About the Repository

About Institutional Repositories

ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst is a Digital Commons project that highlights university scholarship of various types (working papers, conference proceedings, journal articles, dissertations and theses, monographs, etc.). Institutional Repositories (IRs) such as this bring together the majority of a University's scholarship and research under one umbrella, with an aim to showcase, provide access to, and preserve that research.

Where can I learn more about IRs?

This paper by Raym Crowe defines Institutional Repositories and argues their merits within an academic institution: 1) as a natural extension of academic institutions' responsibility as generators of primary research seeking to preserve and leverage their constituents' intellectual assets; and 2) as one potentially major component in the evolving structure of scholarly communication. He describes the roles of institutional repositories in this structure and explores the impact on major stakeholders in the process and outcomes.
An article by Alan McCord describes the role of institutional repositories in enhancing teaching, learning, and research.

Copyright Guidelines

Your inclusion of published journal articles in the institutional repository is an extension of your copyright to the work. The Sherpa / RoMEO site lists publishers' copyright and self-archiving policies. You can search for a particular journal title's information here. There is additional information specifically for authors in the For Authors section of ScholarWorks.

Content Guidelines for ScholarWorks

The following are intended to serve as guidelines for the types of collection content appropriate for ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. The guidelines are subject to change as ScholarWorks evolves.

1. The work must be produced, submitted, or sponsored by UMass/Amherst faculty, researchers, students or staff.

2. The work must be scholarly, educational, or research-oriented.

3. The work must not be ephemeral; contributions are intended to be a permanent part of the repository.

4. The work must be in digital form and ready for public dissemination. If the parts of the work require different file formats, ideally all the digital elements will be provided as a set. The ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Team can provide limited consultation assistance with requirements.

5. The author/copyright owner must be willing and able to grant UMass/Amherst the non-exclusive right to preserve and distribute the work via ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst.

6. If the work is part of a series, other appropriate digital works in that series should be contributed so that ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst can offer as full a set as possible.

Metadata The UMass Amherst Libraries will provide the metadata for material in ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. This section of the guidelines is currently being developed.

Preservation It is the responsibility of the UMass/Amherst Libraries to preserve submitted content using accepted preservation standards and techniques.

Removing or updating a work The repository is intended to be a permanent scholarly record. However, authors may request updated documents be posted. Posting updated versions along with the original material is the preferred way to show the progress of research.

There may be times when it is necessary to remove items, for example, if posting material violates copyright law. Authors may request removal from the repository administrator. ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst also reserves the right to remove material that does not fall within the content guidelines. When it is necessary to remove material, a placeholder will be left behind to inform readers that the content has been deliberately withdrawn.

About Selected Works Pages


What is a Selected Works page?


A Selected Works page, previously referred to as a personal researcher page, is a personal web page which may include full-text of published works and unpublished works, biographical and contact information, a photograph, your CV, and other professional or research-related materials in a variety of digital formats. Selected Works pages are free through the University Libraries, easy to use, and require no knowledge of HTML or programming to set up. To request a Selected Works page, please

You may view some examples of Selected Works pages here.

Who may request a Selected Works page on ScholarWorks?

Any University of Massachusetts affiliated faculty member or researcher may request a Selected Works page.

Why should I set up a Selected Works page?

A Selected Works page will promote your career by giving the world free, quick access to your research. Google, Google Scholar, and other search engines crawl the full text of all works!

Readership of your research will increase dramatically compared to paper reprints or subscription-only electronic copies.

You will receive periodic email reports containing statistics on how many times your work has been downloaded.

Through ScholarWorks, Selected Works and the University of Massachusetts Libraries you will be able to archive and ensure the preservation of your scholarly research materials in digital formats for years to come. Supported file types, in addition to documents, include graphics, audio, video, spreadsheets, PowerPoint—essentially anything in a digital format. A permanent unbreakable URL will be created for all of your materials.

Selected Works sites are easy to create and manage. They require no knowledge of HTML or programming.

You can manage your Selected Works site any time, any place from the internet and place your papers in different sections with names like “published articles” and “working papers” and also in customized subject categories.

You can designate an assistant who can help you manage your site. Please to have your assistant added as an administrator for your site.

You can describe your research materials with metadata (title, abstract, keywords, etc.) to make them more easily discoverable online. The metadata you create will be automatically organized in the format designated by University librarians.

You can upload and update your CV online.

You can also upload the email addresses of your colleagues, and have email announcements automatically sent out to them each time you add new materials to your site.

How does a Selected Works page work?

A member of the ScholarWorks team will set up your page for you. Please to get started. It would be helpful if you would include the following: a recent copy of your CV, a photograph of yourself, your UMass contact information, the name of the department you are affiliated with, and some content we can use to get your page started.

Once your site has been set up, you can quickly and easily begin uploading abstracts, titles, and full text files of your works (i.e., pre-prints, published articles, book chapters, etc.) You can learn more about Selected Works pages here.

In the case of published articles for which you do not hold the copyright and personal use exemptions are not allowed, the library can assist you in obtaining permission from the publisher to post the full text of your work on your site. To learn more about copyright please visit our For Authors page.

Visitors to your site can sort and search your works in various ways, and sign up for notification when you upload new materials.

Doctoral Dissertations in ScholarWorks @ UMass Amherst

Scope of Coverage: ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst contains doctoral dissertations written at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dates of Coverage: University of Massachusetts Amherst doctoral dissertations:

  • published since 1997

  • published 1996 or earlier, if they were retrospectively digitized for a special project or by special request

Update Schedule: The ScholarWorks @ UMass Amherst dissertations database is updated monthly.

Access & Availability: ScholarWorks @ UMass Amherst contains UMass Amherst doctoral dissertations from ProQuest Digital Dissertations : a proprietary database providing subject, title, and author access to most American dissertations accepted at accredited institutions. The full text of the dissertations appearing in ScholarWorks @ UMass Amherst is available only to students, faculty and staff currently affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and to those affiliated with other institutions that have licensed access to ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Other individuals and researchers may view citations, abstracts and the first 24 pages of dissertations at no cost.

Access to full-text dissertations can be purchased online from ProQuest. For further information, see Finding the Dissertation or Thesis You Need at the ProQuest Information & Learning Site. ProQuest's Dissertation Express is the quickest way to purchase copies of dissertations for direct delivery.

UMass Amherst Libraries Interlibrary Loan services will lend the bound copy of a thesis or dissertation if the circulating copy is available. Contact your local library to place an Interlibrary Loan request.

Masters Theses in ScholarWorks @ UMass Amherst

Scope of Coverage: ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst also contains Masters Theses written at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dates of Coverage: Masters Theses have been published electronically since the Spring 2007 semester.

Update Schedule: New Masters Theses are added to ScholarWorks three times per year.

Access & Availability: The full text of UMass Amherst theses is freely available to any person regardless of institutional affiliation.

DigitalCommons Repositories

The following Digital Commons sites are active:

Other IRs that use the Bepress technology: