In this document binding policies for the services and objectives of MACAU are being established. Furthermore the terms and conditions for submission of publications to the repository will be defined.
As a service to all scientists of Kiel University, MACAU provides the organisational and technical infrastructure
for publishing electronic documents of enduring academic importance.
All documents on MACAU meet established quality standards.
They are assigned permanent internet addresses (URNs) and will be made available via national and international library catalogues, search engines and other research tools and databases. The documents shall be stored on MACAU perpetually and in authentic state; the University Library takes responsibility of long-term preservation.
MACAU is operated and further developed as a collaborative service of the University Computing Center and the University Library. It is involved in various national and international initiatives and projects such as open-access.net or the German Initiative for Network Information (DINI). Having adopted policies for promotion of open-access publishing, Kiel University with all its institutions and research units supports the objectives of the „Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities“. Apart from providing advice and assistance on open-access publishing, the University Library offers MACAU as a platform for deposit of documents.
The MACAU content profile comprises the following types of publications:
Authors still retain copyright in their works when placing them in the repository. However, a document can only be released and made publicly available if a deposit contract between the authors and the University Library has been signed. This contract creates legal certainty for both parties and specifies which conditions need to be fulfilled for publication. Submission to MACAU does not conflict with further publishing the documents in academic journals or on other repositories.
In accordance with the recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities ("Wissenschaftsrat"), we strongly encourage all academics to retain non-exclusive right of use in their works when signing a publishing contract. It is highly recommended to self-archive the documents in an open-access repository such as MACAU in addition to traditional forms of publication (after expiry of an embargo period, if applicable). The authors or editors of the electronic documents are responsible for compliance with copyright and exploitation rights of third parties.
In the narrow sense of the word, an "electronic document" is defined as a document based on text and graphics, digitally stored on a data carrier and disseminated via computer networks. Publication of multimedia documents with audio or video sequences is also feasible.
A document submitted to MACAU needs to fulfil the following conditions: