Western University
AC-11: Access to Research

Scholarship@Western collects, disseminates, archives, and preserves a variety of materials created or sponsored by Western University community. It aims to facilitate knowledge sharing by providing open access to the academic and professional achievements at Western. This process occurs on a voluntary basis and there is currently no policy that obligates researchers to provide open access to their research.

Scholarship@Western is a multi-functional portal that collects, showcases, archives, and preserves a variety of materials created or sponsored by The University of Western Ontario community (hereinafter called Western). It aims to facilitate knowledge sharing and broaden the international recognition of Western’s academic excellence by providing open access to Western’s intellectual output and professional achievements. It also serves as a platform to support Western's scholarly communication needs and provides an avenue for the compliance of research funding agencies' open access policies. Eligible Contributors Faculty members (current, emeritus, and retired), researchers, librarians, archivists, students, and staff members of Western may deposit appropriate materials in Scholarship@Western. Retrospective deposits of materials published or created before the authors joined Western are permitted as long as the authors are currently affiliated with Western. Retrospective deposits of materials by authors who are no longer affiliated with Western are acceptable as long as the materials to be deposited were published or created by the authors during their tenures at Western. All contributors must have the authority to clear copyright or must have the copyright cleared in advance if the materials to be deposited are under the protection of copyright. Materials Appropriate for Scholarship@Western Intellectual output of Western, e.g., published articles, books, book chapters, theses and dissertations, working papers, etc. Scholarly publications created or sponsored by eligible contributors, e.g., online journals, research bulletins, etc. Materials presented or disseminated at academic events held at Western, e.g., conference proceedings, presentations, research posters, speeches, etc. Academic materials generated by members of Western that support teaching, learning, and knowledge dissemination, e.g., course materials, learning objects, etc. Materials that demonstrate professional knowledge and contribute to the growth of the concerned professions, e.g., published articles, technical reports, presentations, etc. Other materials deemed appropriate by the administration of Western Libraries. Material Formats Materials must be in formats that are compatible with the Scholarship@Western platform. Deposit Method Contributors are encouraged to deposit materials to Scholarship@Western themselves. Assistance with the deposit process is available upon request. If an item is already deposited in a digital repository that is a stable and trusted archive maintained by a non-ephemeral agency or an established institution, the depositor can simply provide a link to the item in Scholarship@Western For materials that are accessible from a personal Web site, the depositor should upload a copy of them to Scholarship@Western for archival purpose. All deposited materials will be forwarded to the manager of Scholarship@Western for approval before they are released for online access. Materials deposited by individuals other than eligible contributors or not appropriate for Scholarship@Western will be rejected. Individuals who deposited rejected materials will be notified accordingly. Material Preservation Authors of the materials to be deposited must grant Western Libraries the non-exclusive right to store, showcase, reproduce, disseminate, and preserve the deposited materials. Scholarship@Western is hosted by Berkeley Electronic Press in Berkeley, California. Material Withdrawal Authors who would like to request a withdrawal of their works deposited in Scholarship@Western must contact Western Libraries. Please contact Western Libraries if you have any questions about Scholarship@Western.