Open Access

Answers

OPUS Trier UAS: Short info

The publication server OPUS HS Trier is a document management system that can be used by members of the three university campuses to publish academically relevant documents electronically in Open Access (e.g. technical papers, working papers or theses).

It is open to all interested parties worldwide to search for the deposited documents.

In terms of organisation and content, the publication server is managed by the libraries of the main campus and the environmental campus. The storage, archiving and backup of the data is in the hands of the North Rhine-Westphalian Library Service Centre (hbz).

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Open Access?

Open Access (OA) is understood to mean free and unrestricted access to scientific information on the Internet. Documents published in OA can be accessed, downloaded and used free of charge by all interested parties.

One of the aims of OA is to make research results available quickly, permanently and without barriers.

As a rule, authors have various roads for publishing a document in OA: gold, green, bronze, hybrid and grey.

Via OPUS HS Trier, the following roads are open to you:

• green: You republish an article already published in classic closed access under an OA licence - provided your publisher gives permission (keyword: embargo periods).
• grey: You do not publish your document via a publisher, but make it directly available to the public as grey literature in OA.
• gold/hybrid etc. (continued): You upload a paper that has already been published in OA.

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Who can publish?

In principle, all members of the three campuses of Trier UAS can use the publication server to publish scientifically relevant documents free of charge.

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Which document types?

All documents of lasting interest for research and teaching can be published (if legally permissible): working papers, reports, books, university publications, conference papers, teaching materials, preprints, reviews, journal issues and articles, etc.

A document must be uploaded as full text and placed under a CC licence. The inclusion of mere references is not intended, at least not at present.

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Quality control?

Documents uploaded by academics or other specialist staff of Trier UAS do not undergo any quality control of the content by the library. Only the bibliographic information is checked and supplemented if necessary.

In the case of student works, the library consults with the specialist staff at Trier UAS. Final theses, for example, are only released after consultation with the supervisor.

The library reserves the right to refuse publication in justified individual cases.

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Contact & help

The provision of the publication server is a new service. We are very happy to receive queries and suggestions. Write to our library locations or contact:

Dr. Stefan Bagusche
Trier UAS Library
Telephone: 06782 17-2012
E-mail: openaccess(at)hochschule-trier.de

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General search options

The OPUS user interface offers you various options for searching:

- Menu item "Search":

• Simple search: Use the simple search box to search for documents with key- or catchwords. You can enter individual search terms or formulate complex search queries using the operators (see below).
• Advanced search: The advanced search mask allows you to combine several search boxes for one search query. Each search box is 'specialised' for a particular data field of a document record. For example, a term entered in the "Title" search box must be contained in the title of a document for a hit to occur. Search terms in a single box can be linked or excluded using the pull-down menus or the search operators (see below).
• All documents: Via the link you get an overview of all documents deposited in OPUS. The filters to the left give you the possibility to view the list under certain aspects (e.g. only all documents from the current year).
• Latest documents: Here you can find out which ten documents were last published on OPUS.
  

- Menu item "Browse":

• Overview lists: Select categories such as "document types" or "years" to display corresponding overview lists.
• Classifications: Use the Dewey Decimal Classification DDC, for example, to search for documents that have been assigned to a subject group of interest to you.

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Operators

The OPUS search provides you with a number of operators that can be used to formulate complex search queries. They can be used in the search boxes of the simple and the advanced search mask:

- Boolean operator AND:

• Example: [biodiversity AND monitoring] or [biodiversity monitoring].
• If search terms are linked with AND or the space character, all terms linked in this way must occur in the data set of a document for the document to be displayed as a hit. In the example: All documents are searched whose data records contain the expressions "biodiversity" and "monitoring" - and not just one of the two terms.
  
  

- Boolean operator OR:

• Example: [sustainability OR nachhaltigkeit]
• In the case of terms linked with OR, at least one of the terms linked in this way must occur in the data record of a document for the document to be displayed as a hit. In the example: All documents are searched whose data records contain either the expression "sustainability" or the expression "Nachhaltigkeit" - or both expressions at the same time (inclusive OR).
  
