Policies

Metadata Policy

1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
2. 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.
3. The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission.

Data Policy

1. Anyone may access full items free of charge.
2. Full items with a specified license may be used according to the terms of that license.
3. Full items without a specified license may not be re-used in any way (barring legal exceptions) without the permission of the copyright holder. Please contact the Repository team at eprints@kingston.ac.uk with requests for re-use of specific items.

Content Policy

1. This is a non-commercial academic institutional repository primarily for research outputs and other scholarly materials.
2. Data supporting research should be submitted to a dedicated data repository such as the Kingston University Research Data Repository
3. Deposited items may include:
   • submitted versions (as sent to journals for peer-review)
   • accepted versions (author's final peer-reviewed drafts)
   • published versions (publisher-created files)
4. Items are individually tagged with:
   • their version type and date.
   • their publication status.

Submission Policy

1. Items may only be deposited by academic staff, and employees of the institution, or their delegated agents.
2. Eligible depositors must deposit bibliographic metadata for all their publications.
3. Items can be deposited at any time, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired
4. Responsibility for ensuring the validity and authenticity of items, and the copyright compliance of provided files, rests with the creator(s) of the output described by the item.
5. If Kingston University Research Repository receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed immediately.

Preservation Policy

1. Items will be retained indefinitely.
2. Kingston University Research Repository will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
3. Kingston University Research Repository regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
4. Items may not normally be removed from Kingston University Research Repository.
5. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
   • Journal publishers' rules
   • Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
   • Legal requirements and proven violations
   • National Security
   • Falsified research
6. Withdrawn items are not deleted per se, but are removed from public view.
7. Withdrawn items' identifiers/URLs are retained indefinitely.
8. URLs 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
9. Errata and corrigenda lists may be included with the original record if required.
10. If necessary, an updated version may be deposited.
    • The earlier version may be withdrawn from public view.
    • The item's persistent URL will always link to the latest version.
11. In the event of Kingston University Research Repository being closed down, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive.