Open Access

The Hope College Open Access Policy was drafted and approved by the Library Committee in academic year 2010/2011 and went into effect October 15, 2011. It was updated in Spring of 2025.

Compliance with the policy is fairly simple. When publishing a peer-reviewed journal article or conference proceeding, Hope faculty submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript (author's accepted manuscript) for inclusion in the institutional repository Hope College Digital Commons.

What types of faculty scholarship falls under the policy?

The policy applies to peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. Non-scholarly writing such as op-ed pieces, popular articles, and scholarly writing that receive monetary compensation (textbooks, monographs) are not covered by the Open Access policy.

When should I submit my article?

Submit the author's accepted manuscript at the time of acceptance for publication, or no later than the date of publication. This is the final author's version, after peer review and publisher corrections. If there are further corrections to the article after submission, you may replace the deposited article. Articles may be submitted in Word or PDF format. Be sure to turn off comments in Word prior to submission.

How should I submit my article?

Follow the instructions provided in Hope College Digital Commons Guide: Faculty Submissions Information. This guide also provides additional information that may be useful in understanding what is added to the institutional repository and next steps following submission of the author's accepted manuscript.

Will every article submitted be visible to the public?

While every peer-reviewed journal article or conference proceeding should be submitted, there may be reasons why an article may remain unavailable to the public. Some articles may have embargo periods and may not appear to the public until 6 to 18 months after publication. No author's accepted manuscript will be available to download from the institutional repository before the article is published by the publisher. If faculty opt out of the policy for a specific article, the article will not be added to the institutional repository.

How can I opt out of the policy and what does that mean?

The policy requires that faculty make their articles available for deposit into the institutional repository. However, faculty may designate that a specific scholarly work not be disseminated by requesting a waiver. The waiver applies to the granting of a non-exclusive license to Hope College. A waiver may be requested for any reason at the time of deposit by sending an email to digitalcommons@hope.edu. Authors may also withdraw articles previously posted to the institutional repository at any time by requesting a waiver and stating a reason.

What about works not covered by the Open Access Policy?

The Hope College Library seeks to maintain a complete record of faculty scholarship and creative performance. Bibliographic information for articles, books, book chapters, op-ed pieces, musical performance, dance performance and choreography, artist exhibits, etc. are collected from reports generated in the Faculty Activity Reporting (FAR) system.