University of Houston Libraries

Table of Contents: 

• General deposit guidelines
• Deposit an item
• Deposit multiple items

Submissions must meet the following criteria: 

1. Work Origin — Works must be wholly or partially created or sponsored by University of Houston faculty, researchers, alumni, staff, or students. 

• If you have transferred your copyright to a publisher, you are likely still able to deposit a version of your article or book chapter to UHIR. To determine your journal or publisher's policy toward submitting to an institutional repository, we recommend consulting SHERPA/RoMEO, a public database of publisher copyright policies. Bear in mind that, while SHERPA/RoMEO is a reliable resource, it does not cover all journals or publishers and should not be relied upon as legal counsel. 

• For help determining your rights as an author or for clarification around copyright issues, please contact Xiao Zeng (xzeng4@central.uh.edu), Open Publishing Librarian. 

2. Digital Format — All submitted works must be in digital format and fall into the content requirements. Please refer to the Digital Preservation Guidelines for recommendations on the best formats for digital preservation. 

3. Permanent Contribution — Works deposited in UHIR are intended as permanent contributions to the repository. Therefore, submissions should be complete and ready for dissemination. We also strongly encourage depositing works that may later be published in other formats, such as preprints and working papers. 

4. Rights and Copyright Retention — Authors or copyright holders must be willing and able to grant UHIR Non-Exclusive Right Deposit License to preserve and distribute their works through UHIR. Authors or copyright holders retain all copyrights to their submitted works. For more details, please refer to the UHIR Copyright and Intellectual Property Guidelines. 

5. Completeness of Series Works — If the work is part of a university series (e.g., discussion papers or technical reports), we encourage the submission of other works in the series to allow UHIR to provide as comprehensive a collection as possible. 

Note: submitted works must meet the requirements of the UHIR Copyright and Intellectual Property Guidelines. 

Once your work fully meets the deposit criteria, you can begin submitting it to the UHIR. Follow the steps below:

Hint: Depositing a work into UHIR is a multi-step process that typically takes 5–10 minutes, depending on the complexity of the work. UHIR automatically saves your progress, so you can pause and resume at any time. Your partially completed submission will appear under your profile on any UHIR page, reminding you to continue. You may also cancel your deposit at any point. 

1. Login 

• From the UH Institutional Repository main page, click "Log In" in the upper right-hand corner of the page 

• From the drop-down list, select "Log in with Shibboleth" 

• Log in to the Institutional Repository by providing your Cougarnet ID and password 

• When returned to the main Institutional Repository page, navigate to the task bar on the left-hand side of the page and select "New" then "Item" 

• Select the “UH Faculty, Staff, and Student Works” collection. 

2. Upload Files 

• Drag and drop your files into the designated area or use the “Choose File” or “Browse” button to upload. 

• UHIR accepts any file format; however, the level of long-term preservation support depends on the file type. For details, see the UHIR Digital Preservation Guidelines. 

• Uploaded files can be managed or adjusted later in the Upload Files section. 

3. Describe Your Work 

• Fill out metadata fields to create a record that helps users retrieve your work through search engines. 

• Detailed metadata requirements are available in the Metadata Guidelines. 

• Ensure the information is accurate and descriptive to optimize discoverability. 

4. Set Item Access Conditions 

• To increase the visibility of your work, check the “Discoverable” box. 

• “Open Access” is strongly recommended to enhance the visibility, accessibility, dissemination, and overall impact of your work. 

• For details on other access conditions, please refer to the Access and Use Guidelines. 

5. Accept the Deposit License 

• Before completing your submission, you must agree to UHIR’s non-exclusive distribution license. 

• UHIR does not require the transfer of copyright. 

• Ensure you have permission to grant the license. Refer to the UHIR Copyright and Intellectual Property Guidelines for guidance. 

6. Complete the Deposit 

• Click “+ Deposit” to finalize your submission. 

• Your submission will be processed by the UHIR Administrator, usually within 24 hours. You will be notified when your submission is posted.  

• Once your work is successfully deposited, it will be assigned a persistent URL. This ensures you can confidently cite your work in publications and communications, knowing the link will remain reliable. 

If you have any questions or need assistance with depositing your work, please contact the UHIR Administrator (cougarroar@uh.edu). 

UHIR supports batch import services to efficiently deposit multiple items (10 or more) at once. To ensure a smooth batch import process, please adhere to the following requirements: 

1. File Format Compliance: Ensure all works meet the repository's Digital Preservation Guidelines. 

2. Metadata Preparation: Please download and fill out the Metadata Template CSV File and email it along with the relevant files to the UHIR Administrator (cougarroar@uh.edu). 

3. Community and Collection Identification: Determine the specific community and collection where you wish to deposit the items or identify if a new collection needs to be created.  

For further assistance or to submit a batch import request, please contact the UHIR Administrator (cougarroar@uh.edu).