DSpace-UBB Institutional Publication Repository Usage Policies
Last revised: 15 December 2025
Section 1. What is DSpace UBB?
The institutional publication repository of Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB) is a digital document hosting platform developed on the DSpace infrastructure (https://dspace.chem.ubbcluj.ro/home) , intended for the collection, management, long-term preservation and dissemination of scientific, didactic and administrative materials produced under the aegis of UBB, according to the principles of Open Science and Open Access.
Through the repository, UBB aims to:
- to offer its teachers and researchers the opportunity to strengthen the visibility of their own scientific and didactic creation;
- to increase students’ access to systematized and consolidated scientific and teaching resources;
- to increase transparency and facilitate the identification of administrative materials across the spectrum of university policies and university management;
- to promote the principles of Open Science and Open Access by facilitating access to validated resources for the general public, the community and institutional partners.
The platform also contributes to preserving the integrity and continuity of the intellectual heritage produced at UBB, offering solutions in accordance with international standards in force for metadata storage, interoperability with external systems and indexing in search engines.
Section 2. Depositing materials in the repository
1. Who can submit materials
Members of the Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB) community have the opportunity to submit to the DSpace UBB Institutional Publications Repository scientific, didactic or university management works whose authors or co-authors they are and which are explicitly associated with UBB. The aforementioned category of authors / co-authors includes/are:
UBB full-time or associated teaching staff;
Researchers, including UBB affiliated research staff within projects;
UBB administrative staff who develop documents from the spectrum of university policies and management
Doctoral, MA and BA students of UBB (including their diploma theses, under the conditions stipulated infra (2.4.b);
2. Types of materials eligible for submission
Materials that can be deposited in the repository include, but are not limited to:
Scientific articles published or accepted for publication in periodicals and volumes, including preprints;
Scientific books (monographs, collections of studies, collections of primary sources, etc.)
Doctoral theses, MA and BA dissertations;
Conference presentations, scientific papers, posters;
Teaching materials (course materials, auxiliary teaching materials)
Research reports, technical reports, project proposals, completed scientific projects;
Administrative policies, guides or other documents of academic relevance of UBB.
Materials that are commercial in nature, subject to legal or contractual confidentiality obligations, or that cannot be published under copyright law or due to restrictive licenses are not eligible.
3. Who can submit materials to DSpace-UBB?
Authors/creators of the works (members of the UBB community, based on the institutional account);
Administrators and authorized personnel of the repository, upon written request from the authors/creators, sent from the institutional address together with the materials requested to be uploaded (exclusively in justified cases);
Persons designated by the management of the department/unit to which the author of the work belongs (exclusively in special cases, mandatory with the authors’ consent and with written justification sent from the institutional address).
In all cases, the responsibility for the authenticity of the works and compliance with copyright rests with the depositor. Administrators and authorized personnel of the repository have the right to request additional clarifications from the authors regarding compliance with copyright law and to postpone or reject requests until these issues are clarified.
4. Depositing diploma theses (Ba, MA, PhD) in the repository
- Since doctoral theses are initially published on the dedicated national platform ( rei.gov.ro ), it is recommended to upload them to the DSpace UBB repository exclusively in the following situations:
- the author opts from the beginning for not publishing the thesis separately and wishes to include it with open access in the DSpace UBB repository to increase its visibility and to obtain the dedicated unique identifier that is not available on the national platform; in this situation, if a Creative Commons licensing is opted for, it must be identical to the licensing of the national platform associated with the respective thesis and the upload to DSpace UBB will only take place after the doctoral thesis becomes public on the national platform;
- the author has opted to keep the embargo period on the national platform until the distinct publication of the thesis ; in this situation, the inclusion of the thesis in the DSpace UBB repository can only take place after the publication of the book through which the distinct publication was achieved and its mandatory registration in the catalog of the “Lucian Blaga” Central University Library in Cluj-Napoca.
- In the case of BA and MA dissertations, it is strongly recommended to include in the repository exclusively those works whose quality meets the scientific publishing standards of the field and whose content, by ensuring Open Access, brings added value to future research. The request for inclusion in the repository of BA and MA dissertations must be countersigned or confirmed by electronic message from the institutional address by the coordinator(s) of the work. The administrators of the repository reserve the right to re-check the content of BA and MA dissertations using the electronic means made available by UBB and to postpone or refuse inclusion in the situation where there are suspicions or evidence of non-compliance with the norms of scientific integrity in the drafting of the respective materials.
5. Steps of the submission process
Before submitting materials, authors should check the policies of the publishers (e.g., Jisc/Sherpa or equivalent) and ensure that the submitted version complies with copyright and editorial agreements. It is recommended to use Open Access permitted versions (pre-print, post-print, accepted version, etc.), as well as consult with co-authors.
