An Institutional Repository is an online platform which collects, preserves and disseminates the intellectual output of a research institution.
OAR@UM is the University of Malta’s Institutional Repository. It serves as an online platform for the submission of Open Access research produced under the auspices of the UM. All content in OAR@UM is managed by the UM Library. In accordance with the UM Open Access Policy [PDF], academics are required to deposit their research in OAR@UM.
Depositing your research in OAR@UM makes it widely available to anyone around the world. It also increases the visibility of publications and in doing so enhances the prospects of the work being viewed and cited. It also provides long-term preservation and accessibility to all publications with a persistent URL. Finally, publications deposited in OAR@UM are searchable through search engines, such as Google and Google Scholar as well as through OAI Service providers like BASE and CORE. Depositing research papers also helps students since OAR@UM is integrated within the Library’s portal, HyDi, hence makes the publications also searchable through this search engine.
Depositing a research paper in OAR@UM takes around 10 minutes. Instructions on how to use the platform can be found at OAR@UM Help [PDF]. The UM Library also provides regular group workshops as well as one-to-one training sessions to support researchers with the depositing process.
Get to know how you can book for the OAR@UM training workshop.
There are three levels of access that can be selected during the process of deposit:
Embargo period - upon deposit the metadata is immediately visible for everyone. However, the full-text will be available just for the author, for a defined period of time. Once the embargo period elapses, the publication will be made available in Open Access.
There are two versions of the publication:
Researchers are required to deposit in OAR@UM the final peer-reviewed and accepted versions of the peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. Nevertheless, subject to publisher restrictions, the UM encourages researchers to deposit the final published version in OAR@UM.
According to the UM Open Access Policy [PDF], researchers are encouraged to deposit all research output published after the implementation of the Policy. However, researchers are also recommended to deposit research output published before the implementation of the Policy. All forms of research output such as, but not limited to, journal articles, monographs, book chapters, reports, working papers, post-publication corrections and updates, video and audio representations can be uploaded on OAR@UM. It is highly recommended that research data and other research material supporting journal articles are to be deposited alongside the article.
All publications submitted in OAR@UM are complemented with additional metadata that describes the content. In order to access the full description, click on the "Show full item record" button available within each publication. There, you will be able to identify whether the publication is peer-reviewed, non-peer-reviewed or not applicable (in case of material that does not require peer-reviewing such as newspaper articles or reports).
Depositing your publications in OAR@UM has many benefits. Your publications will be deposited in a standardised format in a central location, ensuring their long-term preservation and managed by the UM Library. This will lead to better exposure and retrievability and you can link to them from your personal website and your departmental one too.
Unlike various websites, you are guaranteed that OAR@UM will not be closed down. Furthermore, the URL is short and it will never change. Moreover, publications deposited in OAR@UM are searchable through search engines, such as Google and Google Scholar. Additionally, your research will be indexed by OAI Service providers like BASE and CORE. This is not possible for research uploaded on ResearchGate or Academia.edu.
One of the main aims of OAR@UM is to provide an indefinite preservation of the research output. For this reason, it is not recommended to withdraw publications that have been deposited. However, in certain cases, researchers can withdraw specific content. Get to know more about our withdrawal policy.
The preferred option would be to have access to your publication changed from Open or Restricted to Closed which would mean that only the author or designated personnel would be able to access the full-text of the publication.
The metadata used to describe the publication can be modified at any time. The PDF file can be replaced with an updated version. However, the UM Library recommends to keep the original version too as someone might have already cited the paper and made reference to OAR@UM as the source.
One of the main aims of OAR@UM is to serve as an online platform for the submissions of Open Access research produced under the auspices of the UM. However, as this is the only Repository on the Maltese Islands, it also includes works that are of importance to Malta's cultural heritage and identity. If your publication meets these criteria, you are encouraged to deposit these publications in OAR@UM. Nevertheless, prior proceeding with the submission, it is important to obtain permission from the university where you produced your work.
No. The main aim of OAR@UM is an indefinite preservation of the research output produced under the auspices of the UM.
Publications deposited in OAR@UM are searchable through search engines, such as Google and Google Scholar. Your research will be indexed by OAI Service providers such as BASE and CORE. This is not possible for research uploaded on ResearchGate or Academia.edu. Furthermore, the UM Library is currently working on a software upgrade which will offer additional tools with regards to analytics.
The reason might be that the co-authors of your work deposited it without informing you. It is beyond the UM Library's control to check the copyright holders for all the publications. It is the submitter's responsibility to have the copyright clearance and permission from other co-authors. Another reason might be that the Library uploaded your publication on your behalf. The UM Library performs active collection development exercises. If research articles published by UM researchers are found in Open Access on ResearchGate, Academia.edu, or other subject repositories such as PubMed Central or arXiv, or your publication was published in an Open Access journal, such material can be immediately uploaded in OAR@UM by the Library. This exercise is being done to increase the visibility of the research produced under the auspices of the UM and to ensure that the UM actively collects and preserves the institution’s intellectual output.
Each publication submitted in OAR@UM has to be first reviewed and approved by the OAR@UM Team. This usually happens within three days of submission. Once your publication is approved, it will appear in OAR@UM in the respective collection as well as under Recent Submissions. However, your publication will not be immediately available through Google and Google Scholar as it is beyond the UM’s control when the records are indexed by the aforementioned search engines.