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Content Policy

SOAS Research Online holds records and full-text of research publications except for:

  • Learning Objects
  • Software
  • Patents

Full-text items may include:

  • pre-prints (drafts prior to the peer-review process)
  • post-prints/accepted versions/author’s accepted manuscripts (final drafts that include changes resulting from the peer-review process but prior to publisher formatting and copy-editing)
  • versions of record (final published versions)

Full-text items are individually tagged to indicate version

Primary language is English but records of publications in other languages are also included.

Submission Policy

The following members of SOAS may add records and research to SOAS Research Online and according to the following terms:

  • Staff employed on permanent or fixed-term contracts which include research are required to add records of all outputs resulting from their research while employed at SOAS. They may also deposit records for outputs from research undertaken before they joined the university.
  • Staff employed on teaching contracts are welcome to add records of their outputs when they are published with a SOAS affiliation.
  • Professional Services Staff only if outputs relate to their main duties of employment at SOAS and with prior approval from their head of service / line manager.
  • Visiting Scholars who have approval to use SOAS affiliation for publication and only when the output is a result of their research work at SOAS and includes the SOAS affiliation.
  • PhD Students who are registered at SOAS.

Authors who intend to submit outputs to the next REF are required to deposit the full-text of their Author Accepted Version of any articles or conference proceedings accepted for publication in a journal after 1st April 2016 within the requirements of the REF Open Access Policy. They are also required to deposit the accepted versions of all other outputs within copyright law and their publisher policies. Records must be added with the appropriate metadata to describe the publications. The validity and authenticity of full-text content added to SOAS Research Online is the sole responsibility of the author. Errata and corrigenda lists may be included with the original record if required. Authors are expected to add records and deposit full-texts to SOAS Research Online themselves and to seek assistance and training if required. Administrative support may in exceptional circumstances deposit on an author’s behalf, however priority will be given in the following order to:

  • Recent publications of authors employed on research contracts and particularly those eligible for the REF.
  • Publications of eligible researchers who may not have the necessary access rights to add research to SOAS Research Online themselves.
  • Backlists of publications for new and existing SOAS staff.
Metadata Policy

Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.

The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes provided:

  • the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given
  • SOAS Research Online is mentioned

The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission.

Data Policy
Preservation

Items will be retained indefinitely in SOAS Research Online.

SOAS Research Online will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.

  • Items will be migrated to new file formats where necessary.
  • It may not be possible to guarantee the readability of some unusual file formats.

SOAS Research Online regularly backs up its files according to the University of London Computer Centre (ULCC) backup schedule.

The original bit stream is retained for all items, in addition to any upgraded formats

The URLs of any withdrawn items' will continue to point to 'tombstone' citations, to avoid broken links and to retain item histories, with:

  • a link to a replacement version, where available
  • a note explaining the reasons for withdrawal.

In the event of SOAS Research Online being closed down, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive.

Take Down Policy

In making material available online SOAS, University of London acts in good faith, however we recognize that from time to time records added may contain items that may need to be removed from public access for the following reasons:

  • Contravention of journal publishers' rules
  • Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
  • Legal requirements and proven violations
  • National Security
  • Falsified research
  • Upon the request of the Research Ethics Panel

To contact us about the removal of material, please email outputs@soas.ac.uk