Q1:What is Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

Macquarie University ResearchOnline is Macquarie University's open access digital collection. It is designed to promote globally, preserve locally and provide open access to the research and scholarly output of Macquarie University's staff, students and affiliates. It includes theses from Macquarie University Digital Theses Collection.

Macquarie University ResearchOnline is developed, managed and maintained by the Library's Digital Repository Project team.

Macquarie University's Open Access policy approved by the University Council in August 2008 will apply to all research or scholarly manuscripts in ResearchOnline written while the author is a staff member of Macquarie University, except for: those outputs completed before the adoption of the policy, and those for which the author has entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement.

Q2: Who can contribute to Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

Macquarie University staff, post-graduate students and affiliates are eligible to contribute to Macquarie University ResearchOnline.

Q3: What categories of material are included in Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

• Journal articles
• Conference papers
• Books and book chapters
• Theses - post-graduate research or coursework, and undergraduate theses where deposit is approved by the Dean
• Working papers
• Multimedia, e.g. images, sound files, video files or mixed files
• Creative works
• Patents
• Exibitions and curatorships
• Articles for a journal published by Macquarie University, including where the author is not a Macquarie staff, student or affiliate
• Conference papers for a conference hosted by Macquarie University, including where the author is not a Macquarie staff, student or affiliate
• Other categories of material may be acceptable with the ultimate decision the responsibility of the University Librarian

Other categories will be added as more work is submitted to the collection. If there are queries about other categories of publications, please contact Macquarie University ResearchOnline directly.

Q4: Are Macquarie University's digital theses included in Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

Macquarie University's digital theses are a part of Macquarie University ResearchOnline. They are stored in Macquarie University ResearchOnline's secure digital environment with open access and searching and browsing functions provided from the Macquarie University ResearchOnline website. Theses are harvested by TROVE, National Library of Australia's discovery service, and other major search engines (Google, Google Scholar, etc.)

Q5: Do you want to know more about digital theses?

For more information about digital theses at Macquarie University, and the advanatages in providing a digital thesis, please consult the Digital Thesis FAQs.

Q6: Will all material in Macquarie University ResearchOnline be available in full-text?

Not all material will be available in full-text as some categories of material, such as books, are not available electronically. Initially where possible a link to the publisher version of the material will be included. Where an open access full-text version is available, Library Repository staff will approach the author to see if they are agreeable to archiving a copy into Macquarie University ResearchOnline.

Q7: Can I load research performed before arrival at Macquarie University?

For newly arrived staff, Macquarie University ResearchOnline will archive records for research performed prior to their arrival as long as the author has retained copyright and not given away the rights to archive this research.

Q8: Can my records be removed from ResearchOnline if I leave Macquarie University?

ResearchOnline will retain on a perpetual basis research material deposited by an author, irrespective of whether the author is still a Macquarie staff member. The author can continue to refer to their publications after departure. If an author wished to remove material from ResearchOnline, this would have to be negotiated directly with the University Librarian and a special case argued. If the material is removed, a metadata record indicating the work that was stored in the repository will remain visible in perpetuity.

Q9: Why wouldn't I just post my research on my own web site?

Macquarie University ResearchOnline will permanently retain your research in a secure digital environment and make the records available to Google Scholar, OAlster and other collections of scholarly material. The repository also provides you with a permanent and persistent URL to your submission that you can reliably cite without fear that it will disappear as websites change and new versions of PDF software emerge.

Q10: Can I link to content in ResearchOnline from my own web site?

Yes, you can link to individual records in ResearchOnline from your personal, research centre or school web site. Each of your records carries the following statement: Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/2950 [your record number]. These links are permanent so you can use this identifier to create a link from your website. In addition you can send this identifier as part of the citation to colleagues so they can access the research output.

Q11: Who will check the Copyright conditions relating to my research?

The Library will undertake all checking of the copyright conditions relating to your research. The Copyright Coordinator can advise you on issues relating to intellectual property.

Q12: What content is in or is waiting to be loaded into Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

Macquarie University ResearchOnline gets most of its records from IRIS, the University's Integrated Research Information System which tracks, processes and administers the work and workflows relating to all the aspects of research management in the University. Library Repository staff are currently working on records recently loaded into IRIS.

Q13: How does Macquarie University ResearchOnline use the records from IRIS and from other sources?

For research publications entered into IRIS, the descriptive information is extracted for each record. The Library Repository staff enhance these records with additional information, e.g. keywords, abstracts, links to the published version if this information is not already in the IRIS record. Once the records are loaded into Macquarie University ResearchOnline and depending on the copyright status of each paper, Library Repository staff will approach the authors to see if they are interested in submitting the author's final reviewed version of the paper to Macquarie University ResearchOnline. For other publications not recorded in IRIS (e.g. departmental working papers), with agreement from the relevant department, the details will be downloaded from the departmental websites and then loaded directly into Macquarie University ResearchOnline.

Q14: How will ResearchOnline help me keep my publications organised and accessible?

If your publications are listed in IRIS, these records will be loaded into ResearchOnline. A link to the published version, if available, will be added to the record, which will allow people accessing ResearchOnline to link to the publisher version directly. If they are able to access the publisher version through a subscription, they will be able to access the content directly. Otherwise any relevant access options will be shown. If an open-access copy is archived with ResearchOnline, the research will be available to all users of ResearchOnline

Q15: What happens if my publications are not included in IRIS?

Publications for previous years can be added to IRIS (see IRIS FAQ) therefore once this has been arranged, and you would like your publications added to Macquarie University ResearchOnline, please contact Library Repository staff.

Q16: What are the benefits of contributing to Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

For the author/contributor:

• Publications are stored and preserved in a secure digital environment
• Macquarie University ResearchOnline will be indexed by search tools such as Google Scholar
• Publications are freely available via the internet giving the author's research wide readership and exposure to the global community
• Publication of work in Macquarie University ResearchOnline has the potential to attract research funding and to increase article citation rate and impact
• Authors/Contributors are able to find out how often work is accessed and downloaded.

For the University:

• The reputation of Macquarie University's research profile in the global academic community is promoted by worldwide exposure
• The sharing of ideas within the global academic community is encouraged.

Q17: How do you contribute to Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

See Macquarie University ResearchOnline Contribute for details.

Q18: How do you find out about copyright?

The Macquarie University ResearchOnline Copyright section provides copyright information. See also:

• Macquarie University's Copyright Unit
• Higher Degree Research and Copyright in Thesis
• Macquarie University's Intellectual Property Policy
• Oak Law project's copyright guide for research Students

Q19: Who can access Macquarie University ResearchOnline?

Macquarie University ResearchOnline provides open access to all deposited material therefore it can be accessed and searched freely worldwide via the internet. Its records have been loaded into the ARROW Discovery Service and Google and in future they will appear in Google Scholar and open-access sources.

Q20: How do you find material/publications in Macquarie University ResearchOnline?