Skip to Main Content
The University of Massachusetts Amherst

ScholarWorks

A guide to UMass Amherst's open access digital repository.

ScholarWorks Migration FAQ

The UMass Amherst Libraries have migrated ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst to a new open source platform. The migration was completed on June 11, 2024.

Many of our journals and conference proceedings were moved to a new publishing platform, available at https://openpublishing.library.umass.edu/.

What happens now?

A screenshot of the ScholarWorks homepage with circles around Discover ScholarWorks and View All Communities

  • We have not yet activated NetID logins.  If you try to log in with your NetID, you will get a 404 error.  This page will be updated once those logins have been activated.
  • Item request forms have not yet been activated. We will update this page when they are ready.
  • We are still unable to accept submissions to ScholarWorks.  If you'd like to submit an item that is not a graduate thesis or dissertation, please use this webform.

Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

  • All graduate student theses and dissertations were temporarily made unavailable for download in order to minimize the risk of pre-emptive embargo lifts or the removal of campus access.  These items will show a little lock icon on the PDF.
  • The screenshot below is of a dissertation that should be open. It shows "openaccess" under Type:

A screenshot of a dissertation that should be open access

  • Any thesis or dissertation that shows "openaccess" under type and without digcom.date.embargo or dc.description.embargo in the full item view is likely meant to be open access.  Please email scholarworks@library.umass.edu to inquire about access.  The screenshot below is an embargoed dissertation. It shows an embargo date under the file and does not have "openaccess" under type.

  • We are currently unable to accept submissions to ScholarWorks for September degree candidates.  Please use this webform instead.

Can I continue using SelectedWorks/Expert Gallery Suite (works.bepress.com)?

  • In the spring of 2023, bepress announced that this platform will be retired as of December 31, 2024.
  • After our contract with bepress ends (June 30, 2024), these profiles will continue to exist, but all UMass branding will be replaced with standard bepress branding. Researchers will still have full editing privileges for their profiles, but library staff will not.
  • We have emailed all profile holders with this information and have copies of all profile uploads up until May 18, 2024.
  • We're happy to help you identify alternatives. We recommend and provide support for building your public ORCID profile wiht your works and other professional activities.

Who can I contact if I have questions about this migration?

What is ScholarWorks?

Many universities, colleges, and research institutions have their own digital repositories meant to showcase the scholarly, research, and creative outputs of their community members.  These repositories are often referred to as institutional repositories.  Our campus’ institutional repository, ScholarWorks, was established in July 2006 and is managed by the University Libraries.

ScholarWorks also functions as a resource through which our campus authors can comply with the campus Open Access Policy.

Most content in ScholarWorks is organized by academic departments or research centers or institutes. This allows these units to better showcase the kinds of work they do all in one easily browsable location.

What can you share in ScholarWorks?:

  • Scholarly articles
  • Working papers and reports
  • Podcasts
  • Data
  • Conference proceedings and presentations
  • Open access monographs
  • Open educational resources 
  • Syllabi and other course materials
  • Graduate student theses and dissertations

We also support the publication of open access journals and conference and event proceedings through ScholarWorks.

ScholarWorks provides authors with monthly readership reports, open licensing options, stable URLs, and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs).

More information on repositories and preprint servers can be found in our Open Scholarship & Scholarly Publishing Guide.

Contact the ScholarWorks team for more information!