Publish on MENAdoc

Relevant Texts on the Middle East and on Islam

Since 2016, the FID offers researchers within the field of MENA studies the possibility to publish their texts as digital primary or secondary publications on MENAdoc in Open Access. You will find detailed information on publication opportunities in this section.

If you are interested in publishing your research on MENAdoc, you may send us your list of publications to menadoc@bibliothek.uni-halle.de . We will then assess your publications for potential secondary publication rights. The assessment and a possible digitization are free of charge.

A Publication Platform for MENA research

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A Publication Platform for MENA research

As a new service offer, we aim to evolve our repository MENAdoc into a platform, where MENA researchers will be able to publish their contributions of the recent decades in Green Open Access as secondary publications. The legal basis for secondary publications is defined mainly by §38 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (German copyright law). Many interesting contributions, which were hitherto published only in print as part of collections of essays, jubilee editions, conference proceedings, but also journal articles, may now be republished in Open Acces and thus made visible, available, and citable worldwide (especially in countries of the Near East). Otherwise this valuable research runs the risk of being overlooked and cited less frequently in a world dominated by digital information.

Additional Value of Secondary Publications/Green Open Access

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Additional Value of Secondary Publications/Green Open Access

As a result of discussions with the representatives of the research community, we have identified a pronounced need for a central platform for MENA research that will make available results of the recent years online. Furthermore, it has become apparent that there is a need for clarification about secondary publications as many authors are not aware of the legal situation and the technical workflows. This circumstance can be attributed to the fact that a significant part of the publications in MENA studies appear in collections of essays and only to a smaller extent in journals, where the regulations on secondary publications are more explicit. A random sample of the publishing behavior of ten selected institutes (carried out in March 2018 for the publication year 2016 based on the publication lists published online) has shown that the ratio between articles in collections of essays and journal articles is 2,3 : 1.

Multiple studies prove that Open Access articles achieve higher citation rates than closed access publications. This effect is referred to as Open Access Citation Advantage (see for example the large scale study by Piwowar et al. 2018). While such studies mainly refer to journal articles, we can be project that similar effects can be achieved for secondary publications of other formats.

The Specialized Information Service (FID) wants to support and encourage researchers to make use of their secondary publication rights that often exist without their knowing. You may send us your list of publications without obligation. We will then examine it for potential secondary publication items. You may then authorize the FID to upload a PDF of the item. If you do not have an appropriate PDF, and if the secondary publication rules allow the use of the publisher’s layout, we can generate one for you through digitization. The copyright assessment of your list of publications and the digitization are free of charge.

The Advantages of Publishing on MENAdoc

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The Advantages of Publishing on MENAdoc

You are, of course, free to choose whether you want to republish your articles in Open Access on other repositories or on your website. MENAdoc may be used additionally and it offers attractive advantages for promoting your research:

  1. The submitted publications are equipped with a stable permalink and will therefore be permanently citable.
  2. We will generate a catalogue entry with high-grade metadata which will ensure that your article is visible in library catalogues worldwide.
  3. MENAdoc will remain non-commercial.
  4. MENAdoc is part of a developing technical infrastructure of the University- and Regional Library of Saxony-Anhalt.
  5. The platform offers the possibility of personalized websites that contain all of your publications. (example for a personalized bibliography)

A Landmark Disciplinary Repository for MENA Research

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A Landmark Disciplinary Repository for MENA Research

The declared objective of our project is to develop the disciplinary repository MENAdoc into a recognized tool within the German MENA research. We want to offer a central platform where researchers may find current literature and also republish their contributions by using their secondary publication rights, and make them available worldwide in Open Access.

Your contribution will help to further the academic exchange between Germany and countries in which the publications of the German MENA research are not available, often for financial reasons, thus expanding the field of discourse.

Steps to Your Publication

Open-Access-Logo (Public Library of Science)

Option A: Submit a List of Publications

If you are interested in publishing your research on MENAdoc, you may send us your list of publications via online form.

To the online form

We will then assess your publications for potential secondary publication rights. The assessment and a possible digitization are free of charge.

Option B: Upload Work Independently

The FID is currently testing the opportunity for authors to directly upload their articles to the repository. The following steps are needed:

  1. Create an account at MENAdoc (Share_it)
  2.  Report the e-mail address you use to menadoc@bibliothek.uni-halle.de
  3. Waiting for confirmation
  4. Upload the articles here including filling in the required metadata fields
  5. Waiting for the article to be released by the collection’s administration

The creation of an account is initially necessary to ensure a professional assignment to MENAdoc.

Since the final release of the article is done via individual case check of the FID employees, this can only be done during normal working hours.