Frequently Asked Questions

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FORMATTING

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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ADDITIONAL FILES AND MULTI-PART FILES

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 Associated 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 Digital Commons system refers to these supplementary items as Associated Files. You will be prompted to submit Associated 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 Digital Commons system.

Please be sure that there are no permissions issues related to use of the associated material.If you have questions on if you have the rights to distribute your work through the SURFACE institutional repository, contact your editor or publisher to determine if you have self-archiving rights, or contact the SURFACE team at surface@syr.edu.

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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PERSISTENT IDENTIFIERS: DOIs and ORCIDs

Can I request a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)?

The SURFACE team is pleased to provide DOIs for the following document types:

  • Journals and Journal Articles
  • Reports
  • Conference Proceedings
  • Books
  • Dissertations*

Please note that to qualify for a DOI the document must be published at Syracuse University or by a Syracuse University affiliate or department, and the document must be Open Access in the Repository.

*Dissertation DOIs can be provided retroactively on an “as-requested” basis. To request a DOI for your dissertation, your dissertation must meet the above criteria and not already have a DOI associated with it. Currently, we cannot process DOIs for dissertations which have not yet been published in SURFACE. Please email surface@syr.edu to begin this process.

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Should I include my ORCID when submitting?

We encourage all authors submitting to SURFACE to create and use ORCIDs (Online Research Contributor iDs). To better understand the benefits of maintaining an ORCID, please visit our About – ORCID Research Guide

When adding your ORCID to the submission record, please enter it in the following format: [name as appears on publication/author list plus linked ORCID]. For example, David Seaman: 0000-0002-3259-8807.

To “link” your ORCID, you must use html. You can follow instructions on how to do this here. For your ORCID, the URL will be the whole link of your ORCID and the numeric identifier is what you will input as the “link text” (see above example).

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PUBLICATION CONSIDERATIONS

Can I post a reprint from a journal?

It depends on what the journal allows, and your publication rights, which is usually specified in their agreement with the author. All works in SURFACE should align with copyright and publication contracts. Permissions for many publishers can be found at SHERPA RoMEO.

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A working paper in the repository has been published with slight revisions 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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