Runner Research Press Policies

Runner Research Press Services

Runner Research Press (RRP) is an online repository of scholarly and creative work produced at the university that stimulates research, discovery and learning with the goal of engaging and transforming our diverse communities through open, inclusive   access.

By collecting and providing open online access to UTSA’s works, RRP provides the following benefits to researchers and the university:

  • Demonstrate UTSA’s Research Quality and Community Impact
    By choosing to provide open access to their work, UTSA’s researchers will make a meaningful contribution to the advancement of science and scholarship worldwide. RRP is indexed by Google Scholar and other search engines and is easily findable online. Showcasing the scholarly and creative output of the university not only demonstrates the impact UTSA has on the San Antonio community, but also enhances the reputation of both individual researchers and UTSA as a premier public research university 
  • Open Access Citation Advantage
    RRP is an open access repository, which means that works are freely available to a global audience without paywalls or copyright restrictions. More people will be able to lay eyes on work deposited in RRP than through subscription-based journals and other publishing methods. This includes community members and researchers from resource-scarce institutions worldwide. There is some evidence that publishing open access leads to higher citation counts and increased downloads.
  • Compliance with Funder Mandates
    Many major funders such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) require publications that result from their grants to be publicly available through an open access repository. RRP provides UTSA researchers with a professionally managed OA repository that will keep the university in compliance with grant requirements.
  • Permanent Access and Archiving
    Works in Runner Research Press receive a stable URL that will never change. As members of the Texas Digital Library, RRP is securely stored and regularly backed up to multiple cloud storage servers, so submitter/creators will not  lose access to their work.

RRP is committed to recruiting content that reflects the diversity of the UTSA community and upholds the values of the institution.

Examples of types of materials that can be submitted to RRP include but are not limited to:

  • Pre- and post-published scholarly research and articles
  • Presentations
  • Images
  • Video and audio recordings
  • Working papers or technical reports
  • E-Journals and newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Conference papers and posters
  • Student scholarly works sponsored by a faculty member

RRP uses DSpace software, which supports a simple hierarchy structure of communities and collections. Communities hold collections and collections hold digital items. Collections may contain items affiliated with a specific academic unit or department or grouped together by other factors such as publication or conference title.

Submission and Retention Policy

  • Works submitted to RRP must be produced or sponsored by University of Texas at San Antonio faculty, staff, or students.
  • UTSA students are welcome to submit items to RRP that represent professional or scholarly work. This could include, but is not limited to:
    • Conference materials, such as posters or presentations
    • Published items, such as journal articles
    • Oral histories
  • We will accept general student work from class assignments on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the instructor and RRP administrators.
  • Works should be ready for dissemination and copyright owners must be able to grant non-exclusive rights to distribute and preserve the works. Copyright owner retains copyright.
  • Pursuant to the Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) 9.21 Records and Information Management and Retention, University work identified in the UTSA Records Retention Schedule meeting requirements for permanent retention will additionally be transferred to the University Archives for long-term preservation.

Withdrawal Policy

  • The purpose of RRP is to provide permanent and free online access to scholarly work created by UTSA faculty, staff, and students. Generally, items added to Runner Research Press will not be removed, except under specific circumstances.
  • RRP reserves the right to withdraw work that is libelous, an invasion of privacy, infringes upon copyright, or that does not reflect the nature of the collection to which the work was submitted.
  • The non-exclusive submission agreement preserves the submitter/creator's right to submit additional copies elsewhere. Works will not be withdrawn solely because a submitter/creator leaves UTSA.
  • If withdrawal is requested due to a copyright violation, RRP Administrators will temporarily restrict access to the work and will notify the submitter/creator. If it is found that copyright was violated, the work will be withdrawn.

Revision Policy

  • Items submitted to RRP are assumed to be the final version that are ready for distribution. Submitter/creators should not plan on making any changes to the material they submit. Be sure to carefully review your items before submitting them.
  • Once an item has been posted to RRP, changes cannot be made by the submitter/creator and can only be made by RRP administrators.
  • Any changes to a work once uploaded to RRP are considered on a case-by-case basis and are at the RRP administrators’ discretion. Administrators will not make changes to the content of the work unless requested by the submitter/creators.
  • Administrators maintain the right to make changes to the metadata, such as correcting misspellings or adding a department name.
  • In the rare instance that changes are needed, contact RRP administrators at rrpress@utsa.edu.

Author Name Change Policy

  • Anyone with material in RRP may request to change the name displayed on the metadata/item record for their submission at any time.
  • RRP administrators will not change the name on the material itself (i.e. the file submitted with the scholarly content).
  • No justification is required for submitter/creator name change to be implemented.
  • To have your name changed, email RRP administrators at rrpress@utsa.edu with the following information:
    • Name(s) currently listed on your materials in RRP
    • Complete list of material with the old name on them, with links to each item
    • The new name that you would like to be displayed on the metadata/item record
  • RRP administrators will then change your name on the item(s) requested and notify you when it is completed.
  • There will be no mention of the previous name unless you specifically request that; if you want such a note, let us know what language to use.
  • You are responsible for contacting your co-authors if you want them to know about the change.

Copyright Policy

  • Copyright owners will grant non-exclusive rights to UTSA Libraries and Museums to copy, display, perform, distribute, and publish their submitted work.
  • UTSA does not claim any rights or ownership over this submission and the ownership of the work shall remain with the copyright owner.
  • By default, RRP will not impose access restrictions on submissions, and all works are freely available to a global audience. Creators may assign Creative Commons licenses to their works.
  • Submitter/creators have the option to request an embargo on display and distribution rights through RRP. Please see our FAQs for more information about embargoes.
  • Submitters must agree to the RRP Distribution License. The deposit license will be presented to a submitter during the submission process, through email or a submission form.
  • If withdrawal is requested due to an alleged copyright  violation, RRP Administrators will temporarily restrict access to the work and will notify the submitter/creator. If it is found that copyright was violated, the work will be withdrawn.