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Prism

Prism is an institutional repository for the research and scholarly output of Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University

Overview of Visibility in Prism

Visibility in Prism

You will have three options to choose from about the degree of visibility on the Web for your deposit once you decide to publish your record in Prism.  

  • Public Record and Public Files: This option allows anyone in the world to view the metadata for your deposit (such as the title, creators, etc.) and to view the files associated with your deposit.  
  • Public Record and Restricted Files: This option allows anyone in the world to view the metadata for your deposit (such as the title, creators, etc.) but the files associated with your deposit can ONLY be viewed by system administrators, users you share a link with, and if you submit your record to a community, any community administrators and members. NOTE: Even restricted metadata is made publicly available on https://commons.datacite.org/ as a requirement for assigning a DOI to a record. You may also decide if you want to apply an embargo to change the status for the files from restricted to public on a certain date.  
  • Restricted Record and Restricted Files: This option allows the metadata for your deposit (such as the title, creators, etc.) and the files associated with your deposit to be viewed ONLY by system administrators, users you share a link with, and if you submit your record to a community, any community administrators and members. NOTE: Even restricted metadata is made publicly available on https://commons.datacite.org/ as a requirement for assigning a DOI to a record. You may also decide if you want to apply an embargo to change the status for the metadata and the files from restricted to public on certain date.  

See our guide on Edit Visibility of a Record for more information. 

Embargo Periods

Embargo Periods

Publishers holding copyright or funders with an interest in open access, may specify an embargo period before materials can be made openly available in an institutional repository. An embargo period is the time before an article can be freely available to the public. This period varies in length and can be set by the publisher or funder.

How do you know if a publisher or funder has required an embargo period?

Journal Publishers. Use Sherpa/Romeo to check if the journal publisher allows for uploading to an institutional repository, and if so, which version of the article can be uploaded, the required visibility-level, if an embargo must be used, and the type of license (also known as rights statement) that must be applied.

Publisher Websites. Search the publisher's website for information regarding “licenses and copyright”, "author rights", "green archiving", "author reuse", "self-archiving" or "open access". Elsevier has a Journal Embargo Finder for journals published by Elsevier.  

Consider using a custom Google search.
site:https://publisherswebsiteaddress.com/* “author rights”
Use site: to search a specific website in Google. Use the /* at the end of a specific URL to search more than the website’s homepage. Use a search term (use quotes for phrases) with a space after the URL to retrieve results for those terms in the website.

Contacting the Publisher. If relevant information cannot be found on the publisher's website, consider contacting the publisher for information.

Funder embargos. The NIH Public Access Policy is federal law and specifies that the NIH-funded peer-reviewed manuscript be available to the public no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. In this case, the embargo period starts when the article is officially published and it ends up to 12 months later. When the embargo period is over, the public can read the NIH-funded manuscript for free, without a subscription, on PubMed Central.

Roles with View or Edit Privileges

There are several system roles in the repository that impact who can view and edit a record. A record in Prism consists of metadata (such as the title, creators, etc.) and the associated files, unless the record is specified to be metadata-only. 

  • Depositor: The person making the deposit can view and edit the record at any time, regardless of the record status as a draft or published, or the visibility of a published record as public or restricted. They can also upload new versions of the files to the original record.  
  • System administrator: System administrators may view and edit the record, regardless of the record status as a draft or published, or of the visibility of a published record as public or restricted in any way, in order to properly administer the repository and preserve the contents of Prism for future use. While they can edit the record and upload new versions of files to the original record, the responsibility for this belongs to the depositor.  
  • Community owners: Community owners have full administrative access to the entire community. If a record is submitted to their community, they will be able to view and edit that record, regardless of the record status as a draft or published, or of the visibility of the record as public or restricted in any way. While they can edit the record and upload new versions of files to the original record, the responsibility for this belongs to the depositor. 
  • Community managers: Community managers can manage members, curate records and view restricted records. If a record is submitted to their community, they will be able to view and edit that record, regardless of the record status as a draft or published, or of the visibility of the record as public or restricted in any way. While they can edit the record and upload new versions of files to the original record, the responsibility for this belongs to the depositor.
  • Community curators: Community curators can curate records and view restricted records. If a record is submitted to their community, they will be able to view and edit that record, regardless of the record status as a draft or published, or of the visibility of the record as public or restricted in any way. While they can edit the record and upload new versions of files to the original record, the responsibility for this belongs to the depositor.
  • Community Readers: Community members are known as readers and can view a record that has been submitted and accepted into a community, regardless of the record status as draft or published or of the visibility the record as public or restricted in any way.
  • Users with specific permissions: Once a record is published, the depositor can use the “Share” option to create a unique link that has “View”, “Preview”, and “Edit” privileges for whomever has the link. 

