Policies

Metadata Policy

1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
2. The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes provided:
   • the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given
   • OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte) is mentioned
3. The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission.

Data Policy

1. Anyone may access full items free of charge.
2. Single copies of full items can be:
   • reproduced, displayed or performed, given to third parties, and stored in a database in any format or medium
   • for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.
   provided:
   • the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given
   • a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page
3. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holders.
4. This repository is not the publisher; it is merely the online archive.

Content Policy

1. This is an institutional or departmental repository.
2. OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte) holds all types of materials.
3. Papers may include:
   • unpublished pre-prints (not peer-reviewed)
   • final peer-reviewed drafts (post-prints)
   • published versions
4. Principal Languages: English; French

Submission Policy

1. Items may only be deposited by academic staff of the institution, or their delegated agents.
2. Eligible depositors must deposit full texts of all their publications, although they may delay making them publicly visible to comply with publishers' embargos.
3. The administrator only vets items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, relevance to the scope of OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte), valid layout & format, and the exclusion of spam
4. The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
5. Items can be deposited at any time, but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired.
6. Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.
7. If OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte) receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed immediately.

Preservation Policy

1. Items will be retained indefinitely.
2. OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte) will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
   • Items will be migrated to new file formats where necessary.
3. OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte) regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
4. Items may be removed at the request of the author/copyright holder, but this is strongly discouraged.
5. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
   • Journal publishers' rules
   • Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
   • Legal requirements and proven violations
   • National Security
   • Falsified research
6. Withdrawn items are not deleted per se, but are removed from public view.
7. Withdrawn items' identifiers/URLs are not retained.
8. The metadata of withdrawn items will not be searchable.
9. Changes to deposited items are not permitted.
10. If necessary, an updated version may be deposited.
    • The earlier version may be withdrawn from public view.
    • The original URL will be linked to the latest version.
11. In the event of OATAO (Open Archive Toulouse Archive Ouverte) being closed down, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive.