Constellation Institutional Repository FAQ and permission forms: Home

Here’s how Constellation can benefit you, Elmhurst College, and other researchers and students in your field:

• Increased visibility

Constellation is open access, meaning anyone can access its contents (unless the author chooses to restrict readership).  No one needs a subscription or a password, and submissions are included in Google or other search engine results.  Therefore, the likelihood that your work will be discovered by others is increased, potentially leading to new opportunities, e.g. collaborative research, higher citation rates, grant funding, job prospects and/or graduate school acceptance.

• Knowledge sharing

Since Constellation is open access, other researchers can readily access your work, potentially leading to citation and to collaboration across and beyond Elmhurst College.  The repository can be a key part of the scholarly communication and publication processes. 

• Continual and perpetual access to your work

Researchers no longer need to track you down to get a copy of your work.  They, and you, can access your work at any time from any place.

• Centralized location of Elmhurst College scholarship

The online repository provides a convenient, single location to which researchers can refer.

• Preservation

In addition to your personal copies of your work, Elmhurst College will keep permanent digital copies in Constellation or its successor technology.

Yes (but are you aware of your rights as a creator of original work?).

When you submit your work to Constellation, neither Elmhurst College nor the A.C. Buehler Library acquires or controls your copyright.  You only give us permission to post your work in Constellation.

If you are planning on submitting your content to a publisher, many allow you to publish with them and deposit a copy of your work in Constellation.  Always read your publisher's agreement before signing so you know what rights you keep.  You may negotiate with publishers who do not allow deposits in an institutional repository. 

Refer to our intellectual property/ fair use guidelines/ author rights for more information on author rights and publishers.

• Future Publication
  • Some, but not all, publishers accept works that have been made available through Constellation.  You should always check the policies of potential publishers to ensure that items deposited in Constellation can be published later.  This applies to student work, as well.  To find publishers that allow you to deposit your work in Constellation, use a resource called SHERPA/RoMEO.
• Third Party Copyrighted Material
  • If your work includes materials, including images, that are not original works by you, you may need to secure permission from the copyright owner to include those materials in your work in Constellation.
• No signed Elmhurst College IR permission form on file
  • Remember that we need your signed permission on file to upload your content. The form can be found here.