About GW ScholarSpace

GW ScholarSpace provides free, public access, broad visibility, and long-term preservation for the research and scholarly works created by GW’s faculty, staff and students, including electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

GW ScholarSpace is maintained by GW Libraries and Academic Innovation (GWLAI).

Why should I submit my works to GW ScholarSpace?

Increase the visibility of your work

Including your work in GW ScholarSpace increases the visibility of your research and can increase citations and impact. GW ScholarSpace is open and accessible to all; it is indexed by Google and other search engines. It can provide access to scholarly works that might otherwise only be accessed via subscription.

Electronic theses and dissertations in GW ScholarSpace are also discoverable via the GW libraries catalog.

Make Citations Easier with a Persistent Link

All works uploaded to GW ScholarSpace receive persistent links to make citations easier and to ensure long term-access.

Preserve Your Work

GWLAI is committed to providing long-term access to all works submitted to GW ScholarSpace. Informed by best practices, GW Libraries staff use digital preservation strategies that adapt to the changing technological environment.

Comply with the GW Open Access Policy

The GW Open Access Policy automatically gives GW a non-exclusive right to distribute the works, unless an opt-out waiver has been signed (see Opting Out). When signing publishing agreements for the publication of an article, the author(s) should let the publisher know that the agreement is subject to prior license agreement with The George Washington University. The Author's Addendum and related information can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions About the GW Open Access Policy website

What belongs in GW ScholarSpace?

Works produced or sponsored by GW faculty, researchers and staff may be shared through GW ScholarSpace, as well as ETDs and student works sponsored by GW faculty or programs.

Appropriate types of works that may be submitted to GW ScholarSpace include, but are not limited to:

Scholarly publications (research & journal articles, books, book reviews, and book chapters)
Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs)
Student work (including capstone projects and honors theses)
Conference papers and poster presentations
Articles, blog posts, and other non-peer reviewed writing
Annual reports and newsletters
Syllabi and other course materials
White papers, working papers, reports, and other non-published documents
Fictional and creative works

How do I submit my work to GW ScholarSpace?

Submitting Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETDs)

Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETDs) must first be submitted via the ProQuest ETD administrator. Please visit the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs' ETD Page for more information.

ETDs submitted via this process are automatically ingested into GW ScholarSpace.

Submitting All Other Types of Works and Publications

To deposit any other type of work, please use the GW ScholarSpace Deposit Form.

What should I know before I deposit something to GW ScholarSpace?

Copyright and Rights

Any depositor submitting works to GW Scholarspace must either own copyright for the work or have the permission of the copyright holder to publish the work in GW ScholarSpace.

Published scholarly work may be subject to copyright restrictions based on the contract signed with the publisher. However, for GW faculty members, depending on the date of publishing, the GW Open Access Resolution may provide GW with nonexclusive permission to make available your scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles for the purpose of open dissemination.

Even without permission or a license, you still may be able to share a pre-print or other form of your research through self-archiving. For more information please visit GW Libraries' guide on author's rights.

GW ScholarSpace allows copyright holders to apply specific creative commons licenses to their works. For more information on Creative Commons, please see the Creative Commons official website.

For assistance navigating copyright, rights, and permission please contact GW LAI Scholarly Communications team: schol_comm@gwu.edu.

Accessibility

The George Washington University (GW) is committed to making all web properties and web content accessible and usable for everyone, including people with disabilities, by employing principles of universal design and striving to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.
Works submitted to GW ScholarSpace should conform to WCAG 2.1, Level AA. For assistance in making your work comply with the WCAG guidelines please contact the Scholarly Communications team: schol_comm@gwu.edu.

Related Resources:
Accessibility Best Practices - GW Libraries

Visibility and Sharing

Works deposited to GW ScholarSpace are publicly discoverable except where embargoed.

General Q&A

Works deposited to GW ScholarSpace may be embargoed for a limited period.

If a work is embargoed, only the files will be embargoed and hidden from public view; the work's metadata such as title, abstract, author, advisor, etc. is public. Please visit https://gradpostdoc.gwu.edu/prepare-for-etd-submission/publisher-issues for more information on embargoes of ETDs.

Research data
Works that must be permanently restricted or embargoed
Works that contain confidential information like unredacted personal protected information
Works in which the submitter does not own the copyright or have permission to publish

Recommended preservation formats have been accepted by information technology, archival, and records management professional communities due to multiple factors such as: format longevity, acceptance and use in professional communities, long term accessibility of most viewing software, and incorporated metadata. For more information about digital preservation best practices and standards, please see the Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement.

Type	Recommended Preservation Format	File Extension
Text	PDF/A or PDF	.pdf
Text	Plain Text	.txt
Text	XML	.xml
Text	CSV	.csv
Image	JPEG	.jpg
Image	TIFF	.tif
Audio	Broadcast Wave	.wav