Submit Articles, Presentations, and Other Files to TRACE
TRACE is UT's institutional open-access repository. It is a publicly accessible archive of research and creative work done by the UT research community.
How to add your work to TRACE
- If you wish to add a dataset, please first contact Data Services in the UT Libraries.
- For all other publications, go to trace.tennessee.edu.
- Click My Account from the left-side navigation bar.
- Log in using your TRACE username and password. If you have not created a TRACE account before, do so now. (While your TRACE account is separate from your UTK Net ID, for consistency it is recommended you use your UTK-affiliated email to set up your TRACE account as well.)
Once you've created your account,
- Navigate to your department's collection. On the left-side menu, click Collections under BROWSE. The full list of collections in TRACE will appear.
- Click the + sign to expand the list of Colleges & Schools. Click on the name of your college/school (don't just expand the list) to view all of its departments.
- Find your department name and under it, choose the collection that ends with "Publications and Other Works."
- Once you're on the page with the chronological list of "[Your Department] Publications and Other Works," go to the left side menu and click Submit Your Work.
- Complete the short form and upload your publication.
Depositing articles in TRACE: Which version should you add?
Before you get started: If you are updating a pre-print with a later version of a manuscript, this is not a revision situation. Each version should be a separate entry in TRACE. You can provide links to each version in the "Comments" field to associate the versions with one another. If you have questions about versions, reach out to trace@utk.edu for guidance.
1. CHECK COPYRIGHT: What are the publisher's terms for open archiving? Use the Open Policy Finder (formerly SHERPA/RoMEO) and search by journal title. Each journal lists its conditions for open archiving based on the article version, such as "published version," "submitted version," or "accepted version."
2. CHOOSE ARTICLE VERSION: What version of the article can you add to TRACE? Most publishers allow you to deposit the post-print of your peer-reviewed article. If you're unsure of the terminology, this chart (a PDF, see preview below) lists the differences between the pre-print, post-print, and publisher's version of an article.
- Look for the file folder icon under each article version listed in the Open Policy Finder. If it says "Any Repository," "Institutional Repository," or "Non-Commercial Institutional Repository" next to the file folder icon, you can deposit that article version in TRACE.
- NOTE: We acknowledge that faculty can receive different permissions than those listed on Sherpa/Romeo. If you have permission from a publisher to add a version, feel free to post that version to TRACE and save the documentation of your permission for reference.
- Versions of an Article (PDF)
Explains preprint, postprint, and publisher's versions of an article. Useful for submitting work to TRACE and other open repositories.
3. READ THE CONDITIONS: Review the other icons in the Open Policy Finder for the article version you wish to share. The hourglass icon indicates whether an embargo must be placed on the article (see picture below). If the journal in which you were published is published by Elsevier, you will need to check this list for specific embargo periods. TRACE allows you to add an item now, place an embargo, and specify the date on which the embargo should be lifted. You will specify the release date when you upload to TRACE.
If you wish to learn more about Creative Commons licenses, visit CreativeCommons.org (not required for TRACE submission).
4. UPLOAD: When you're ready, upload your work to TRACE. Locate the appropriate collection on the "Submit Your Work" page. Then complete the brief submission form. Best practices include providing both the:
- DOI to the publisher's version in the field for "DOI" (if no DOI field is available, add it to the "Comments" field), and the
- full citation to the publisher's version in "Recommended Citation," along with an active link to the publisher's version.
5. UNDERSTAND AVAILABILITY: Works submitted to TRACE will be reviewed and posted within 7-10 business days, and often sooner. If an embargo is in place, the record will be visible but your file will not be available to the public until the end of the embargo period. TRACE will automatically lift the embargo on the date you specify -- you do not need to login to release it.
For assistance with any of these steps, contact trace@utk.edu. Additionally, if you would like to add multiple publications, email a list of your publications to trace@utk.edu. Library staff are available to assist.
Deposit Agreement
Authors who deposit material in TRACE agree to the following:
"I hold the copyright to this document, or have been authorized by the copyright holder(s) to upload it for distribution, and agree to permit this document to be posted in TRACE, and made available to the public in any format in perpetuity.
"To the best of my knowledge, I warrant that the posting of the work does not infringe any copyright, nor violate any proprietary rights, nor contains any libelous matter, nor invade the privacy of any person or third party, nor otherwise violate TRACE policies."