  

- Boolean operator NOT:

• Example: [pharmacy NOT europe]
• The NOT can be used to exclude documents from the search: Documents whose records contain the NOT term are not displayed as hits. In the example: The query only returns documents whose data records contain the term "pharmacy", but not "Europe".
  
  

- Phrasing "...":

• Example: ["green it"]
• Strengthened AND: To return a hit, all of the search terms enclosed in quotes must occur in the document's data record - and in exactly this order. In the example: Only documents are displayed whose data records contain the eight-character string Green IT.
  
  

- Right truncation *:

• Example: [synchron*]
• Variant of OR: A right-truncated expression x* stands not only for x, but also for all words or character strings that begin with x. In the example: All documents are displayed in whose data records at least one of the following terms occurs - "synchron", "synchronic", "synchronous", "synchronously", "synchronism", "synchronized" etc.
  
  

- Masking ?:

• Example: [boy?ott]
• Variant of OR: The masking character "?" acts as a joker and stands for any character, e.g. as any letter. In the example: All documents are found in whose data records the terms "boycott" or "boycott" etc. occur.

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General procedure of a publication

1. First of all, make sure that you are not infringing the rights of third parties by publishing your document in open access. (If you are unclear about your publisher's regulations for a planned second publication, you can find out about them on Sherpa Romeo).
   
   
2. Prepare your document for publication.
   
   
   • Format:
     PDF format should be chosen for the document if possible. For publication in other formats, please contact the library.
   • File name:
     No umlauts or spaces should be used. You can use the following characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore and hyphen.
   • File size:
     The file size should not exceed 600 MB. In case of larger files, please contact the library.
   • Rights Management (DRM):
     In the interest of Open Access and long-term archiving, the document should not be copy- or access-protected.
     
     
3. Call up the publication server, select the menu item "Publish" and use the input masks. No registration or login is required.
   
   
4. After you have provided your document with bibliographic information (metadata) and uploaded it, it goes through an internal check. The metadata is checked by the library and supplemented if necessary. In the case of student work, consultation takes place with academic staff at the university.
   
   
5. The library will send you a publication contract by e-mail within a few days. As soon as you have signed and returned it, your document can be released.

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Upload a document

1. Click on the menu item "Publish" on the start page.
   
   
2. You will be asked to select a document type. Directly below you can upload your document(s). Then click on "Submit". The actual form follows.
   
   
3. You will be asked for various data about your publication ("metadata"). They serve to describe your document and make it possible to research the document. Depending on the type of document, some of the fields are mandatory and must be filled in by you. Please provide as much information as possible. The fields recorded include:
   
   
   • document type (select from a list)
   • title of your publication and the language of the title
   • brief description of the content of your document
   • date on which the document is published (usually the day you post it)
   • language of the document (to be selected from a list)
   • licence under which you want to publish your document (choose from a list)
     
     
   If you do not know what to enter in a form field, please move your cursor over the input field. An explanatory help text will appear (tooltip).
   
   
4. When you have finished entering data, your entries are displayed again and you have three options: You can correct the entries for your document if necessary, add it to a collection or save it directly.

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Document type selection

The document types available for selection and their definitions have been taken with slight modifications from the OPUS 4 manual (German).

The classification there was developed using the "Common Vocabulary for Publication and Document Types 10".

