How to start using the service - for institutions
Who can join?
Publications Router is for institutions with an active programme of research whose authors publish their outputs in research journals. It is currently available without charge to UK institutions who are members of Jisc.
Which repositories or CRISs can Router work with?
Publications Router is currently up and running with the EPrints repository platform. DSpace will be added soon. We are also working with the vendors of the main CRIS/ research information management platforms to encourage them to develop their products to interoperate with the Router.
If you are interested in receiving feeds into your EPrints repository, do contact us at help@jisc.ac.uk, mentioning Publications Router in your email. We can then help you decide whether to join, take you through what's involved, answer any questions and give you any further information you'd find helpful.
If you would need feeds into a platform other that EPrints, do also get in touch so that we can keep you up to date with when the Router will work with your platform.
What will I receive into my repository?
The current content sources are listed here, together with what each of them delivers and when.
Feeds into EPrints - what's involved?
The Router delivers metadata and, if available, article PDF and related files, that populate new records created automatically in Eprints deposit or review queue. The metadata provides most of the key information you will need, including licensing and any embargo end-dates (where applicable) from some providers. Note that Router can only pass on what providers supply, which may differ between providers and individual articles. Technically, the Router sends notifications via the SWORD v2 protocol which was introduced into EPrints 3.3.
There are two options for receiving PubRouter notifications:
- Basic connection to an Eprints repository which requires no plugin and minimial (if any) configuration on the Eprints side. This results in deposits with a basic set of meta-data and, if available, article PDFs and related files. There are some limitations on populating particular meta-data fields, such as an attached document's License terms, however in these cases the relevant information is captured in the Eprint Additional Information field
- Jisc PubRouter RIOXXplus Connector plugin for Eprints repositories that have the RIOXX2 plugin installed. This will populate the RIOXX metadata profile and will also populate other fields that the basic connection has to work-around. It also attaches document files where available. You will need to install this plugin from Eprints Bazaar and configure it, which your repository administrator will be able to do (following the clear guidance provided in the plugin's documentation).
The Router will send its feed to a repository account specified by you. You may find it works best if this has a generic name rather than a personal one, so that any relevant members of your team can access it and use it as your "Router review queue" - the place to check for Router deposits, before deciding whether to make them live or edit them first, for example.
Note that Eprints' SWORD interface requires a user account with administrative privileges so, for security reasons, it is strongly recommended that your repository is accessible via HTTPS protocol (which encrypts traffic) rather than HTTP (which does not).
Legal agreement
To use the service, your institution will need to sign an agreement with us. Among other things, for any publishers that supply embargoed full text via the Router, you will need to commit to respect the embargo period set out in an embargoed article's metadata. The agreement also sets out the service levels you can expect from us.
Getting the right content for your institution
To enable the Router to send you the right notifications - about articles co-authored by your researchers - you'll need complete a spreadsheet setting out some parameters that will enable it to make the right matches. You can download the template for that here. It includes explanations of how to fill it in, and we're here to support you if there's anything you'd like to know more about.
Can we try it out?
If you'd like to see for yourself what sort of information the Router will provide for your particular institution, we can set you up with a feed into a test instance of EPrints to avoid disturbing your live repository. In this sounds interesting, do get in touch so we can take you through how we can set that up.
This sounds interesting - what next?
To find out more, do get in touch with us at help@jisc.ac.uk, mentioning Publications Router in your email. We'll then arrange a call or a webinar to go through this, to answer any questions you might have, and to help you decide whether Publications Router is right for you.