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Scholarly Communications

This guide is a resource for researchers and authors interested in author rights, research impact, publishing, institutional repositories, and open access publishing.

What is Self-Archiving?

Self-archiving is when an author deposits a copy of their publication in a repository or hosts it on a website to preserve the publication long-term and provide free, public access. An author engages in self-archiving when they add PDF to their personal website or an institutional or subject repository. Every journal and publisher has different policies on what can be self-archived and which versions of research can be shared online.

Before uploading a PDF online, authors should consider:

  • Did you retain your rights to post a copy of the work where ever you wanted? Review your author agreement to see if there are any sharing restrictions of the published verison.
  • Uh oh, you signed away your copyright. What's next? Follow the restrictions outlined in your publisher's agreement. Some agreements state you can share the pre-print (the unedited manuscript) or the post-print (the peer-reviewed manuscript) in a repository or personal website, but not the published version. 
  • Is your work published under a Creative Commons (CC) License? If so, follow the stipulations of the specific CC License for posting and sharing.

Adapted from Krajecki, Lisa. “Scholarly Publishing: Self-Archiving.” Tennessee State University Libraries & Media Center. 

Versions of Work

Save the different versions of your work! By keeping and storing the different versions of your work, you will be able to easily post the version allowed by your publishing agreement.

Pre-Print
A pre-print is the version of your work that you first submitted to the publication prior to peer review. The pre-print is unedited and has not been corrected.

Post-Print
A post-print is the version of your work that has been peer-reviewed, and the corrections have been made and accepted for publication. However, the post-print does not have the publisher's branding, editing, and typesetting.

Version of Record/Published Version
This is the final published version of your work with the publisher's branding and formatting. This is the version you will find in the journal, book, or database.

Self-Archiving @ LMU

LMU faculty have the option to use Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School to self-archive publications completed during their employment at LMU. If you choose to use Digital Commons, the Scholarly Communications team will review your CV and each journal's policies to determine which version of your work can be archived. Learn more about Digital Commons policies and procedures. 

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