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e-space

What is e-space?

An Open Access repository, e-space aims to capture and preserve the intellectual output of Manchester Metropolitan University and make it freely available over the Web.

A showcase for research at MMU, e-space contains pre-prints (journal articles submitted for peer-review), post-prints (final versions of papers that have gone through the peer-review process and that have been accepted for publication), book chapters, working papers and conference presentations.

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Open access and self-archiving

Open Access is free, online access to research articles, by anyone, anywhere via the Web. Open Access is achieved when one, or both, of the following conditions are met:

  • All users have free, permanent access to research and licence to use, copy or distribute that research
  • Research is deposited in electronic form, into an established repository. (Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2002)

Self-archiving is the process by which researchers deposit their own work into a repository such as e-space.

Repositories such as e-space do not 'publish' academic work in the same way as an academic journal. Instead, putting work into a repository complements current modes of scholarly communication and does not preclude the author from submitting research to a published journal.

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Benefits of Open Access: why have e-space?

Besides enabling open access, e-space has many other benefits:

  • Increased exposure to research, and a way for MMU researchers to find out what colleagues in other departments are doing.
  • Aids the dissemination of research to both a local and global audience.
  • Raises individual researcher and University profile.
  • Is arranged in such a way that is identifiable as belonging to the university, in that department, schools and research institutes are individually represented.
  • Increases readership and citation: content is two to five times more likely to be read and cited.
  • Adds another facet to the process of scholarly communication: the content of e-space is harvested on a global scale by services such as Google and OAIster, an initiative based at the University of Michigan to cross-search institutional repositories worldwide.
  • Complements existing channels of scholarly communication but in no way attempts to replace them, facilitating interdisciplinary communication and research.
  • Accommodates a wide variety of file types and formats. Types of material included in e-space might include articles (both pre- and post-print), book chapters, working papers and conference presentations. Formats might include PDF, Word, Excel, HTML and XML. For advice about the deposit of other file formats contact the e-space team.
  • Enables long-term access and preservation to research that is easily accessible all over the world.
  • Introduces a mechanism for reporting, recording and auditing intellectual output and assets.

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Copyright and other concerns

Many publishers allow the deposit of articles published in their journals into repositories in one form or another. However, conditions are often attached, and e-space staff will be happy to assist with any copyright queries. A useful source of information is the SHERPA RoMEO database, which covers many of the major publishers, and many smaller publishers. The e-space team will ensure that no conditions of copyright are contravened by depositing items within the repository.

Within e-space, it is simple to denote which submissions have been through the peer-review process and which have not. In addition, it is possible to restrict access to collections, so that only designated people will be able to access material.

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Depositing your research into e-space

MMU’s institutional repository, e-space, is hosted by BioMed Central, the largest Open Access journal publisher, and uses the Open Repository service.

e-space staff will deposit your research on your behalf and will check the copyright of all submissions. You may also, if you wish, deposit your own research. This is known as self-archiving. For more information and help on getting your research into e-space, including self-archiving, contact the e-space team.

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RE-space: repository enhancement for e-space

This is a JISC funded project which will address key issues and challenges relating to repository enhancement: advocacy; content acquisition; embedding of the repository into University strategy and workflows. For more information go to the project website.

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Contact us

For further information about e-space, look at our FAQs or contact the e-space team:

e-space team 2007

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