Self-Archiving in Digital Commons

Copyright permissions must be established prior to uploading full-text articles and other works to DigitalCommons@UMaine.

Step 1: Create a bibliography of works for submission. 

Step 2: Confirm each submission was created while working or studying at the University of Maine.

Step 3: For published articles, search Sherpa Romeo for copyright policies of the appropriate journals. For assistance with copyright checking, please contact your Subject Specialist.

If no journal policy information is available in Sherpa Romeo, please review the journal publisher's website about Open Access posting.  

As appropriate, contact the publisher in writing to request permission to self-archive in DigitalCommons@UMaine. Download a letter template, in pdf format, available from Fogler Library.

Copies of letters granting copyright approval to post full-text content in Digital Commons must be sent to: kimberly.sawtelle@maine.edu.

Step 4: If Sherpa/RoMEO, the publisher website, or a letter from the publisher denies copyright permission, the work may not be uploaded to DigitalCommons@UMaine.

Step 5: For book chapters and conference proceedings, contact the appropriate publisher to request copyright permission. Download a letter template, in pdf format, available from Fogler Library. Copies of letters granting copyright approval must be sent to kimberly.sawtelle@maine.edu.

Step 6: Once copyright permissions are established, proceed with uploading approved version of the content to DigitalCommons@UMaine.

Questions about checking copyrights?  Contact your Subject Specialist for assistance.

Definitions for Article Versions

Author’s Pre-print = Pre-refereed paper, prior to any edits (aka Submitted Version in Romeo)
Post-print = Author's accepted version (i.e. the final draft with all edits post-refereeing; no formatting) 
Publisher's version = Publisher's formatted pdf (i.e. the published version the publisher paid to format).

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