Concept
Access Statuses and Embargo
The open access, metadata only, embargoed and restricted access statuses of a catalogue record, the licence rule and how an embargo ends by itself.
A record's access status decides what a reader can open on the public site. You select the access status in the Access status field of the record's Access and licence section. The record's files follow this status, and a file's own setting can only make it more closed.
Access statuses
| Status | Meaning | Extra condition |
|---|---|---|
| Open access | Files are open to everyone. | A licence is required |
| Metadata only | Only the bibliographic data and abstract are shown. | The default for new records |
| Embargoed | Files open when the embargo ends. | An embargo end date is required |
| Restricted | Files are closed to the public. | None |
Licence
An open-access record cannot be published without a licence. The Licence list shows the licences that are active on the platform. If you select a licence that does not allow open access, for example "All rights reserved", a warning appears below the field. An open-access record whose Licence valid until date has passed drops to Metadata only by itself.
End of the embargo
For an embargoed record, Embargo ends is required. When the date comes, the record becomes open access by itself. If the record has no licence, it changes to Metadata only instead of open access. File access goes by the date, and a file whose embargo ends opens on that day.
If a file was given its own embargo, the file follows the publication's access again when the embargo ends.
Access of a file
A file's access cannot be more open than the publication's access. For example, a file set to open on a record with metadata only access stays closed to the public. The cover image and the table of contents are the exception. They appear on the record page unless their own access is restricted.
For a file to become public, the record must be published, and the file must have passed the virus scan and be the current version. An open file needs its own licence or the publication's licence.
Retraction and unpublishing
Access to the files of a retracted record is closed. The cover and the table of contents stay visible. The file links of an unpublished record stop working at once.
When changes take effect
A change to access, licence or embargo takes effect on the file links at once. Browsers and proxy servers check their copy of an open file with the server each time it is opened, and do not show the old copy after a change. Changes to file access are written to the audit log.