Repository Policies

Metadata Policy

for information describing items in the repository

1. All Metadata on ARBOR are public domain (CC0). Anyone can access, copy, distribute, and re-use the metadata for any purpose free of charge.

Data Policy

for full-text and other full data items

1. Anyone may access full items free of charge.
2. If not tagged differently, copies of full items generally can be:
   1. reproduced, displayed or performed, given to third parties, and stored in a database in any format or medium
   2. for personal research or study, educational, not-for-profit, or commercial purposes without prior permission or charge. provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given.
3. This repository is not the publisher; it is merely the online archive.
4. Mention of the repository is appreciated but not mandatory.

Content Policy

for types of document & data set held

1. ARBOR is an institutional repository.
2. ARBOR holds all types of scientific materials.
3. A detailed list of publication types and datasets in ARBOR can be found in an according document.
4. Deposited items may include:
   1. working drafts
   2. submitted versions (as sent to journals for peer-review)
   3. accepted versions (author's final peer-reviewed drafts)
   4. published versions (publisher-created files)
   5. research data
5. Items are individually tagged with:
   1. their peer-review status.
   2. their publication status.

Submission Policy

concerning depositors, quality & copyright

1. Items may only be deposited by accredited members, and academic staff of the University of Bern, or their delegated agents.
2. Eligible depositors must deposit metadata for all their publications.
3. Eligible depositors must deposit full texts of all their publications, although they may delay making them publicly visible to comply with publishers' embargos.
4. The administrators only vet items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, relevance to the scope of ARBOR, valid layout and format, and the exclusion of spam.
5. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
6. Items can be deposited at any time, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired.
7. Deposited metadata and items can only made public by administrators.
8. If ARBOR receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed as soon as possible.

Preservation Policy

1. Items will be retained indefinitely.
2. The University Library will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
   1. Where possible items will be migrated to new file formats when necessary.
   2. It may not be possible to guarantee the readability of some unusual file formats.
3. The repository may work with external partners to convert or migrate file formats, develop and implement software emulations for old file formats, and/or record preservation metadata.
4. The repository regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
5. Items may only be removed for compelling reasons.
6. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
   1. Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
   2. Legal requirements and proven violations
   3. National Security
   4. Falsified research
7. Withdrawn items may not be deleted, but are removed from public view.
8. Identifiers/URLs of withdrawn items will be retained transiently. ARBOR may reveal a deleted status for records upon harvesting requests.
9. URLs will continue to point to 'tombstone' citations, to avoid broken links and to retain item histories.
10. The metadata of withdrawn items will not be searchable
11. Errata and corrigenda lists may be included with the original record if required.
12. If necessary, an updated version may be deposited. The earlier version may be withdrawn from public view, or the original URL will be linked to the latest version.
13. If ARBOR is closed down, the database will be transferred to another archive.