Metadata Policy for information describing items in the repository
1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
2. The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes provided the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given.
Data Policy for full-text and other full data items
1. Access to some or all full items is controlled.
2. Copies of full items generally can be:
- (a) reproduced, and displayed or performed
- (b) for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.
provided:
- (a) the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given
- (b) a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page
- (c) the content is not changed in any way
3. Full items must not be harvested by robots except transiently for full-text indexing or citation analysis
4. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holders.
5. This repository is not the publisher; it is merely the online archive.
6. Mention of SERVAL is appreciated but not mandatory.
Content Policy for types of document & data set held
1. This is an institutional or departmental repository.
2. No content policy defined.
Submission Policy concerning depositors, quality & copyright
1. Items may only be deposited by accredited members, and academic staff of the institution, or their delegated agents.
2. Authors may only submit their own work for archiving.
3. The administrator only vets items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, valid layout & format, and the exclusion of spam
4. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
5. Items can be deposited at any time, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers’ or funders’ embargo period has expired.
6. Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.
7. If SERVAL receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed immediately.
Preservation Policy
1. Items will be retained indefinitely.
2. SERVAL will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
3. SERVAL regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
4. Items may be removed at the request of the author/copyright holder, but this is strongly discouraged.
5. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
- (a) Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
- (b) Legal requirements and proven violations
- (c) National Security
- (d) Upon motivated request of the author
6. Withdrawn items are not deleted per se, but are removed from public view.
7. Withdrawn items’ identifiers/URLs are retained indefinitely.
8. URLs will continue to point to ‘tombstone’ citations, to avoid broken links and to retain item histories.
9. No closure policy defined.