items, embargoes may be put in place by the publisher to protect their commercial interest. In the case of theses or dissertations an embargo may be set by the institution as the work contains sensitive material; or by the student as he or she is looking to publish some or all of the work in the near future. It is important to work out what position to take on embargoes and to have strategies to deal with them in place at an early stage; the imposing of an embargo can come at a crucial stage of the academic community's engagement with the repository and there is a need to have a simple and clear path to take when this scenario presents itself.
Storing embargoed full-texts and alerting systems
Where an academic is keen to deposit his or her text (although it is found to be subject to a publisher's embargo); it may be preferable to create an item record within the repository and accept the full-text at the first offering, rather than going back to the academic at the end of the embargo period. This is consistent with advocacy efforts to show deposit is important, and it captures the academic's involvement at a relevant point in their workflow. Another example would be in an institution where an e-submission and repository distribution mandate is in place for theses and dissertations. An electronic copy of the work will be sent to repository staff despite any embargoes it may be subject to. In such situations a system needs to be put in place for repository staff to be able to store the full-text item for the embargo period; and then to be alerted as to when the embargo has finished and the item can be included within the repository.
The mechanism for how repository staff will store the embargoed full-text and how they will be alerted to the end of an embargo period will depend on the individual software and local set-up. Some repository software has embargo alerting systems in place allowing repository staff to add an embargo end date to an item on creation; sending an alert to the repository administrator once the embargo period is complete. Up until that point the item was stored in the repository but under restricted access. Once the repository administrator has received the alert the access permissions on the item can be altered. Other software systems do not offer an alerting system but do allow the full-text of an item to be subject to restricted access, only displaying the item metadata to the public. If a reminder is then set on a separate electronic diary system, for example, the repository administrator can then remove the access restrictions after the appropriate date. Some repository administrators may choose not to use the repository to store the full-text at all and other methods and systems can be used depending on local resources.
Alternative access to a full-text item
If a metadata only record for an embargoed item is included within a repository, it may be appropriate to include the item's Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or a URL to the publisher's website where a copy of the full-text is available. This is sometimes a condition a publisher sets to allow an item to be included within a repository and it will enable those users who have subscription access to the journal to view the full-text during the embargo period.
Another strategy that can be adopted within some repository software as a holding measure for embargoed item full-texts is to make use of an item request button. This is a button placed in the metadata record when an embargo is in place which allows the user to contact the author of that paper and request a one-off copy via e-mail or in hard copy. The sharing of research in this manner does not break copyright law (or at least offers a defence of 'custom and practice') and it is a well established practice in most academic communities, pre-dating the arrival of online distribution systems. This does mean that a user searching for an embargoed item is initially denied access to the full-text but does have a chance, at least, of obtaining the full-text subject to a delay by approaching the author direct.
Funder mandates vs embargoes
For more information regarding individual funding council mandates please see SHERPA-JULIET.
Increasingly, funding councils are requiring that the outcomes of the research that they fund are made publicly available at the earliest possible date. Conditions of funding state that one of the methods that can be utilised to do this is to deposit the research within an open access archive such as a repository. However, instances may occur where an academic's research council mandate contradicts the embargo put in place by the publisher. Although publishers may be contacted on an individual basis to request the inclusion of papers, it is the publisher's embargo which is usually upheld.
