Frequently Asked Questions


What is ISU ReD?

ISU ReD collects and provides current and long-term access to the research and scholarship of the faculty, staff, and students of Illinois State University. This growing institutional repository of articles, reports, electronic theses and dissertations, data sets, and other digital assets reflects the diversity of the research, scholarship, and creative activities of the ISU community with a focus on providing open access.

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Who can deposit material?

ISU faculty, staff, students, alumni and other employees or collaborators are all eligible to deposit work in ISU ReD. Deposits may be made by creators/authors, their representatives, or library personnel. Works from undergraduate authors must be submitted via a faculty or staff member from the academic unit from which the work originated.

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What can I deposit?

Works to be deposited in ISU ReD include but are not limited to pre- or post-prints of scholarly papers, reviews, books, and book chapters; presentations, proceedings, poster sessions, or conference workshops; creative works and performances; white papers; student capstone projects; dissertations and theses; technical reports; syllabi, lesson plans, and other instructional materials; datasets, and other scholarly works. Original versions of a work should be submitted with updates allowed only on a very limited case-by-case basis. Works must be in a finished stage. ISU ReD is not to be used as a file sharing system for works in progress. There are no limitations to the amount of material that an author can submit. Should files be larger than 100 MB, please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu for assistance.

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How do I deposit in ISU ReD?

On any page of ISU ReD, there is a “Submit Research” link in left column. Clicking that link opens a new page where you must select your department. If you do not see your department listed, please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu to have it added. Once a department is selected, you must read and agree to the terms of ISU ReD’s Submission Agreement. A form will then open for you to fill out the descriptive information (title, author, subjects, abstract, etc.) on your research. You will also upload your research documents on this page (see What File Formats Can I Deposit for more information). If your research includes more than one file, make sure to check the additional files box at the bottom of the page, and add more files as needed. Once the necessary information has been entered into the form, click the Submit button. Your research is then sent to one of the ISU ReD core team members for final approval before it is made available in the repository.

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What file formats can I deposit?

Any widely used file format (audio, video, image, word processing) will be accepted into ISU ReD. However, there are no preservation measures taken once the files are submitted. Because of this, future users may have trouble accessing out-of-date file formats. Whenever possible, it is suggested that the user submits PDF documents as those are most likely to be accessible in the future. However, if research can only be preserved in a particular format (video, audio, etc.), please submit using that format.

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I don't have electronic versions of old working papers that I'd like to include in ISU ReD. 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 ISU ReD. 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 ISU ReD.

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How do I include accents and special characters in the abstracts and titles?

ISU ReD supports the worldwide character set (Unicode, utf-8). Accents, symbols, and other special characters may be copied and pasted into the abstract or title field from a word processing file or typed in directly. Windows users may also use the Character Map to insert these characters. Macintosh users may use the Character Palette (available via Edit > Special Characters in the Finder).

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How does uploading content to ISU ReD help me disseminate my work?

ISU ReD captures and disseminates the intellectual capital created by Illinois State researchers. These efforts expand readership and usage by making scholarship freely accessible. Additionally, ISU ReD brings together into a single resource the full scope of the academic work conducted at Illinois State University. This makes it easier to access and illustrate the value of these efforts. On a practical level, ISU ReD is designed to work with search engines like Google. This increases the discoverability of publications uploaded into the system.

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How do I know how many times my material has been downloaded?

As a depositor to ISU ReD, you will receive monthly e-mail reports showing the number of downloads your work(s) received the previous month and your all-time downloads. A link is provided to your author dashboard, where you can view download counts for different regions of the world and at certain institutions, and see referring sites that led readers to your full-text document.

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A working paper I deposited in ISU ReD has been published in a slightly revised form in a journal. What should I do?

Many journals do not have any restrictions on working papers (pre-prints) that preceded a published article, especially if substantial revisions were made. Check your author agreement with the journal to confirm that there is no problem with leaving the working paper on the site. Depositing the work in ISU ReD would constitute noncommercial use. A good practice is to include the citation to the published article on the cover page of the working paper. Please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu for assistance.

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My publisher is requiring me to wait a certain period of time before I can post my publication on ISU ReD. What can I do?

In cases where publishers require an embargo period before allowing authors to distribute their own work, ISU ReD can limit access to your publication until the embargo period has passed. However, it is recommended that authors review the copyright agreement they signed when their manuscript was accepted for publication. Many publishers are now allowing authors to disseminate pre-publication versions (pre-prints or post-prints) of their work. A detailed summary of most journals’ policies can be found at the SHERPA/ROMeO website. If you have questions or need assistance understanding your author rights, please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu

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I signed a publisher's copyright agreement giving them the right to control distribution of my work. Can I still upload my publication to ISU ReD?

Refer to the author agreement you signed with the publisher. If you granted the publisher the non-exclusive right to distribute, you may post your work to ISU ReD. Even if the publisher has the exclusive right to distribute, you may be able to post a different version of your work (e.g. a pre-print version as opposed to the publisher’s PDF). Check SHERPA/ROMeO and the publisher’s website for policies for that particular journal.

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A working paper I deposited in ISU ReD has been published in a slightly revised form in a journal. What should I do?

Many journals do not have any restrictions on working papers (pre-prints) that preceded a published article, especially if substantial revisions were made. Check your author agreement with the journal to confirm that there is no problem with leaving the working paper on the site. Depositing the work in ISU ReD would constitute noncommercial use. A good practice is to include the citation to the published article on the cover page of the working paper. Please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu.

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What are my rights as an author?

The author is the copyright holder unless and until the copyright is transferred to someone else under a signed agreement. Normally, the copyright holder possesses the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, public performance, public display, and modification of the original work. The author, who has transferred the copyright of a work without retaining one’s rights must ask permission unless the use of that work is one of the statutory exemptions in copyright law.

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Where can I learn more about my rights as an author?

For more information on author’s rights, please visit Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition Resources for Authors (SPARC) or contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu

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Where can I learn more about copyright?

Please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu

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I'm an Illinois State University Graduate Student. Can I upload my thesis/dissertation to ISU ReD?

The Illinois State University Graduate School has developed a process for students to create and make available via ISU ReD an electronic copy of their thesis or dissertation. The advantages of this approach are that content can be presented in far more versatile and effective ways compared to paper, and it is possible for a student to allow digital access to his or her work so that it reaches an audience that extends well beyond the library shelf. Your Thesis/Dissertation is uploaded to ISU ReD. Optionally, you can also upload your Thesis/Dissertation to ProQuest. To learn more about this process, please contact the Graduate School at 309-438-4593 or visit their web site at: http://grad.illinoisstate.edu/academics/thesis-dissertation/.

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I understand ISU ReD can support the electronic publishing of academic journals. How do I learn more about this?

ISU ReD is an ideal hosting platform for open access journals. The system supports the entire peer-review process from start to finish. In order for us to host a journal the editor must be affiliated with Illinois State University. You can see a list of our hosted journals. Please contact the ISU ReD administrator at ISUReD@ilstu.edu for additional information.

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How do I request that my name be changed in ISU ReD?

Any author with content in ISU ReD may notify us of a name change at any time, for any reason, by emailing ISUReD@ilstu.edu. In the email, please include:

  1. Name(s) currently listed on your content in ISU ReD
  2. Complete list of items you would like changed, with a URL for each item
  3. The name you would like to be displayed

Although Digital Commons keeps records of content revisions and may notify co-authors of record updates, we will not publicize the change.

This policy excludes name changes to ISU theses and dissertations, which must be handled through the Graduate School. Please contact dissert@ilstu.edu to initiate that process.

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