Self-archiving refers to the practice of scholars depositing copies of their research papers in electronic repositories or ‘open archives’. Repositories can either be institutionally-based ‘capturing and preserving the intellectual output of a single or multi-university community’ (as defined by Raym Crow (see below)) or discipline-based (as is the case of the most famous open repository, the physics arXiv.

A repository may contain a wide range of material that reflects the intellectual wealth of an institution – for example, journal articles submitted for publication (pre-prints), articles accepted for publication (post prints), conference papers, working papers, doctoral theses and dissertations, datasets resulting from research projects, etc. – or they may focus on just one class of material, e.g. peer-reviewed papers.

Benefits for the Individual

Research papers that are freely available online are on average downloaded and cited earlier and more often than those that are not. Depositing academic work in an open access repository therefore increases the profile of an author on a world-wide basis, increasing both the dissemination and the impact of the research they undertake. Regular submission of an author’s work to a repository provides an author with a central archive of their work and a record of publications to add to their CV.

Benefits for the Institution

Establishing an institutional repository enables a university to publicise its research and teaching programmes by enabling access to the work of its staff and students. The academic work of an institution can be presented in one place rather than just spread amongst hundreds of journals, so increasing visibility and prestige. The quality of a university’s academic output forms an effective advertisement for the institution, attracting external revenue streams, new faculty, and students. Deposit in a university repository can also ease - both for the institution and for the academic author - the administrative burden of reporting publications for research assessment and review exercises.

For Whom the Gate Tolls? (How and Why to Free the Refereed Research Literature Online Through Author/Institution Self-Archiving, Now), Stevan Harnad

One of the most thorough and thoughtful examinations of the benefits to the scholarly community of self-archiving. Of particular interest is Stevan’s examination and rebuttal of 20 of the most common objections to open access.

The case for institutional repositories: a SPARC position paper, Raym Crow

Raym Crow presents the case for institutional repositories (primarily from a library view-point) in this position paper from 2002.

Institutional Repositories, Tout de Suite, Charles W. Bailey

A richly-linked basic primer on institutional repositories.

The business of digital repositories , Alma Swan, In A DRIVER'S Guide to European Repositories (Ed edited by Weenink, K., Waaijers, L. and van Godtsenhoven, K.), 2007

Based on a number of case studies of repositories in Europe, Alma covers topics relating to the business aspects of digital repositories - such as making a business case, costs, staffing requirements, managing growth and change, and other sustainability issues.

The Institutional Repository, by Richard Jones, Theo Andrew and John MacColl

This book draws on the authors’ experiences of setting-up and running the repository at Edinburgh University.  It gives much sensible advice on issues relating to policy-setting and encouraging deposit.

Repository66.org Repository Maps

Stuart Lewis' wonderful Google Maps mash-up showing the location of repositories world-wide

Repository Support Project

A project with a wide range of resources on building and running a suceesful repository. There is a UK bias, but all readers will find this invaluable.