MBZUAI eCommons: Submission Guidelines

MBZUAI eCommons is a non-commercial repository and supports the preservation and discovery of MBZUAI-affiliated content. The repository administrators will endeavor to post an open access version of a document when available.  Please note that some material may only be available to current faculty, staff, and students, and as instructed by the authors.

Content deposited is digital and must be:

• Produced, coauthored, and submitted by MBZUAI affiliated authors (faculty, researchers, students, and other employees of MBZUAI)
• Scholarly in nature, research-oriented, or of institutional significance.
• Submitted by authors who own the copyright to all components of the content or have permission from co-authors or publishers to make the content available on MBZUAI eCommons.
• Faculty-endorsed student research submissions.

Various file formats and sizes are accepted and as managed by the repository platform.

Examples of content include the following:

• Working papers, conference papers, and technical reports.
• Preprints, accepted versions
• MBZUAI student theses and dissertations.
• Published articles where copyright and/or licenses are compatible.
• Faculty course-related output of academic interest (for example, lecture series).
• Data sets and other products of the research process.
• MBZUAI annual reports, newsletters, etc.
• Other content may include information on MBZUAI-affiliated patents, peer-reviewed MBZUAI series and journals, and conference and symposia proceedings.

Author Submissions

MBZUAI authors may submit work in the repository using the submission link or permit MBZUAI Library to do this on their behalf.

Submissions meeting all conditions, and with any required approvals, will be made public by MBZUAI Library.

Considerations for submission include the following:

• The author must own copyright for all components of the work or have permission to make content available in the repository.
• Authors should notify co-authors not affiliated with MBZUAI of their intent to deposit work and confirm this permission in submitting a work for deposit.
• If the work has already been published by a journal or in another format, rights may have been transferred as part of the publication process. Copyright status of a work should be confirmed before submitting the work to the repository.
• If an author has already transferred rights to a publisher for a work, they may still be able to deposit a version of their paper in MBZUAI eCommons. The SHERPA ROMEO platform documents publishers’ copyright policies and may be referred to for clarification on these conditions before depositing in a repository. Examples of allowances include:
  • Allow deposit of the accepted version of the manuscript (not the publisher's version).
  • Allow deposit after a determined period (embargo).
• If a work has been sponsored or supported by an agency or organization other than MBZUAI, MBZUAI authors confirm that in submitting the work to the MBZUAI eCommons they have the organization’s permission and following any conditions of the agreement.
• If an author is considering submitting an article in a traditional publication they should consider retaining rights by attaching the SPARC Addendum to the publisher's contract and at a minimum retain the rights to deposit in a repository.
• Authors of previously unpublished content are encouraged to apply for a Creative Commons license or the equivalent before submitting their work to the repository.

More information on author copyright guidelines can be found on the Open Access Publishing guide.

Theses & Dissertations Submissions

Students are required to submit an electronic copy of their final and approved graduate thesis for deposit in the MBZUAI eCommons repository.

• Students will complete a deposit declaration form in consultation with graduate supervisors.
• Public access to the full contents of student research is determined by the completed declaration form and may accordingly be restricted to an abstract or content may be embargoed for a period of time and as required.

For more information on submission guidelines please refer to the MBZUAI Graduate Thesis Guide

Students interested in submitting authored open access research, may do so with the endorsement of faculty.