Frequently Asked Questions

  • My sabbatical work is a manuscript I plan to publish. What should I upload for my Sabbatical Presentation?
  • How do I revise a submission?
  • How do I post a video presentation or lecture using the Kaltura Media link?
  • When I copy and paste abstracts into the Submit form, some formatted text reverts to plain text. What's going on?
  • How do I include accents and special characters in the abstracts and titles?
  • How can I submit a multi-part file, such as multiple chapters for a book?
  • Can I post related files (sound clips, data sets, etc.) alongside the published article?
  • Can I post a reprint from a journal?
  • A working paper in our repository site has been published in a slightly revised form in a journal. What should I do?

    • My sabbatical work is a manuscript I plan to publish. What should I upload as my sabbatical presentation?

    Pre-published manuscripts for books, articles, or artistic works are not required to be submitted as your sabbatical presentation. Manuscripts that are not intended for publication should be submitted to the repository as the sabbatical presentation or as a supplementary file. Submission options are listed below:

    Video presentation/lecture with slideshow. Record a video presentation/lecture of your sabbatical presentation. Upload your accompanying slideshow in the “Upload File” section of the submission form.

    Standalone slideshow. Upload a PDF of your sabbatical research slideshow. Since slideshows are a read-only format, be sure that your slideshow can be easily followed and understood without audio commentary providing context for your sabbatical research.

    Artistic Works. Contact the Digital Scholarship Librarian for assistance adding watermarks to PDF or JPEG files depicting original artwork created during a sabbatical.

    How do I revise a submission?

    Sabbatical presentation submissions can be revised by the faculty member within 24 hours of the original submission. If the submission exceeds 24 hours, contact the Digital Scholarship Librarian, by email, with your revisions and/or updated files.

    You may revise your submission by clicking My Account in the top navigation menu:

    1. Locate the sabbatical presentation on your My Account page, and click the title.
    2. Click Revise Submission from the list of options in the left sidebar.
    3. Enter your changes in the Revise Submission form, and click Submit at the bottom of the page to submit your changes. (You only need to modify the portion of the form that corresponds to the changes you wish to make.)

    How do I post a video presentation or lecture using the Kaltura Media link?

    To include a video presentation, lecture, or other video along with the PDF of your sabbatical presentation email your MP4 video file to library@gardner-webb.edu. The Digital Scholarship Librarian will upload your MP4 to Kaltura and add the Kaltura streaming link to your sabbatical presentation.

    When I copy and paste abstracts into the Submit form, some formatted text reverts to plain text. What's going on?

    Text formatting for sabbatical abstract that is copied from a word processing or PDF file may not carry over when pasted into the Description field of the sabbatical presentation form. Proof read the abstract in the Description field and reformat text that needs italics, bold, line breaks, bulleted text, and embedded linking.

    How do I include accents and special characters in the abstracts and titles?

    The repository software supports the worldwide character set (Unicode, utf-8). Accents, symbols, and other special characters may be copied and pasted into the abstract or title field from a word processing file or typed in directly. Windows users may also use the Character Map to insert these characters. Macintosh users may use the Character Palette (available via Edit > Special Characters in the Finder).

    How can I submit a multi-part file, such as multiple chapters for a book?

    Combine all the sections together as one Microsoft Word file or PDF file.

    If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro, to make one PDF file from multiple files, open the first PDF file, then choose Document>Insert Pages from Acrobat's menus to insert the second file (indicate it should go after the last page of the first file), and repeat for all documents. The result will be one compound PDF file which may then be submitted.

    Can I post related files (sound clips, data sets, etc.) alongside the published article?

    Yes. Digital Commons refers to these supplementary items as Additional Files. You will be prompted to submit Additional Files when you upload your submissions. Acceptable file formats include PDF, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, MP4, and MP3.

    Additional Files will appear as additional downloadable file links on your sabbatical presentation page. Images, charts, and tables that are referenced in the document, or are an integral part of the document, should be included directly in the sabbatical presentation itself and not posted just as associated files.

    Please be sure that there are no permissions or copyright issues related to use of the associated material. Sometimes, especially with images derived from another source, you must write a letter seeking permission to use the material before it can be posted.

    Can I post a reprint from a journal?

    It depends on what the journal allows, which is usually specified in their agreement with the author. If it would not violate copyright to post the reprint on your repository site, you're welcome to do so. Permissions for many publishers can be found at SHERPA RoMEO.

    My sabbatical research, which has already been uploaded to Digital Commons, has been published in a slightly revised form in a journal. What should I do?

    Many journals do not have any restrictions on working papers that preceded an article, especially if substantial revisions were made. You should check your author agreement with the journal to confirm that there is no problem with leaving the working paper on the site. The repository would constitute noncommercial use.

    Assuming the working paper does remain on posted in the repository, it is a good idea to include the citation to the published article on the cover page of the repository working paper. Please contact the repository administrator to request this change.