SUNY Open Access Repository (SOAR)

Am I required to deposit my work in SOAR?

Students: depending on the school and program, students may be required to submit theses and dissertations to SOAR. Please reach out to your department chair or advisor to learn more.

Faculty and staff are not required to deposit their works. However, it is highly encouraged (especially if an article on the publisher's website is not open access), and we make it as easy as possible. 

What are the benefits to putting articles in SOAR?

• Increased discoverability of works by Google and Google Scholar
• Remove paywall barriers to your research without paying APCs (for articles without a funder OA requirement)
• Increased citation rates
• Persistent links to works
• Usage statistics, including Altmetric visualizations

What works may be deposited in SOAR?

Peer-reviewed, scholarly works including articles, theses, and dissertations may be submitted. Please contact us at libsuppt@upstate.edu if you have questions about other scholarly works.

Do I need to provide you with the version of the manuscript to be deposited?

For articles, yes. You may submit a PDF of the version needed in the article submission form. If you do not know which version to submit, see below for more detail.

How do I know which version of the article may be deposited into SOAR?

If you follow the publisher's policies or guidelines, you will know which version may be legally deposited.  You can find a summary of publishers' policies in the Jisc open policy finder.  Look for the pathway that includes "institutional repository", like the one below:

This indicates that you may deposit the accepted version into SOAR with a 12 month embargo, or deposit the submitted version with no embargo.  

What about the Conditions indicated in the Jisc record?

If a publisher requires a link to the published version, a DOI citation, etc., we will ensure that these conditions are met when the article is placed in the repository.

Can you please just let me know what version may be deposited into the IR for me?

Sure!  Enter the citation information into the article submission form and choose "No" to the question, "Do you know which version of the work the journal or publisher allows be self-archived in an institutional repository?"  We will then look it up and let you know by email.

Will I be violating copyright or the licensing agreement with the publisher?

As long as you follow the publisher's policies or guidelines, you will know which version may be legally deposited.  You can find a summary of publishers' policies in the Jisc open policy finder. Learn more in the "Articles: Which version do I submit?" section of this FAQ.

Will I be giving up the copyright to my work when it is deposited in SOAR?

No, you retain the copyright for the version deposited in the repository.  

Do I need to ask co-authors at other institutions for permission to submit an article to SOAR?

No. Any author may grant permission to copy and distribute their work, but it is a best practice to discuss it with co-authors in advance of putting an article in the repository.

May I place an embargo on a work submitted to SOAR, even if the publisher does not require it?

Yes. You will find a place to enter an embargo end date in the article submission form.

If a work has an embargo, is the metadata visible?

Yes.  The article metadata (title, author, subject keywords, abstract, etc.) are still searchable through Google, and the record will open in SOAR, but the full text cannot be downloaded until the embargo expires.

If you and your advisor agree that redactions are needed on specific pieces of metadata, email libsuppt@upstate.edu after completing the submission form.

Will the embargo automatically expire?

Yes. SOAR will remove the embargo on the date chosen when the article is submitted.

Are works in SOAR accessible?

Legacy content may have accessibility limitations, but we are working with other departments to make incoming submissions as accessible as possible. Specifically, our theses and dissertations submission guidelines prompt contributors to:

-title their document

-set the document language to English

-use headings and structural tags

-create alt text for images and figures

-format clear tables with headers

-use bullet or number formatting for lists

-use colors with adequate contrast to their background

How can I make sure my document is accessible?

If you are a student, please reach out to libsuppt@upstate.edu for information on the Ally accessibility checker in Brightspace.

If you are faculty or staff and have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, we recommend using the built-in Accessibility Checker.

If you do not have access to Acrobat Pro, we recommend using PAVE, a free tool that can identify many accessibility issues.

For further assistance, feel free to reach out to us at libsuppt@upstate.edu. 

Can I request accessibility remediation on a SOAR item?

Yes. Please contact us at libsuppt@upstate.edu to learn more.

How do I see usage statistics for an item in SOAR?

When in an item record, the last menu option on the right is "Display statistics." This will provide statistics on:

• Total visits,
• File downloads
• Visits in the last six months
• Top country visits
• Top city visits

The "Scopus Count" link that appears below the URI will show the citation count.

If I have more than one article that is currently closed access, may I send you a list of citations?

Yes. Rather than complete the article submission form for multiple articles, you may send a list of citations or CV to libsuppt@upstate.edu; for those that works that are closed access, we will determine what version may be deposited in SOAR and let you know.  We will complete the deposit process after you have responded with the manuscript versions indicated. 

What do "green" and "gold" open access mean?

"Green" open access refers to the version of an article deposited into an institutional repository (e.g., SOAR).  "Gold" open access refers to an open access version of record (on a publisher's web site).  Gold open access usually requires the payment of an APC, or article processing charge.