Contributor Basics

Who can contribute?

ScholarWorks accepts contributions from faculty and staff affiliated with the University of Montana. Materials from students (such as theses, senior projects, and awarded research) may also be included on a case-by-case basis. 

ScholarWorks will also accept materials from non-UM researchers that are produced in conjunction with a UM-sponsored event, such as a conference or lecture series. In these cases, each author must agree to the submission of their material.

Contributions to ScholarWorks must be scholarly/research-oriented and of enduring value. Contributions can include research and creative scholarship as well as university publications. Contributors must have the right to deposit the work in ScholarWorks.

Content may be contributed in a range of formats including text, image, audio, and video. Content types may include:

• Journal articles
• Conference proceedings
• Book reviews
• Books/chapters
• Graduate theses/dissertations/professional papers/capstones
• Undergraduate research (honors theses, senior projects/theses)
• Presentations/posters
• Technical reports
• White papers
• Artwork
• Grant output/data
• Archival materials
• University-produced publications: journals, magazines, newsletters
• Administrative documents

Please contact Wendy Walker for more information.

Email a CV, the full citation to a single work, or a digital copy of your work to Wendy Walker. Library staff will check publisher’s policies and upload eligible work to ScholarWorks for you. If you choose this option, please read the Author Submission Agreement.

Undergraduate and graduate students who need to upload a thesis, professional paper, portfolio, or capstone project, should review the appropriate Upload Instructions for student work.

Managing Your Scholarship in Scholarworks

Can I post related files (sound clips, data sets, etc.) alongside the published article?

Yes. Please be sure that there are no permissions issues related to use of the additional material. Sometimes, especially with images, you must write a letter seeking permission to use the material before it can be posted.

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 additional files.

ScholarWorks is meant to be a permanent scholarly record (working papers may be an exception). Once an item is deposited, a citation to it will always remain. Removing content is discouraged. However, authors may request removal of content from ScholarWorks. Please contact Wendy Walker to request removal of content.

Copyright and Open Access

ScholarWorks is an open access repository, which means content is available to anyone with access to the internet. Upon request from individuals, or based on publisher requirements, some content may be restricted for specific periods or limited to members of the University of Montana community.

I am a current UM student, faculty or staff member. How do I access campus-access-only restricted content?

All current University of Montana students, staff, and faculty can access content that has been restricted to campus even when they are off-campus. Create an account using your UM email address. Log back in with that account information, and you should be able to access the restricted content. If you continue to encounter difficulties, please contact Wendy Walker.

Unless otherwise specified, the author of the work is the copyright holder. The University of Montana claims no copyrights to the material posted in ScholarWorks.

Authors can elect to publish their material online and make it available free of charge through open access venues. Learn about open access here.

No. Although the content may be freely available from ScholarWorks, it’s important to remember that, unless otherwise stated, this content is protected by copyright law. Read about the exclusive rights given to copyright holders.

There are a few important exceptions to these exclusive rights. If you wish to use material in your class projects please consider whether the exception of Fair Use might apply. Learn more about Fair Use here.

SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) has assembled helpful resources regarding your rights as an author.

Journal publishers will sometimes ask an author to sign their copyright to their article over to the publisher. Other times they may simply ask you to sign a contract giving them permission to publish your article in their journal. Please read these contracts carefully prior to signing them. Many journal publishers will allow you to post the article in an institutional repository like ScholarWorks or you can negotiate with them to do so. Learn more about authors' rights here.