Article:	Documents published as an article, editorial, register, table of contents or editorial section in a scientific journal or periodical (postprint).
Bachelor Thesis:	Lowest level of a thesis (usually after 3 years of study).
Book:	Intended for classical monographic works.
Book Chapter, Contribution:	Documents that have been produced as part of a monographic work, such as chapters or contributions in collective works.
Conference Proceeding:	All types of documents associated with a conference. (Conference papers, conference reports, conference lectures, contributions to conference proceedings, conference contributions, abstracts, volumes of conference contributions, posters from conferences).
Contribution to a Periodical (Non-scientific):	Article in a newspaper, weekly magazine or other non-scientific periodical.
Course Material:	Teaching material in the broadest sense, e.g. lecture recordings as moving image or sound documents, exercise material, preparation or examination material. Lecture texts themselves, on the other hand, are of the document type Lecture.
Diploma Thesis:	Intermediate level of a thesis; before the start of the Bologna Process for academic degrees at the same level as the current Master's degree.
Doctoral Thesis:	Highest level of a thesis that is equivalent to or higher than a dissertation but does not follow the Bologna Convention.
Examination Thesis:	Intermediate level of a thesis of certain professions regulated by the German state (e.g. doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, teachers, judges, public prosecutors); before the start of the Bologna Process for academic degrees at the same level of the current Master's degree.
Habilitation:	See Dissertation.
Image:	Non-textual visual representation. Examples are pictures and photographs of objects, paintings, prints, drawings, other images and graphics, animations and moving images, film makers, diagrams, maps or sheet music. This document type can be used for digital and physical objects.
Journal Volume or Issue:	Part (volume, issue) of a journal or periodical; generally contains several contributions (articles).
Lecture:	University speeches, lectures and inaugural lectures.
Magister's Thesis:	Intermediate level of a thesis; before the start of the Bologna Process for academic degrees at the same level as the current Master's degree.
Master's Thesis:	Intermediate level of a thesis.
Moving Images:	Series of visual representations that give the impression of movement when shown one after the other. Examples are animations, films, television programmes, videos, zoetropes or the visual representation of a simulation.
Other:	Intended for anything that does not fit into any of the document types mentioned.
Periodical:	Journal or periodical, where the metadata references the journal or periodical as a whole.
Preprint:	Preliminary scientific or technical papers that are not intended to appear in an institution's series, but are intended to appear in a scientific journal or as part of a book. See also Working Paper.
Report:	Textual material that cannot be allocated elsewhere, e.g. reports, external research reports, internal reports, communications, statistical reports, project completion reports, technical documentation and instructions.
Review:	Reviews of books or articles, or a summary of the work other than by the author.
Sound:	Resource primarily intended to be heard, such as music files, audio CDs, speech and sound recordings. No distinction is made between sounds, noises and music.
Study Paper:	Text-based papers that are written as part of a degree programme (homework and seminar reports, research and project reports) and are not classified as a final paper.
Working Paper:	Preliminary scientific or technical paper that appears in an institution's series (also: research paper, research memorandum, discussion paper). See also document type Preprint.

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Modify or delete?

The possibility of subsequently modifying or deleting documents is not provided for. This takes into account the idea that the documents published via the publication server should be permanently citable and comparable with printed publications.

If you wish to modify an OPUS publication, the modified document must be uploaded as a new document in OPUS. This corresponds to a new edition of a printed publication. The original version of the publication remains on the server and can still be accessed.

The deletion of an OPUS publication is only possible in justified individual cases (e.g. legal violations).

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Technical notes

• Cookies must be enabled in the web browser in order to be able to post documents via the publication form.
• File size: no larger than 600 MB if possible.
• File name: no longer than 50 characters, permissible characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore and hyphen (no umlauts, brackets, spaces or special characters).
• File format: text documents as PDF, if possible.
• Please no access or copy protection by DRM measures.

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OPUS and metadata

The metadata retrieved and stored in OPUS is essentially the bibliographic information of your document. (In general, metadata can be defined as data that a) describe one or more resources or b) are linked to an object and describe this object.)

The basis for the OPUS metadata is the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set ("Dublin Core" or "DC"), which consists of fifteen basic elements. Dublin Core is the result of international efforts to find a common consensus in the description of electronic objects (in the broadest sense). The Library of Congress, the Online Cataloging Library Center and a number of national libraries are working on Dublin Core projects or are about to introduce it.

