FAQs for ORCA

What can I deposit in ORCA?

The repository will accept academic research outputs such as journal articles, books, book chapters, full conference and workshop papers, and research level theses. Where copyright allows, each publication record should be accompanied by the full text. If not, bibliographic details only should be deposited. Please see the Policies page for more details.

Why should I deposit my publications into ORCA?

The University has an Open Access publications policy which requires all research staff and students to deposit their research publications into ORCA. This ensures that publications become eligible for the Research Excellence Framework exercise (REF). ORCA also feeds your publications profile on your school webpage. Making your publications open access where possible enables your work to reach a wider audience as it becomes freely available to all with an internet connection and not hidden behind a paywall.

How do I add my publications to the repository?

Where information is available, the ORCA Team will automatically receive details about your research publications from direct publisher imports and via weekly alerts from online bibliographic databases. The team will deposit publications available from these sources on your behalf.

Where information is not available from the sources above you are welcome to:

• Email details of your publications to orca@cardiff.ac.uk and the ORCA Team will deposit for you.
• If you prefer to, you can deposit yourself. For further details and guidance on self-deposit routes, see the help page.

What if my publication or research output is not picked up by the alert system?

We will be alerted to the publication of most academic journal articles, books and chapters via this method, but if you are publishing in small subject-specific outlets, or producing different types of outputs (e.g., reports, working papers, audio-visual content), please email the ORCA team with full details of the work(s) you wish to have added to the repository.

What about papers I authored prior to working at Cardiff?

If you have an ORCID ID, a link to your full ORCID record can be added to your profile page. Please see the Profile editing for staff intranet page for more information.

For publications to be listed individually on your profile page, these will need to be added to ORCA.

• If possible, please provide a BibTex file from your previous institution’s repository. We can then import those records for you.
• You can also email a list of the publications you wish to have listed to ORCA.
• If you have an ORCID, you can deposit publications by pulling the details into the Research Portal, which will then be deposited into ORCA.

All publications from the current REF period (2021 onwards) will be prioritised. Older records will be assessed depending on number and the resources currently available in the team. Please contact the ORCA team to discuss further.

When should I deposit my papers?

To comply with the requirements for the next REF, all published articles and conference papers must be deposited within 3 months of the first date of publication.

What kind of open access versions should be deposited?

For potential REF outputs of articles or published conference papers, we require the published version or the final accepted manuscript version. If a gold OA fee has been paid, the accepted version will be replaced by the published version. For non-REF outputs we will accept any version if copyright permits.

The Open policy finder site is a useful guide to journal publication policies.

Can I add pre-prints and submitted papers?

If the paper has been submitted to a journal but not yet accepted, we advise that you do not submit it to ORCA at this stage as it may compromise the publication process. You can add pre-prints that are in the public domain on pre-print servers such as Arxiv, BioXiv or SSRN. If these papers are then published in a traditional journal, a new record will need to be created as they are two different publications.

How quickly will my deposits be available online?

All items go into a review area first and are checked for accuracy and completeness by members of the ORCA Team. They will be moved to the live repository as quickly as possible.

How do I get my publications to show on my web pages?

You can set up your profile pages yourself using the Profile editor in the intranet.

Once processed and moved online into the live repository, publications take approximately 24 hours to appear on your webpage. Please note that while the ORCA team can make changes and updates to the record, we are not responsible for the look and display of the school web page.

How do I update details of my publications?

Once a record is added to the repository, only repository staff can edit the record. Please email us with the URL of the record you want updated, and details of what needs to be changed and we will update them as a priority. Please note that we do not delete records unless they are duplicates or if there are extenuating circumstances.

What is an ORCID, and do I need to have one?

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) is a unique identifier for researchers and is used to help distinguish you from others, particularly those with a similar or identical name. It is not mandatory for Cardiff University researchers to have one, but it is recommended, and research funders and publishers are increasingly using them. Some funders require you to have an ORCID to apply for a grant. It is both free and easy to register and set up. We advise that you add your affiliation as well as your name and email address. These short video guides can help you to set up an ORCID account.

How do I make the research data associated with my publication open access?

The Cardiff University Research Data Repository can be used to publish research data. For further advice on all aspects of research data management, please contact opendata@cardiff.ac.uk. There is also advice on the staff intranet pages.