Frequently Asked Questions


Why should I post my work on eCommons rather than my faculty website, a subject repository, or a commercial repository such as Academia.edu or ResearchGate?

You don't have to choose just one place to post your work, but all options have different advantages. Many publishers only allow non-commercial reuse of work, which means that you can only legally post your articles in a non-profit repository such as eCommons. Subject based repositories such as arXiv are great places to post your work to get readers from others in your discipline.

Posting your materials in eCommons means you'll be very easy to find on search engines and will get much more international attention. In addition, material posted in eCommons is part of the Digital Commons Network, which brings together scholarship from other institutions using the Digital Commons software. Our statistics show that this is a huge driver of downloads of work.

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What's the difference between eCommons and SelectedWorks (and its replacement)?

eCommons is a full text database of Loyola produced scholarly material. With very few exceptions, we only post citations in eCommons that include full text. We also carefully edit the metadata and check copyright permissions for this material. We intend this to be a long-term secure repository. SelectedWorks is a space for you to profile your scholarly work in whatever way you wish, and can include citations with links to the full text on a publisher's website. Note that this tool will be changing name and functionality in the coming year, but the same distinction will exist.

It's best to start by submitting your work to eCommons, and then use the collection tool in SelectedWorks to include those citations (check back for an updated procedure). That way your download counts will be preserved and you will know that your posting is not violating copyright. We can take care of this process for you, as well as send examples of scholarly profiles.

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Who may participate in eCommons?

All Loyola faculty (including part-time faculty) may submit any scholarly items to eCommons. Student work is limited to theses and dissertations, award winners, and items co-authored with a faculty member. We can also host conference sites, journals, and unique collections. Please contact us if you want to learn more about these services.

eCommons is a full text database of Loyola produced scholarly material.

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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. You may bring your items to the library for scanning (please contact us if you wish to take advantage of this), or scan the item yourself and send the PDF. We will create a version of the PDF that is full text searchable.

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My work is in a non-textual medium. What do I do?

The eCommons software allows you to post streaming media or embed media from other sources.Contact us if you would like to discuss how to do this.

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When I copy and paste abstracts into the Submit form, some formatted text reverts to plain text. What's going on?

When copying abstracts from a word processing file or a PDF file, and pasting the text into the submission form, you are taking text from an environment that supports fonts and text style changes. Because the abstract is intended to be presented on the web, text styles must be specified using HTML codes.

If submitting an abstract in HTML format, please be sure to select the corresponding option on the submission form.

The following HTML tags are recognized by the system and may be used to format an abstract (use lowercase tags):

How to include HTML tags

HTML tags
<p> - paragraph
<p>This is the first paragraph.</p>
<p>This is the second paragraph.</p>

This is the first paragraph.

This is the second paragraph.

<br /> - line break
<p>This is a line of text with a linebreak here. <br /> This is text after</p>

This is a line of text with a linebreak here.
This is text after
<strong> - strong/bold
<strong>bold text</strong>

bold text

<em> - italics/emphasis
<em>italicized text</em>

italicized text

<sub> - subscript
Text with <sub>subscript</sub>

Text with subscript
<sup> - superscript
Text with <sup>superscript</sup>

Text with superscript

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

The repository software 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 do I revise a submission?

To revise a submission that has been posted to the repository, contact the repository administrator with the new version.

If the submission has been submitted, but not yet posted, you may revise it via your My Account page:

  1. Locate the article on your My Account page, and click the title.
  2. Click Revise Submission from the list of options in the left sidebar.
  3. Enter your changes in the Revise Submission form, and click Submit at the bottom of the page to submit your changes. (You only need to modify the portion of the form that corresponds to the changes you wish to make.)

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How can I submit a multi-part file, such as multiple chapters for a book?

Combine all the sections together as one Microsoft Word file or PDF file and submit that.

To make one PDF file from multiple files, open the first PDF file, then choose Document>Insert Pages from Acrobat's menus to insert the second file (indicate it should go after the last page of the first file), and repeat for all documents. The result will be one compound PDF file which may then be submitted.

If you feel that the one large PDF file might be too large for some people to download, we suggest that you submit the consolidated file as the full text of the article, and then upload the separate chapters or sections of the document as Supplemental Files. These files will appear on the web page alongside the complete document. For more information about uploading associated files, see below.

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Can I post related files (sound clips, data sets, etc.) alongside the published article?

Yes. The bepress system refers to these supplementary items as Supplemental Files. You will be prompted to submit Additional Files when you upload your submissions. The name of the files you upload will appear on the web site along with your short description of it. Viewers must have the necessary software to open your files; that is not provided by the bepress system.

Please be sure that there are no permissions issues related to use of the associated material. Sometimes, especially with images, you must write a letter seeking permission to use the material before it can be posted.

Also note that where possible, items such as images, charts and tables that are referenced in the document (or otherwise an integral part of the document) should be included directly in the article itself and not posted just as associated files.

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Can I post a reprint from a journal?

It depends on what the journal allows, which is usually specified in their agreement with the author. If it would not violate copyright to post the reprint on your repository site, you're welcome to do so. Permissions for many publishers can be found at SHERPA RoMEO.

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A working paper in our repository site 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 that preceded an article, especially if substantial revisions were made. You should check your author agreement with the journal to confirm that there is no problem with leaving the working paper on the site. The repository would constitute noncommercial use.

Assuming the working paper does remain on posted in the repository, it is a good idea to include the citation to the published article on the cover page of the repository working paper. Please contact the repository administrator to request this change.

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Who holds the rights over materials posted on eCommons?

The copyright holder is listed on each item, and that person or organization holds the rights. Most of the items are posted with Creative Commons licenses, which license certain rights to users of eCommons to download and use materials within normal academic parameters. Any use beyond what is permitted by the license must be granted by the copyright holder. eCommons staff cannot grant permissions for use.

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