Digital Commons Link | digitalcommons.jsu.edu
If at any time you require assistance, please Contact Us.
Before you can submit, you'll need to make sure you have an account with JSU Digital Commons. See "Step 1" tab above if you need help with account creation.
You'll want to have a few things handy before you start the submission process:
From the JSU Digital Commons (https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/) home page, under the Author Corner box at left, use the "Submit Research" link. This will take you to the Submit Your Research page. You'll see a few options under Student Works. Select the appropriate link for your content (eg, "theses" or "DNP Projects")
Before you can upload your content, you will see a screen with the JSU Digital Commons Submission Agreement. You are required to tick a box acknowledging this agreement. We recommend that you print the agreement for your records, but the short version: you agree to allow the Library the non-exclusive right to preserve and make your thesis/dissertation/project publicly accessible via the Internet. You keep all copyright and other intellectual property rights to your work.
You're almost done! Now you're ready to upload your content. You have 2 options:
Additional Files & Approval Forms:
You have the option to upload additional files along with your primary file. This can be used to include supplementary information (eg, data in an Excel spreadsheet, images, etc.). Each additional file should be clearly labeled. Unlike your primary file (your thesis/dissertation/project paper file) which must be in Word or PDF format, additional files can be uploaded in almost any format.
IF YOU HAVE YOUR APPROVAL FORM AS A SEPARATE FILE from your thesis/dissertation/project file, you can upload it as an additional file. To do this, once you have used the “Upload Full Text” option and attached your primary file (your thesis/dissertation/project paper), tick the box under “Additional Files” and click submit. The next screen will allow you to upload your form or any other additional files.
Required fields will be noted in JSU Digital Commons with a red arrow. All other information is optional. The information you'll need to enter:
JSU Digital Commons is openly accessible and the items housed in it can be found via any internet search engine and downloaded in fulltext. Once your submission has been approved by the System Administrator, it is immediately available to the public. An “embargo” is a restriction placed by the system on your dissertation/thesis/project so that users have access only to the basic information on the landing page: title, abstract, and citation information. Users will be unable to view or download the fulltext of the document until the embargo period has expired. You may choose to embargo your thesis/dissertation/project for six months or one year. The fulltext document will become available to users on the date the embargo expires (six months or one year in the future). The default setting is no embargo.
Why Embargo?
It is not recommended to embargo your submission unless there is a very compelling reason to restrict access for a limited period of time. Reasons why students sometimes choose to embargo include:
As it states in the submission agreement, you retain copyright and all other rights to your work, even after it is published in Digital Commons; you are simply giving the University the right to make it publicly available. If you embargo your work, it will still become available after the embargo expires; access is restricted only for a limited period of time (six months or one year). You will also not be able to collect valuable metrics (eg, number of times downloaded) until your work becomes publicly available.