 

 

 Can Edit Record Can View Restricted Record Can View Public Record

Depositor 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

System Administrator

Yes

Yes

Yes

Non-affiliated Viewer

No

No

Yes

If record is shared with Community by Depositor:

Community Owner

Yes

Yes

Yes

Community Manager

Yes

Yes

Yes

Community Curator

Yes

Yes

Yes

Community Reader

No

Yes

Yes

Visibility and Permissions FAQ

How can I edit the visibility of a current record?

See our guide on Edit Visibility of a Record. 

When does the visibility go into effect?

The selected visibility option will go into effect once the record is published. If the record (the metadata and/or the associated files) has been published as public, any files associated with it can be viewed by anyone who finds them online. NOTE that even restricted metadata is made publicly available on DataCite Commons as a requirement for assigning a DOI to a record. For more detailed information see Visibility in Prism or Edit Visibility of a Record. 

When can you change the visibility of a record?

The person making the deposit can change the visibility of the record at any time, regardless of the record status as a draft or published. In addition, any system administrator, any person you give a link to with edit privileges, and if you submit your record to a community, any community administrator, can edit the record or change the visibility of the record. See our guide to Edit Visibility of a Record. 

How does visibility impact student-submitted work?

Students submitting their work (such as a thesis, dissertation, or course-related projects) to Prism waive any privacy rights granted by FERPA or privacy rights granted by any other law, policy, or regulation.  

How do I delete an item that I've uploaded to Prism?

You are not able to delete an item that you've uploaded. As an institutional repository, Prism is meant to preserve items for the long term, which adds complexity to issues around users deleting files. If you have an item that you'd like to remove from Prism, please edit the visibility to private. If you feel you must have the item deleted, please contact prism@northwestern.edu to discuss the issue. For more detailed information see Visibility in Prism or Edit Visibility of a Record.

Who can see an item that has been made private in Prism?

The depositor and Prism administrators can see items that the depositor has made private in Prism. The item will not be viewable in the Prism search or catalog. The item will not be viewable to any viewers (other than the depositor and Prism administrators). For more detailed information see Visibility in Prism or Edit Visibility of a Record.

I want to share my collection and grant access permission to another user, but that user’s name does not appear in my search. What can I do?

For a user’s name to appear in the drop-down menu, that person must have a confirmed profile Prism. When the user logs in to Prism for the first time, a profile is automatically created and they must confirmed their account by clicking on "Confirm my account" in the Welcome email. (Click here to learn how to confirm Prism account.) Once they have done so, their name will then appear in the drop-down menu when you search for that person. You can also email a list of users (names and Northwestern e-mail addresses) to prism@northwestern.edu and we will create the profiles.

What happens to my files in Prism after I leave Northwestern University?

The files remain in Prism and continue to be discoverable, accessible, and citable, since Prism is a preservation as well as access service. If you have any questions or concerns about your files after you have left Northwestern University, please contact prism@northwestern.edu.

Can I deposit files and metadata in Prism even if I am not the creator?

Mediated deposits are permitted, meaning the depositor does not have to be the creator in order to deposit in Prism. However, the depositor must have the permission of the copyright owner (whether that is a faculty member or the publisher) in order to make the deposit.

How do I get proxy access from a faculty member to edit or add metadata to their records, or upload more documents with their permission?

The faculty member will need to log into Prism, use the dropdown menu next to their name and select My dashboard. From their dashboard, they should click on the "View" button for the record they wish to share. From the record's page, they should click on the "Share" button and select "Can Edit" and "Get a Link". This link can be used by anyone with the link to edit the record.