Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

Deposit your work

Why deposit?

In order to be eligible for the REF, the final peer-reviewed manuscript (Author Accepted Manuscript - before typesetting and layout) of research outputs must be deposited in an open access repository within three months of acceptance for publication.

Note: when uploading a file, only alphanumeric characters in the file name are accepted

How to deposit your work

To deposit a publication, you will need to provide basic details such as title, date of acceptance and full-text file. 

On your Symplectic homepage, select the link Deposit accepted research outputs and follow on-screen instructions.

If your publication has already been found by Symplectic:

  • select the link Deposit research outputs - you have 1 research output awaiting deposit to the repository
  • select the blue button Deposit
  • browse, upload the file, upload, and Deposit

Instruction documents are available within the help section of Symplectic, on the University of Oxford Research Support pages and on Symplectic FAQs page (all accessible via SSO)

Who needs to deposit

All authors, academics and researchers employed by the University of Oxford, are strongly encouraged to deposit their manuscripts, even if they are not senior or corresponding authors. This includes visiting fellows and professors. This requirement does not apply to DPhil students.
We encourage newly arrived researchers to deposit previous publications into Oxford's repository if this is practicable, but it is not compulsory if, for example, there are hundreds of items or they've already been deposited in the previous institution's repository.
One Oxford author can deposit the Author Accepted Manuscript on behalf of all other Oxford authors. Co-authors need to Claim the record, and check that a file has already been deposited

All articles accepted after the 1st April 2016 are expected to be deposited within 3 months of acceptance. Books & book chapters don't need to be deposited. Preprints can be deposited; they usually have a separate DOI so should be a separate item. If a preprint is later published, please remember to act on acceptance: create a new record and deposit the accepted manuscript.

Wellcome Open Research: Once an article passes peer review (i.e. it has received at least two Approved referee reviews, or one Approved plus two Approved with Reservations reviews), it will be indexed in PubMed and other bibliographic databases. Two green Approved ticks thus equates to final acceptance and can be used as date of acceptance. The final revised version, after peer-review has been completed, is required to be deposited

PubMed PDF is generally not acceptable, depending on the copyright (CC-BY PDFs can de deposited). Normally, authors have the right to deposit the manuscript version (AAM: Author Accepted Manuscript, final peer-reviewed version), not the type-set publisher version. In the case of 'gold' (paid for) open access articles, authors have the right to deposit the final published version. ORA will send a follow-up email asking for the AAM for the sake of completeness, but it is not compulsory to provide one.

Diagram showing where Author Accepted Manuscripts sit in the publication process: (1) Submitted version (or author's original pre-print) is submitted to publisher, (2) peer reviewing and editing, (3) Accepted version (post-print or Author Accepted Manuscript) is accepted by the publisher, (4) manuscript is copy-edited and typeset, (5) publication of the published version, or version on record

More information is available within the help section of Symplectic, on the University of Oxford Research Support pages and on Symplectic FAQs page (all accessible via SSO)

Symplectic guide