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Open Access

Learn what open access is, how to comply with funding mandates, and how to find and evaluate open access publishers.

Chapman University Digital Commons is a digital repository and publication platform designed to collect, preserve, and make publicly accessible the scholarly and creative output of Chapman University faculty, students, staff, and affiliates. In it are faculty research papers and books, data sets, outstanding student work, audiovisual materials, images, special collections, and more, all created by members of or owned by Chapman University.

By default, works in Digital Commons are made available to users around the world to view, read, and download, though there are options to limit access to Chapman University users or assign Creative Commons licenses.

 

What are the benefits of Chapman University Digital Commons?

Chapman University Digital Commons makes the scholarly publications, archives, and creative expression of Chapman University available for the world to view in one central, open access site. This type of visibility and awareness benefits both you as the creator and Chapman University as an institution. Specific benefits include:

  • Visibility of your work in a centralized location means more of your peers can find and cite your work, providing you with a wider audience.
  • Open access availability leads to higher citation rates, raising your prestige in your field.
  • Indexed in major search engines like Google, GoogleScholar, and more.
  • Retention of intellectual property rights to your previously unpublished work.
  • Static URLs provide continuity, so that your work is assured a stable online location that can be cited now and in the future.  
  • Monthly statistics show the impact your research is having on users around the world.
  • Ability to accommodate many different types of content, not just text.
  • Comply with funder mandates by making your work open access (i.e. freely available online) and providing a place for data storage and dissemination.

Adding your work to Chapman University Digital Commons is simple! 

For published works, send your CV to the Coordinator of Scholarly Communications, Kristin Laughtin-Dunker, at laughtin@chapman.edu.  We'll evaluate the policies for your work and let you know what we are allowed to include!  Then, just let us know when you publish new works, so we can add them, too. That's it!

For unpublished works, or other works where you own the copyright, all you need to do is sign a submission form (which we will prepare) granting us a non-exclusive license to display your work.  We'll handle the posting process, and you won't lose any of your rights.

Chapman University Digital Commons reaches worldwide audiences, with users from over 200 countries and counting.  Here are some potential audiences for work in Digital Commons:

  • Your fellow researchers around the world
  • Current students, searching for work by their professors
  • Potential students, looking to see what kind of research is done at Chapman
  • Award committees, funders, and grant committees checking out your previous research
  • Faculty, students, and researchers who may not otherwise have access to your published work behind paywalls

Chapman University Digital Commons can accommodate a wide variety of content types in many different formats:

  • Articles and books/book chapters
  • Image galleries
  • Audio files
  • Video files
  • Theses and dissertations
  • Data sets

 

Digital Commons also has the ability to host entire conferences and journals, from the initial submissions and review of papers and presentations to the final publication and archiving of the proceedings and issues.

 

Digital Commons is a very flexible system.  If you need a home for content that hasn't been mentioned, contact me!  We will figure out a way to serve your needs.