Index Academic Repository is a multidisciplinary digital academic repository managed by MultiMedia Publishing, intended for the archiving, organization, preservation, and dissemination of academic and scientific materials.

The Repository aims to provide stable, long-term access to research outputs while respecting copyright, academic integrity, metadata accuracy, and digital preservation requirements.

Inclusion of a material in the Repository does not constitute publication in the Index Academic journal and does not imply peer review.

Materials are not published automatically. Each deposit may undergo an administrative and editorial check before inclusion.

1. Scope and General Acceptance Criteria

Index Academic Repository may include academic, scientific, educational, and research materials from a wide range of disciplines.

To be accepted, a material should normally:

  • have an academic, scientific, educational, or research character;
  • be clearly identifiable by author, title, and other relevant metadata;
  • be deposited by a person entitled to request its archiving;
  • comply with applicable copyright and self-archiving conditions;
  • not contain illegal, fraudulent, or otherwise inappropriate material;
  • be available in a suitable technical format;
  • allow its editorial and legal status to be determined;
  • not create confusion regarding the version of the document or its original publication.

Acceptance into the Repository does not constitute certification of the scientific quality of the material.

2. Administrative and Editorial Verification

Each submitted material may be checked before publication.

This verification may include:

  • relevance to the academic profile of the Repository;
  • identity and details of the author or authors;
  • completeness of metadata;
  • consistency between the file and the information provided;
  • document type and version;
  • existence of any previous publication;
  • existence of a DOI or other persistent identifier;
  • deposit rights;
  • applicable license or legal status;
  • any embargo periods;
  • compliance with technical requirements.

Repository administrators may request additional information, clarification, or corrections before publication.

This verification is minimal administrative and editorial checking and does not constitute peer review.

3. Independence from the Index Academic Journal

The Repository and the Index Academic journal are two distinct components.

Publication of a material in the Repository does not mean that it:

  • has been accepted for publication in the journal;
  • has been evaluated by the journal’s reviewers;
  • has undergone peer review;
  • represents the editorial position of the journal or publisher;
  • may be cited as an article published in the Index Academic journal.

If a document has previously been published in a journal or another academic publication, this must be clearly indicated in its metadata.

4. Metadata Integrity

Metadata are an essential part of each Repository record.

They should, as far as possible, be:

  • accurate;
  • complete;
  • consistent;
  • verifiable;
  • stable;
  • compatible with the information contained in the deposited document.

Depending on the material, metadata may include:

  • title;
  • subtitle;
  • authors;
  • affiliations;
  • ORCID;
  • abstract;
  • keywords;
  • discipline;
  • document type;
  • language;
  • publication or creation date;
  • document version;
  • original publication;
  • DOI;
  • ISBN, ISSN, or other identifiers;
  • license;
  • funding information;
  • other relevant bibliographic data.

Index Academic reserves the right to correct obvious formatting or metadata normalization errors.

Changes that substantially affect authorship, title, publication status, or document identification may require confirmation from the depositor or authors.

5. Unacceptable Content

The Repository may reject or remove materials that:

  • are not academic, scientific, educational, or research-related;
  • infringe copyright or other third-party rights;
  • are deposited without the necessary authorization;
  • contain evident plagiarism or other serious forms of academic misconduct;
  • include fabricated, falsified, or fraudulently presented data;
  • contain illegal material;
  • include personal or confidential data published without a lawful basis;
  • contain defamatory material, threats, or content incompatible with applicable law;
  • contain malware or dangerous files;
  • are incomplete, corrupted, or impossible to open;
  • cannot be sufficiently identified through metadata;
  • represent unnecessary duplicates of the same version;
  • are purely commercial, promotional, or advertising materials;
  • falsely create the impression of academic evaluation, publication, or accreditation that does not exist.

Index Academic may request clarification before deciding to reject a deposit.

6. Academic Integrity

Authors and depositors are responsible for the integrity of deposited materials.

If credible concerns arise regarding:

  • plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • inappropriate image manipulation;
  • incorrect attribution of authorship;
  • unauthorized publication;
  • copyright infringement;
  • improper use of personal data;
  • other serious academic misconduct,

the Repository may suspend publication, request explanations, or restrict access to the material until the matter is clarified.

Repository verification does not replace investigation procedures conducted by institutions, publishers, or other competent bodies.

7. Document Versions

For each material, the deposited version should be identified whenever possible.

It may be, for example:

  • Preprint;
  • Accepted Author Manuscript (AAM);
  • Version of Record (VoR);
  • a revised version;
  • a Repository-specific version for materials not previously published.

Where multiple versions of the same document exist, the Repository may preserve the relationships between them and indicate in the metadata which version is current or recommended for citation.

A new version must not be misleadingly presented as identical to a previously published version.

8. Material Updates

Materials published in the Repository may require updates when:

  • the author provides a later version;
  • an embargo period expires;
  • an accepted or published version becomes available;
  • the license or legal status changes;
  • a DOI or other identifier becomes available;
  • important bibliographic information is corrected.

