Scholar Commons: Using the Institutional Repository

Scholar Commons

Scholar Commons is the Institutional Repository of the University of South Carolina. Hosted by the University Libraries, Scholar Commons allows USC researchers to archive and share their scholarly output such as dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, presentations, and conference papers. The repository hosts cultural and historic content of the University, including departmental reports and newspapers. Scholar Commons makes seven journals openly available to anyone in the world.

Why Use Scholar Commons?

Sharing your work openly allows anyone, anywhere to access your research, even if they don't have access to paywalled content through a personal or library subscription. Making quality research freely available helps to advance science and society. 

Using Scholar Commons can benefit researchers by:

• Enhancing the visibility of research by making it more discoverable to:
  • Peers and possible collaborators
  • Administrators and recruiters
  • Grant funders
  • Journalists
  • Policy-makers
  • Practitioners
• Providing impact tools to analyze and measure the reach of scholarly research
• Assisting with grant compliance
• Increasing cross-disciplinary connections

Scholar Commons can benefit administrators by:

• Showcasing departmental or institutional scholarly output to a worldwide audience
• Supporting student endeavors
• Increasing discoverability for faculty expertise
• Strengthening recruiting
• Providing a secure location to archive newsletters, programs, and other accomplishments

Access Scholar Commons

Visit Scholar Commons to start sharing your works or to access freely available research from USC faculty and students. 

Impact

Interested in hearing real-life examples of how sharing research openly has impacted science and society? Visit "100 Stories: The Impact of Open Access."