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osnaDocs Guidelines

Osnabrück University is committed to promoting electronic publishing according to the principles of open access and therefore supports the Berlin Declaration of October 22, 2003 regarding open access to scientific information. In its IT Concept, adopted in 2010, Osnabrück University declares its intention to promote the publication of research results according to the principle of open access and therefore urges its researchers to deposit publications, within the scope of legal possibilities, as postprint versions in university’s institutional repository. In addition, it recommends that members of the university community actively participate in electronic publishing according to the principle of open access and that they publish in refereed online journals.

Tasks and Aims of the Repository

The document and publication server osnaDocs operated by the University Library offers technical conditions for the electronic publication of scholarly documents to all members of the Osnabrück University community. The aim is to store, index, and permanently archive all electronic documents published by members of the Osnabrück University community, and to make them available on the internet for teaching and research, while maintaining quality standards. This includes both purely electronic publications and also electronic versions of printed documents. The operation and further development of osnaDocs are integrated into national and international initiatives and projects.

Technical Conditions of the Repository

The electronic documents receive individual permanent addresses (permanent identifiers) in the form of DOIs (Digital Object Identifier) and are indexed in national and international library catalogs, search engines, and other research reference tools. The documents are protected against counterfeiting by digital signatures. The international standards of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) are used to index, store, and archive the electronic documents. Documents in osnaDocs are guaranteed to be available for at least five years. A concept for long-term archiving is being developed in the context of Germany-wide initiatives.

Content-Related Quality Requirements for Documents

The following electronic documents will be accepted into osnaDocs:

• Scholarly publications and publication series

  • of Osnabrück University
  • of members of the Osnabrück University community
  • of associated facilities and divisions and individuals of Osnabrück University

• qualification works that are required to be published by examination regulations (dissertations and habilitations)
• master’s theses written by students of Osnabrück University only in the case of above-average assessment and recommendation by a member of the faculty.

Technical Requirements for Documents

The term "document" is understood in these guidelines to mean a digital document that is based on text and graphics and that can contain audio and video sequences as well as data attachments. A document that is to be published via osnaDocs must fulfill the following criteria:

• It is intended to be publicly disseminated.
• It has not been equipped with security features or function restrictions.
• It is not a document that will be continuously updated. If changes are necessary, the revised document will be stored as a new publication.
• Text documents must be provided in the file format pdf/a, and it must be possible to copy the text.

Legal Conditions for the Repository

Authors retain their copyrights. They grant Osnabrück University a nonexclusive right of use to their documents. The legal relationship between the authors and Osnabrück University is governed by a license agreement. Publication in osnaDocs does not preclude further publication of the documents in scientific journals or monographs:

• In the case of documents that have already been published by a publisher, authors must indicate that publisher to the University Library and make sure that the publisher allows a second publication in the scope of self-archiving. Information about policies of individual publishers in this regard can be found in the SHERPA/RoMEO-List. The publishing contract is legally binding.
• For documents that are expected to be published elsewhere, the following applies: The author guarantees that the publication will not be required to be erased from osnaDocs. Authors are encouraged to secure a correspondingly broad right of use when they conclude contracts with publishers.

Organization of the Repository

The technical operation of the publication server osnaDocs is carried out by the University Library in cooperation with the University Computer Center of Osnabrück University. Employees of the University Library advise authors in terms of content. Electronic publication is free of charge for members of the Osnabrück University community and members of associated facilities and divisions. Electronic documents are submitted to the osnaDocs for submission via an upload form found on the publication server. The documents are made available by an officer of the University Library after a check of content-related, technical, and legal requirements. The University Library reserves the right to decline publication because of content-related or technical deficiencies or because of unclear legal status.

The point of contact for all questions concerning the repOSitorium is the administration of the repOSitorium of the University Library. E-Mail