Frequently Asked Questions


What is ScholarWorks@GVSU?

ScholarWorks@GVSU is an open-access repository maintained by the GVSU Libraries that showcases and maintains works by GVSU scholars. The GVSU Libraries are committed to preserving these works, with a static URL, on a long term basis. The mission of ScholarWorks@GVSU is to collect and preserve scholarly, educational, and creative works by GVSU faculty, staff and students. Materials in ScholarWorks@GVSU may be viewed by anyone.

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Who may submit materials into ScholarWorks@GVSU?

All Grand Valley State University faculty, staff and students are encouraged to add their scholarly, educational, and creative works into ScholarWorks@GVSU. Researchers affiliated with GVSU may also place their works into ScholarWorks@GVSU through the GVSU Libraries.

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How will researchers discover the materials in ScholarWorks@GVSU?

The full-text and citations of documents are searchable within ScholarWorks@GVSU and by search engines such as Google. This is accomplished by adding descriptive metadata elements such as: title, author, citation information, keywords, etc.

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Why should I submit my works into the ScholarWorks@GVSU repository?
  • Increased visibility: content is openly accessible and discoverable by Internet search engines
  • Permanence: your work will have a stable URL so researchers will always be able to find it
  • Archiving: relieves your unit or department of technological maintenance
  • May fulfill grant requirements: some grants have data-sharing requirements, such as those funded by NIH. Submitting your works to ScholarWorks@GVSU can help meet that criterion.

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How do I submit my works to ScholarWorks@GVSU?

To submit your work, either contact you library liaison or send your material via email to . The Library will then facilitate getting the material loaded and made available through ScholarWorks@GVSU.

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Can I still publish the work if I’ve already submitted it to ScholarWorks@GVSU?

Authors retain the copyright for all content posted in the repository. The author agreement specifies a nonexclusive right to use. This means the author is free to reuse the content elsewhere.

If a working paper is published in a journal—either in the same form or, more commonly, in revised form—many journals will allow the working paper to remain in an institution’s repository, especially when it is for educational/scholarly noncommercial use. Unfortunately, some journals do require that the working paper be removed. See the SHERPA RoMEO Website for a list of publisher copyright and self-archiving policies.

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Can I submit just a bibliographic citation and abstract if I don’t want to include the full work in ScholarWorks@GVSU?

In most instances, ScholarWorks@GVSU will only accept a submission that includes the full work. The GVSU Libraries may make exceptions for faculty members who would like to create an online record of their publishing history. Since many faculty members will have already published the works elsewhere, a basic record, with an external link to the original work may be created.

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What kinds of material are appropriate for submission?

Each unit or department may decide what is most suitable. Some examples of appropriate content:

  • Peer-reviewed materials (if rights retained)
  • Gray literature (working papers, conference papers, etc.)
  • Dissertations and theses
  • Student research
  • Creative works (including video, music, etc.)
  • Data sets

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I don't have electronic versions of old working papers that I'd like to include in the repository. Is it okay to scan the printed page to a PDF file?

Yes--scanning printed pages is a great way to create PDF files for inclusion in the repository. There are two ways to scan a page: using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or scanning the page as an image. Making OCR scans requires careful proofreading and loses the original formatting of the documents. Image scans cannot be searched. The best solution takes advantage of both of these methods. Many software applications allow for the OCR capture of image scans. When documents are scanned this way, users see the image scan but search the full-text of the document. This is the preferred method for scanning documents for the repository.

For assistance with scanning, contact the GVSU Libraries.

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How do I protect my rights as an author?

ScholarWorks@GVSU is openly accessible to anyone, via the Internet. Author rights are protected by copyright. Submitters are encouraged to consider licensing their works with a Creative Commons License. This will allow authors to select the rights most significant to them, while granting readers certain other rights, as appropriate. For example, authors may grant the right to distribute, display or perform the work.

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Do other universities have repositories like ScholarWorks@GVSU?

Yes, there are many examples of digital repositories. Here are a few:

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