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Note: copyright and liability

Please remember:

- All publications on OPUS must comply with the provisions of copyright law (UrhG).

- As a user, you are responsible for complying with the law yourself and may be held liable in the event of misuse. Trier UAS accepts no liability for the content of documents and linked pages.

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Rights: first and second publication

a) General: Granting the simple right of use

In order to be able to publish a document on OPUS, you have to grant the Trier UAS Library a simple, non-exclusive user right according to § 31 para. 2 UrhG (German Copyright Act) to your work. This is done with the help of the contract that will be sent to you after uploading the document.

The simple user right allows the library to publish your document freely accessible worldwide on the internet, to store your data as well as to convert it if necessary. This right also applies to the German National Library and, if required, to subject-specific libraries with a national collection mandate.

Your copyright as author remains with you as a right that cannot be passed on.

b) First publication (grey road):

If you as an author publish a work on OPUS that has not already been published, you use OPUS for a first publication.

Since you only grant the library the simple user right when publishing, there is nothing to prevent further publication of the document (e.g. in journals or on other servers). However, please note: By granting the simple user right, you can no longer assign exclusive rights of use (e.g. to publishers).

c) Second publication (green road):

If the work you publish on OPUS has already been published elsewhere - e.g. by a commercial publisher - you use OPUS for a secondary publication. Whether such a second publication is permissible depends on the agreements made for the previous publication(s), such as the regulations of the publisher contract.

Publishers and rights of use: As a rule, publishers claim the exclusive right of use. This means that you lose the simple user right to your work when you sign the contract; a second publication is not permitted without further ado. However, publishers are increasingly willing to support the Open Access idea and allow secondary publication of scientific articles on document servers under certain conditions. The OA policies of individual publishers can be looked up on Sherpa Romeo.

d) Note: Collaborative work

In the case of joint works whose parts cannot be exploited separately, your co-authors are considered co-originators of the work (§ 8 UrhG). Publication should be agreed jointly.

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CC licences

If you want to publish a document in open access, you can use various licences to define the conditions and restrictions for the further use of your publication.

Creative Commons licence agreements are particularly widespread. The design of CC licence agreements is based on the following basic building blocks:

• BY (attribution): The name of the author must be mentioned in the case of further use.
• NC (non-commercial): The work may only be used for non-commercial purposes.
• ND (no derivatives): The work may not be modified, e.g. no translation is permitted.
• SA (share alike): After modification, the work may only be distributed under the same licence conditions.

By selecting individual components, you can grade the release of your work. Depending on the combination, the Open Access idea is realised to a greater or lesser extent. For an OPUS publication, you can choose between:

• CC0: no restriction, full release (insofar as legally possible)
• CC BY: attribution
• CC BY-SA: attribution + sharing under the same conditions
• CC BY-NC: attribution + non-commercial
• CC BY-NC-SA: attribution + non-commercial + sharing under the same conditions
• CC BY-ND: attribution + no derivatives
• CC BY-NC-ND: attribution + non-commercial + no derivatives.

For help deciding which licence type to use, see CC Chooser.

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Data privacy

The Trier UAS Library provides its users with a wide range of services on behalf of the public and on the basis of its user regulations. This includes the provision and operation of the publication server OPUS. Personal information is processed in order to make the publications you have uploaded accessible and to archive them.

Trier UAS Library collects and uses your data exclusively within the provisions of the data protection laws of the European Union and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and only for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements associated with the operation of OPUS. A personalised evaluation of the collected data does not take place.

The detailed data protection declaration is available to you as a PDF document (German).

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Policies

Trier UAS does not have a separate publication guideline. When writing and publishing scientific papers, please consider the "Leitlinien zur Sicherung guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis an der Hochschule Trier (German)".

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Documentation

The document server is operated on the basis of the software OPUS 4 - an open source software under GNU General Public License. OPUS documentation: opus4.kobv.de.

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