Repository Policies

Sunway Institutional Repository (SIR) was created in 2011 to help raise the research profile of Sunway University and Sunway Colleges and their staff, and to create an open-access communal body of information. SIR is intended primarily as a registry of the research outputs by Sunway University and Sunway Colleges staff, but may also include other academic/scholarly works and creative outputs. Where possible, through licensing rights/copyright agreements, the full text of these items will be made available on an open access basis.

SIR will share its metadata records about the content it holds with search services, enabling users to search across multiple repositories. Its contents will also be indexed by Google and other search engines.

I. Content Policy

  1. Provide a centralised source of primary source materials that will be of use to document fully the history, identity and character of Sunway University and Sunway College KL.
  2. The repository will accept any material relating to research output in a variety of formats, including multimedia. Examples of material include (but are not limited to) journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, doctoral theses, creative workst echnical papers, unpublished research and public lectures.
  3. Research papers may include unpublished pre-prints (not peer reviewed), final peer reviewed drafts (post-prints) and published versions. Ideally, authors should submit a copy of the final accepted manuscript, but where this is prevented because of copyright restrictions, authors may deposit a "post-print" copy of the manuscript(i.e. after having revised the manuscript to take account of comments from referees).
  4. Doctoral and Masters Theses may be submitted to the repository. Doctoral Theses will automatically approved for inclusion. Masters level Theses will be accepted according to the following criteria:
    • Theses awarded a Distinction or equivalent will be automatically approved for inclusion;
    • Theses awarded a Merit or equivalent will normally be accepted, subject to final approval by the SIR Editorial Board;
    • Theses awarded a Pass or equivalent will not normally be included.
  5. Works not previously peer reviewed will be assessed for suitability for inclusion in the repository by the SIR Editorial Board. Each item will be tagged with its peer-review and publication status.
  6. Other research-related materials may also be uploaded to the repository, subject to editorial approval.
  7. The repository is not legally responsible for any mistakes, omissions or legal infringements within materials deposited.
  8. The repository will not alter any materials submitted.
  9. Principal language of items in the repository is English.

II. Submission Policy

  1. Subject to copyright and/or other restrictions imposed by publishing or sponsoring bodies, staff are expected to deposit all published research outputs in the repository. Staff are also encouraged to submit any other (i.e. non-published) research output generated by them for inclusion.
  2. Full text versions should be provided whenever possible, but failing that full reference details together with an abstract should be submitted.
  3. Author(s) /creator(s) may only submit their own works to the repository.
  4. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the author/creator.
  5. Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the creators/depositors. Creators/depositors are strongly encouraged to check any copyright, or other, restrictions and to seek approval from the publisher as necessary; helpful information on copyright restrictions can be found at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/.
    • the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given
    • a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page
    • the original copyright statement is given
    • the content is not changed in any way

III. Changes, Take Downs and Withdrawals

  1. The SIR Editorial Group, or the DVC (Research and Enterprise) will review any take down requests. Items may be moved from view immediately, pending an inquiry.
  2. Items may be taken down/withdrawn in the event that, for example:
    • Journal publishers rules have been violated
    • There is a proven instance of copyright violation
    • There is a proven instance of plagiarism
    • Any legal violations have occurred
    • National security is put at risk
    • The results of the research are proven to have been falsified
    • There are genuine concerns over the quality of content
  3. Changes to deposited items are permitted.
  4. Errata and corrigenda lists may be appended to the original record if required.
  5. If necessary an updated version may be deposited.

IV. Data Policy

  1. Sunway University Repository maintains an open access policy and anyone may access the metadata and/or full-text items free of charge, unless otherwise restricted.
  2. The metadata may be re-used in any format or medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes, provided a link to the original metadata record is given.
  3. Copies of full items can, unless otherwise stated, be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium, for personal research or study, educational or other not-for profit purposes without permission or charge, provided:
    • The author(s) / creator(s), title and full bibliographic details are given
    • A hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page
    • The content is not changed in any way
  4. No item may be sold commercially without formal permission of the copyright holders.
  5. Materials (other than metadata) must not be harvested by robots, except transiently for full-text indexing or citation analysis.
  6. Some items may be individually tagged with different rights, permissions and conditions.

V. Preservation Policy

  1. Unless there has been a successful take down request, items will be retained indefinitely. Author(s) / creator (s) should note, however, that it is not possible for the repository to guarantee the indefinite retention or preservation of materials deposited.
  2. The repository will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility of all materials in the repository, although it may not be possible to guarantee the readability of some obsolete or unusual file formats.
  3. The repository regularly backs up files according to best current practice.

PJH / 9 December 2014

Sunway Institutional Repository is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.