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Research Guides

Scholars Junction: Mississippi State University's Institutional Repository

A guide to the Institutional Repository, including how to deposit your work.

Who can deposit materials in Scholars Junction?

Anyone studying or working at Mississippi State University, including:

  • Undergraduate students
  • Graduate students
  • Faculty members
  • Researchers
  • Clinicians
  • Staff members

Why should I deposit my work in Scholars Junction?

Depositing your work in the MSU Institutional Repository benefits you, MSU, and the general public.

  • Fulfill the requirements of your grant by ensuring free, open, perpetual access to your research.
  • Store your teaching resources, such as syllabi, reading lists, and your own original open access articles and books, and distribute them to your classes and fellow educators.
  • Enhance the visibility and reputation of your work and of MSU.
  • Preserve your department's history by depositing organizational records, event brochures, faculty CVs, and more.

What can I submit to Scholars Junction?

Scholars Junction accepts:

  • Original, finished research articles, data, posters, presentations, recordings, etc. from MSU students, faculty, staff, researchers, and clinicians
  • Materials related to the history and operation of Mississippi State University
  • Materials intended and prepared for open access, distribution, and reuse

 

We cannot accept:

  • Data containing sensitive or personally identifiable information
  • Materials for which you do not own the copyright and do not have the copyright owner's permission to deposit

 

File size

We impose no restriction on the file size of your contribution. However, when submitting items via the IR's web interface, your limit per file is 2gb (gigabytes), as that is the maximum size that most connections will successfully support. If you have larger files, or a large collection of files, please contact us to discuss your options.

 

File formats

We support many types of files.

Preferred

Common open file formats (such as .txt, .rtf, .pdf, .html, .jpg, .png, .xml, .wav, .zip/.tar/.rar, .tif)
These formats can be used in the future or can be easily migrated or emulated. MSU Libraries commits to keeping your data accessible.

Okay

Common proprietary file formats (such as those produced by Adobe Photoshop, LaTeX, Microsoft Office, RealAudio, SPSS, QuickTime)
The program code for these formats are not public, but they are so widely used that they will almost certainly be usable in the future.

Unsupported

File formats produced by rare or highly specialized software to which the general public or MSU Libraries may not have access.
MSU Libraries cannot commit to preserving and maintaining such formats. If there is no suitable supported format to which you can convert your file, we may accept the item if accompanied by human-readable descriptive information (see more on describing data).

How can I make a deposit?

There are several ways to contribute your work to Scholars Junction.

Method 1: Self-Service via Web Interface

Best for single items or small files.

  1. Log in to your Scholars Junction account.
    1. If you do not have an account, you will need to create one.
  2. Once you have logged in, the Submissions link will appear in the sidebar under "My Account". Click this link to begin.
  3. On the first screen, you will be asked to select a collection from a dropdown menu. If the suitable collection does not exist, contact us and we will create one.
  4. The next screen asks you to describe your submission. Provide as much information as possible; the more thorough you can be, the easier it will be for researchers and the general public to find your work.
  5. The third screen asks you to describe how the item is related to MSU. Enter any and all colleges, departments or schools, research centers or laboratories, offices, or other units to which the item relates. For example, an article co-authored by an anthropology professor and a researcher at the Social Science Research Center would require the following:
  6. The next screen will allow you to upload your material. An "item" in the IR can contain multiple files; for example, when you deposit a dataset, you can also include a ReadMe file with usage instructions.
  7. The final step is to read and agree to our distribution license.
  8. Click "Submit" to finalize your submission and send it to the IR admins for approval.

Once your submission has been accepted, you will receive a confirmation email with a permanent link to your item.

You can stop and save your submission at any time - simply return to your Submissions page when you're ready to continue and finalize your submission.

Method 2: Submit via Proxy

For collections of material or large files, or if you are having trouble submitting via the web interface.

  1. Tell us about yourself and your materials.
  2. Staff will respond to you as soon as possible to arrange the transfer of files.
    1. You can either download the latest metadata template and describe your materials yourself, or work with us to create metadata.
  3. Accept the distribution license.
  4. Staff will upload your materials.