The patchwork mandate

Abstract

This article is written mainly for repository managers who are at a loss as to what policies they (or their universities or research institutions) ought to deploy in order to ensure that most, if not all, of the institution's scholarly output is deposited in the institution's repository. In essence, there are only two pure policies: requiring (mandating) researchers to deposit, and relying on voluntary (spontaneous) participation, with or without encouragement. This short article describes a third policy that provides a transitional path between the two.