Where an update substantially changes the content, a clear relationship may be maintained between the original and updated versions.

The Repository aims to avoid uncontrolled replacement of documents in a manner that would make it impossible to identify a previously cited version.

9. Corrections

Minor metadata errors may be corrected without withdrawing the material.

For more significant errors, the Repository may use:

  • metadata updates;
  • a correction notice;
  • a corrected version of the document;
  • a record associated with the original version.

Corrections should not unjustifiably alter the history of the document.

Where an error exists in the original publication and the Repository only hosts a copy, correction of the original publication remains the responsibility of the relevant publisher.

10. Withdrawal of Materials

As a general principle, the Repository aims to preserve the scholarly record over the long term. Complete withdrawal of a material is therefore an exceptional measure.

A document may be withdrawn or access to it restricted in situations such as:

  • copyright infringement;
  • a legal order or obligation;
  • unauthorized publication of personal or confidential data;
  • major errors rendering the material fundamentally unreliable;
  • fraud or serious academic misconduct;
  • a justified request from the lawful rights holder;
  • serious risks to individuals or institutions;
  • other significant legal or ethical reasons.

Where possible, the bibliographic record may be retained and the withdrawn document replaced by a notice explaining that the material is no longer available.

For materials that have received a DOI, the identifier must not be reused for another document.

11. Author Requests for Withdrawal

An author’s simple wish to remove a material does not guarantee its deletion.

After publication, the Repository may have an obligation to preserve the stability of the scholarly record, persistent identifiers, and existing citations.

Withdrawal requests are assessed individually, taking into account:

  • the reasons provided;
  • the author’s rights;
  • third-party rights;
  • existing citations;
  • persistent identifiers;
  • integrity of the scholarly record;
  • legal obligations.

12. DOI and Other Identifiers

A material that already has a DOI retains its original DOI.

Index Academic Repository does not assign a second DOI to a document merely because it is deposited.

Certain original and stable materials that do not already have a DOI may be eligible for DOI assignment in accordance with the Repository’s DOI policy.

Assignment of a DOI does not constitute peer review and does not certify the scientific quality of a document.

13. Copyright and Licenses

Copyright in deposited materials remains with the rights holders unless other applicable legal agreements provide otherwise.

Deposit in the Repository does not automatically transfer copyright to Index Academic or MultiMedia Publishing.

Each material may have its own legal status:

  • Creative Commons license;
  • another open license;
  • a specific publisher license;
  • All rights reserved;
  • other applicable conditions.

The depositor is responsible for selecting the correct status and for having the right to authorize the deposit.

14. Access and Embargo

The Repository’s objective is to facilitate the widest possible access to academic materials.

However, access may be restricted when:

  • the publisher’s policy imposes an embargo;
  • copyright does not permit immediate publication;
  • legal restrictions apply;
  • certain files contain information that cannot lawfully be made public.

In such situations, metadata may remain publicly accessible even if the file itself is not yet available, where permitted.

After the embargo expires, access may be opened in accordance with the applicable conditions.

15. Long-Term Preservation

Index Academic Repository aims to maintain the long-term accessibility and identifiability of deposited materials.

For this purpose, the Repository may:

  • retain copies of files and metadata;
  • use formats suitable for preservation;
  • create backups;
  • migrate files to newer technical formats where necessary;
  • preserve identifiers and relationships between versions;
  • retain information concerning provenance and the history of the material.

Long-term preservation is pursued within the limits of the available technical, legal, and institutional infrastructure.

16. Service Availability

Index Academic aims to keep the Repository available and operational but cannot guarantee uninterrupted access in all circumstances.

Temporary interruptions may occur because of:

  • maintenance;
  • updates;
  • technical problems;
  • security incidents;
  • infrastructure migration;
  • circumstances beyond the administrator’s control.

Such interventions do not normally affect the academic status of deposited materials.

17. Responsibility of Authors and Depositors

Responsibility for the content of deposited materials lies with their authors.

The depositor is responsible for:

  • accuracy of the information provided;
  • the right to request deposit;
  • correct identification of authors;
  • disclosure of previous publications;
  • disclosure of DOIs and other identifiers;
  • compliance with the policies of original publishers;
  • correct selection of the applicable license;
  • respect for third-party rights.

Index Academic may correct or reject a deposit where the information provided is insufficient, contradictory, or clearly inaccurate.

18. Responsibility of Index Academic Repository

The Repository aims to:

  • keep metadata as accurate as possible;
  • maintain links to original publications;
  • respect the rights of authors and publishers;
  • protect the integrity of the scholarly record;
  • avoid assigning duplicate identifiers;
  • manage corrections, versions, and withdrawals transparently;
  • facilitate access to and discovery of materials.

Inclusion in the Repository does not imply endorsement by MultiMedia Publishing of the opinions, conclusions, or interpretations expressed in a document.

19. Policy Changes

This policy may be updated when changes occur in:

  • legislation;
  • technology;
  • editorial practices;
  • institutional arrangements;
  • preservation and interoperability standards;
  • persistent identifier services.

The version published on the Index Academic website represents the policy currently in force.