Frequently Asked Questions


How do I submit my work to ScholarWorks?

Click here to find the submission guidelines and contributor agreements.

Click here to set up a user account.

Click here to submit work.

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Am I responsible for ensuring that submission and posting of my material in ScholarWorks complies with copyright law?

Yes, material should only be submitted in ScholarWorks if its submission and posting will not infringe the rights of any publisher, author, copyright holder or other third party. You are responsible for determining this.

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What rights must I hold in the material in order to submit and how do I determine if I have sufficient rights?

You must either be the copyright holder or you must have permission from the copyright holder to make the submission. Depending upon the type of submission and history of the submission’s development, the method of determining rights will be different. Please consult US Copyright law.

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What if I don’t have the rights to contribute the full text of a submission but I wish to post a citation to the submission on ScholarWorks

Additionally, you can always contact the publisher directly and request permission for open access distribution of the full text of the work. The SHERPA/RoMEO website provides a summary of journal publishers’ archiving policies. Many publishers also provide information on their policies on their own websites.

If you have published your material in a journal that is not open access, you still may have sufficient rights to allow preservation. For example, the publishing agreement by its terms may allow the material to be submitted to and distributed from an institutional repository. Or you may have used a generally available author’s addendum to the author agreement you signed that modified the publishing agreement, reserving rights sufficient for this purpose.

If your material is subject to a publishing agreement, that agreement, as modified by any author’s addendum you used, if any, is the most reliable source of information about your rights.

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What if my publishing agreement allows posting of my material in an institutional repository, but only if certain conditions are met?

ScholarWorks can provide citations and notices sometimes imposed under publishers’ archiving policies. You can provide a citation to the article, adding any disclaimers or notices that, according to applicable publisher/author/copyright holder requirements, must appear in the repository information about your article. If the publisher requires that the notice be embedded in the article itself, you can do this by including the required notice on the first page of your material before you submit it. If you have submitted before publication and later need or want to add a notice citing to the Published Version, you can contact ScholarWorks to update the submission: You may provide a link to the definitive version of the article at the publisher’s website using the “Link to published article” field.

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Which version of my article or other material should I submit?

Some publishers/authors/copyright holders (collectively “publishers”) also limit the version of your material that may be posted in an institutional repository. As explained below, you can choose the version of your material that you will submit to ScholarWorks. You may submit any version of your material that you have the right to include in ScholarWorks. You may have the right to include some but not all versions. It is worth distinguishing various versions of an article:

  • Author’s Draft: the version of the paper initially submitted to a journal publisher for consideration, or any earlier draft. (The SHERPA/RoMEO site refers to this as a “pre-print.”)
  • Author’s Final Version: the version of the paper accepted by the journal for publication, including all modifications from the publishing peer review process. (The SHERPA/RoMEO site refers to this as a “post-print.”)
  • Published Version: the version of the paper distributed by the publisher to readers of the journal, incorporating any copy editing done by the publisher, showing the final page layout and formatting of the published version, and possibly including the publisher’s logo.

Some journal publishers allow posting in an institutional repository of only one of these versions; others allow posting of more than one, or all, of these versions. Some publishers do not allow posting of any version. You can find a summary of journal publishers default policies on the SHERPA/RoMEO website, though ScholarWorks has not verified the accuracy of that information. A publisher’s default policy may be modified by negotiation in individual publishing agreements or through the use of an author’s addendum.

Generally, you should not submit for distribution a copy of the Published Version - such as a publisher-generated .pdf of the article as published- unless the publishing agreement (perhaps as modified by any author’s addendum) affirmatively allows you to do so. If the publisher has made changes to the text or graphics of the article, or the publisher’s logo is included, the publisher may have rights of its own in that version.

Note also that some publishers may be unwilling to accept a paper if an Author’s Draft has been posted in an institutional repository prior to the article’s date of publication; others may require that the Author’s Draft be removed upon publication in their journal. Before you submit an Author’s Draft for posting in ScholarWorks, you may wish to check pre-publication requirements of journals to which the paper may subsequently be submitted.

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What if there are multiple authors of the material?

