Submission Guidelines for Senior Projects Fall 2010
Guidelines for Preparing Senior Projects for Submission
Directions for Submitting Your Senior Project
Benefits and Considerations for Posting Senior Projects and Other Scholarship in Bard Digital Commons
Guidelines for Preparing Senior Projects for Submission to Bard Digital Commons
Senior Projects submitted electronically will be posted to our digital publishing/archiving platform. Bard Digital Commons, an open access initiative (OAI), is just one example of changes affecting scholarly communications. A range of accessibility options—from open access via Google Scholar to Campus-Only access—is available.
Bard Digital Commons increases the visibility of your work, but with increased access comes increased responsibility.
The format of your digital Senior Project is similar to the format for a paper version. The digital format will not replace the print Senior Project or any department publications. Separate guidelines for Projects that include associated media files, and Projects that consist of audio or video recordings, or still images, will be distributed. Follow specific department or program guidelines if they are provided.
Note: Samples of Senior Projects in formats including traditional manuscripts and various media submissions can be found at: http://digitalcommons.bard.edu/undergrad
Copyright, Plagiarism, Citations
Copyright protects you, the author, as well as other authors cited by you. Following these guidelines will help you avoid copyright infringement and/or the unintentional act of plagiarism. Keep in mind that simple keyword searches in Google can reveal improperly cited or plagiarized content. Read Bard’s plagiarism policy here:
http://inside.bard.edu/academicresources/students/plagiarism.shtml
As always, pay particular attention to proper citation procedures. For assistance in writing citations, please see the comprehensive list of resources for writers at:
http://inside.bard.edu/academicresources/students/resourceswriters.shtml
It is in your best interest to become familiar with practices of proper citation in order to avoid charges of plagiarism or copyright infringement. In general, please follow these simple guidelines:
• Quotations – when quoting from books, articles, web sites, or other publications give a complete citation that will allow the reader to locate your original source.
• Tables, data, sources of statistics, diagrams – give a complete citation that will allow the reader to locate your original source.
• Translations - If your work includes translation of material written in another language where you have done the translation you must have the copyright holder’s permission to upload the document to DigitalCommons unless the original work is in the public domain.
• Web sites – Most web sites include copyright information. Please review the site carefully; just because something is freely available via the web does not mean it can be used without permission.
• Images (photos, artwork, sculptures, graphics, paintings, etc.) - Images may be included in your printed Senior Project, but for the online version, you must comply with one of the following or your Project will not be published to DigitalCommons@Bard:
a. if images are not original (made by you) or in the public domain, you must include permission from the copyright owner. If you cannot clear the permissions for a given image, you should include the image caption, but not the image itself. Note: Just because an image is available via Google or Yahoo does not mean it is in the public domain.
b. if images are from ARTstor, you must delete the image and only include the URL (this allows readers on campus to access the image)
• If you need assistance in obtaining copyright permissions, please see:
http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/permissn.htm
Directions for Submitting Your Senior Project to Bard Digital Commons
Before you begin to submit your Project, you should have the following at hand:
• Title
• Abstract/Artist's Statement
• Keywords
• Advisor's name
• Final version (not a draft) of your Project as a Microsoft Word, PDF, LaTeX or RTF file. DigitalCommons will automatically convert Microsoft Word and RTF file formats to PDF. If you create your own PDF file, please embed all fonts. Click here for instructions.
• Remember: If your project has images, you must comply with one of the following or your Project will not be published to Bard Digital Commons:
· if images are not original (made by you) or in the public domain, you must include permission from the copyright owner. If you cannot clear the permissions for a given image, you should include the image caption, but not the image itself. Note: Just because an image is available via Google or Yahoo does not mean it is in the public domain.
· if images are from ARTstor, you must delete the image and only include URL (this allows readers on campus to access the image)
Steps to Complete the Submission Process
1. Go to http://digitalcommons.bard.edu
• Click on "My Account" at the top of the page.
• Log in with your BardMail username and password.
• Complete the Account Profile form.
• Click Update.
2. Go to Author Corner on the lower right hand side of the screen and click "Submit Research."
3. Complete the Submission page.
http://digitalcommons.bard.edu/undergrad/submit_research.html
a. Copyright and distribution Agreement: The copyright and distribution agreement explains your rights and responsibilities and the rights that you are giving to Bard to preserve, and provide access to, your Project. Follow this link to find out more about protecting your work:
http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/
b. Title: Use the full title of your Project.
c. Author: This information should be auto-filled based on your account information. If it is not, then enter your email address, your first name, last name, and Bard College as the institution. [You can update your account with a new email address after graduation.] Do not click the "Add Author" button unless you have an additional author.
d. Date of Award: Choose the semester and year of your graduation.
e. Document Type: Senior Project is auto-filled.
f. Department: Choose the academic department or program for your Project.
g. Advisor: Add the name of your Advisor.
h. Subject Categories: Pick one or two broad subject categories that best describe the topic of your Project.
i. Keywords: Enter three to six important keywords, usually singular nouns or short phrases, which describe the key concepts contained within your project. These will not appear on the posted project, but will be searchable. (example: Garden, al-Andalus, Islamic Spain, Colonialism, Poetry)
j. Abstract or Artist's Statement: Type or copy/paste your abstract or artist's statement into the box.
k. Upload.
• If your project is a traditional print project, upload your Word/PDF/LaTeX/RTF document. Answer "no" when asked if your document was previously published.
• If your project is primarily audio/video or still images, upload your media files.
• If your traditional print project includes additional files, include them under "additional files."
l. Submit: Click Submit to submit your Project.
Congratulations! Your Project has been submitted.
If you have questions about these procedures, please contact: Kate Laing at the Stevenson Library at or x7409.
Benefits and Considerations for Posting Senior Projects and Other Scholarship in Bard Digital Commons
Benefits of Open Access:
Easy access, any time and any place -- no longer limited to the open hours of Stevenson Library.
Visibility
• Increases the visibility of student work potentially leading to improved job prospects or graduate school placement for students and more effective recruitment for Bard.
• Allows academic departments and programs to showcase student work.
• Promotes research on a variety of pedagogical issues related to the Senior Project process.
• Effective method of sharing original work across and beyond Bard.
Preservation
Reduce wear and tear of copying on frequently requested Projects.
Delayed or Restricted Access:
Access restricted to on-campus only.
• Future Publication-- Will the Project or work be accepted for publication later if it is posted first in DigitalCommons@Bard?
• If a Project is substantially revised after submission to DigitalCommons@Bard, this may not be the case.
• Consult the policies of potential publishers. Some allow posting pre-prints while others do not. The American Chemical Society explicitly prohibits posting in a repository or on the web prior to publication in one of their journals; biology can be restrictive; physics, less so. Policies are posted on publisher web sites. SHERPA/RoMEO provides summaries of publisher permissions for many academic journals.
• Students producing original creative work, such as music, art, plays, video, short stories or novellas, or doing scientific research should carefully consider controlled access options. Consult with your faculty advisor.
Privacy
• When conducting research that include private information about individuals, including images, authors should carefully consider controlled access options.
Copyright
• Authors/creators retain copyright to their work.
• Authors and artists can use traditional copyright or license their work using Creative Commons licensing: http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/
• Increasingly, publishers permit authors to retain copyright to their work and to store digital copies of articles on institutional web sites.
Postponed Restricted Access:
For some majors—studio and performing arts, and perhaps some others—an additional option exists for students to request the on-campus access restriction after a two-year period of open access.
• In cases where the Senior Project represents an early version of a work that may be published later, students may elect to restrict access to that material after two years of Open Access.