Multiple-authored works can be submitted to ScholarWorks. Before submitting the material, you should make sure that the other authors also wish to do so.

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What if my material incorporates copyrighted material owned by another party?

If you are submitting an article or other work that includes third-party material protected by copyright (e.g., an image) for distribution (that is, not as a “catalog record” or citation-only submission), you need to secure the right to incorporate that material from the copyright holder and to allow it to be posted in ScholarWorks as part of your work.

If you cannot obtain the rights to distribute the third-party material as part of your work, you can still submit the work under the “catalog record” or citation-only option.

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What rights will Walden University receive in the material I submit to ScholarWorks?

ScholarWorks will have the non-exclusive right to preserve and make your material publicly available on ScholarWorks without charge, as it may evolve.

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Does ScholarWorks provide legal advice to me?

No, this web site provides information and resources to help you use ScholarWorks, but does not provide legal advice and should not be relied upon for that purpose. If you would like legal advice about your rights, obligations, or individual situation, you should consult your own attorney.

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What is an institutional repository?

An institutional repository is an online portal where a community gathers and preserves creative, historical or scholarly output produced by its members and makes these materials freely available (copyright permitting).

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How is hosting my work in ScholarWorks different from self-publishing on my own website/blog/etc.?

If you have a static website that is periodically updated then you know how difficult it is to keep it up to date. As a researcher or a faculty member, it is possible for us to help you manage your materials in a central location, in standardized formats, and in ways that allow for more effective search and retrieval.

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Can my articles be used to provide search or other services by companies such as Google?

Yes. Google and other search engines will search materials in ScholarWorks. This exposure is a major benefit of open access. Each object (article, video file, etc.) will be tagged with “catalog record” data that, while not modifying the object itself, allows indexing systems such as Google Scholar to harvest your work and ensure wider visibility of that work.

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What can I do if I feel that some content in ScholarWorks may violate my copyright or that my work was posted without my permission?

Please review the ScholarWorks Take-Down policy.

ScholarWorks Take-Down Policy

  • Persons who believe that their copyrights have been infringed upon by the posting of material to ScholarWorks, may contact the administrators at: ScholarWorks@waldenu.edu

    Requests to remove materials from ScholarWorks should include:

    1. A physical or electronic signature of the owner, or authorized agent of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
    2. Clear identification of the copyrighted work(s) claimed to have been infringed.
    3. Clear identification of the material in ScholarWorks that is claimed to be infringing, including the URL(s).
    4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the University to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
    5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
    6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

  • Walden University will carefully review the material and consider blocking, removing or restricting access to it. The University will respond to all questions or requests within one week of receipt.

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How might I request that my work be removed from the ScholarWorks repository once I have submitted it?

Please review the ScholarWorks Withdrawing Items Policy.

ScholarWorks Withdrawing Items Policy.

  • You, as the contributor, may request withdrawal of your Submission from ScholarWorks at any time by emailing ScholarWorks@waldenu.edu. ScholarWorks will post the reason in the form of a note after the item has been removed.

  • Because any Submission may have been cited by users during the time it was available in the repository, the repository will place a citation on the page where the item had been available.

  • Access to an item in the repository may be restricted at any time ScholarWorks no longer has the right to display the Submission.

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What is the Policy on Withdrawing Items from ScholarWorks?
  • You, as the contributor, may request withdrawal of your Submission from ScholarWorks at any time by emailing . ScholarWorks will post the reason in the form of a note after the item has been removed.
  • Because any Submission may have been cited by users during the time it was available in the repository, the repository will place a citation on the page where the item had been available.
  • Access to an item in the repository may be restricted at any time ScholarWorks no longer has the right to display the Submission.

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What is the Capstone Exemption from Withdrawal Policy?
  • To assure transparency in doctoral training, Walden University reserves the right to distribute capstone products via the institutional repository (IR). Students cannot opt-out of IR participation.
  • Capstone products subject to this policy include dissertations, doctoral studies, project studies, and any equivalent documents that fulfill a doctoral capstone requirement. * For more information, please see the Walden Student Handbook, section: Doctoral Capstone Project Inclusion in the Institutional Repository.

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