Authors prepare files in formats recommended for long-term preservation (e.g., PDF/A for text) and complete the necessary metadata (title, authors, affiliations, abstract, keywords, year of publication, possibly funders and project numbers). It is recommended to use bilingual metadata (Romanian/English), where possible.
Submission is done through the repository’s DSpace interface, selecting the appropriate community/collection and following the steps of uploading and describing the document. During this process, the author accepts a submission agreement confirming ownership of the rights and allowing UBB to deposit and disseminate the work.
The repository administrators will provide the materials necessary for the smooth running of the submission process (text and audio-video guides, training sessions).
Section 3. Access Policy
1. Access to materials
The materials deposited in the DSpace Institutional Publications Repository of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB) are made available to the public in order to promote transparency, visibility of research and the free exchange of scientific and didactic knowledge. Access to the materials in the repository is achieved according to the following principles:
By default, the materials are available to the general public (Open Access), with exceptions provided for by legislation, contracts with publishers, or author requests;
The metadata associated with each material (title, authors, summary, keywords, year of publication, etc.) is visible to all users, regardless of whether access to the full document remains restricted.
2. Exceptions and access restrictions
In addition to the hosting restrictions mentioned in section 2.2, last paragraph (see above), access to the full content of certain materials may be restricted in the following situations:
The existence of a temporary embargo imposed by the publisher or the author, the period being explicitly mentioned in the metadata associated with the materials. After the embargo expires, the material becomes publicly accessible;
At the justified request of the author, the UBB management may approve the restriction of access to the full material, but the metadata will remain accessible to the public;
Withdrawal of a material from the repository can only take place under exceptional circumstances (see below 4.3, 5.1)
justified request of the author, withdrawal of the work from the collection of the scientific journal where it was initially published, association of the material with major issues of ethics and scientific integrity, violation of copyright legislation), but even in this situation the metadata will remain available to the public and the date and reason for the withdrawal of the material will be explicitly mentioned (see below 4.3)
3. Reuse and redistribution of materials
Publicly accessible materials can be freely consulted and downloaded for academic, research and study purposes, respecting the copyright and type of licensing associated with each document.
Users are required to correctly cite the source and comply with any additional conditions imposed by the license under which the material is published.
4. Changes to the access policy
Babeș-Bolyai University reserves the right to modify the access policy to respond to legislative, contractual or technological changes, with prior notice to the academic community and users, within a reasonable time frame from the time the change initially occurred.
Section 4. Copyright Terms
1. Responsibility for copyright
Authors who submit materials to the DSpace Institutional Publication Repository of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB) are directly responsible for complying with national and international copyright legislation. Before submitting any material, authors must ensure that:
I have the legal rights to distribute and publish the material (in whole or in part) in the repository;
Publication in the repository does not violate contractual obligations towards publishers, sponsors, collaborators, funding authorities or other third parties;
In the case of materials with multiple authors, written consent was obtained from all authors. before submission .
2. Institutional copyright policy
Babeș-Bolyai University respects national copyright legislation and supports the principles of Open Access, within the limits of the author’s legal rights and restrictions imposed by publishers or other rights-holding entities.
Authors remain the owners of the rights to the submitted works, except in cases where this right has been transferred to a third party (e.g., publisher), in which case only the permitted version (e.g., post-review, preprint) will be submitted;
For each submitted material, the author will specify the type of license under which it is published (e.g., Creative Commons), if possible or necessary;
Submission of materials that are under embargo, editorial restrictions, or restrictive licensing from a third party will only be permitted if the author can provide proof of consent from the copyright holder.
3. Withdrawal of materials for copyright infringement
In the event that a material published in the repository is found to infringe the copyright of a third party, the University will immediately withdraw the document in question, while retaining the minimum necessary metadata (title, author, justification for withdrawal). The author and, if applicable, his/her department will be informed of the withdrawal and the reasons for it.
4. Recommendations for authors
Authors are advised to check the policies of the publishers to which they have published their work (e.g., Jisc / Sherpa or equivalent) before submission and to retain documentation regarding the right to self-archive the work. For questions regarding copyright or licensing restrictions, the repository administrators can provide support and advice.
Section 5. Material Withdrawal Policy
1. General principles regarding the withdrawal of materials
Materials deposited in the DSpace Institutional Publication Repository of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB) may be withdrawn only in justified situations, to ensure respect for legal and ethical rights, protection of academic integrity and compliance with institutional policies.
2. Circumstances justifying the withdrawal of materials
Complete withdrawal or restriction of access to a material may occur in the following situations:
A violation of copyright has been found, including plagiarism or unauthorized reproduction of protected content;
The document contains false, fraudulent or misleading information, including fabricated or manipulated scientific results;
A court decision, an official ruling, or a request from a legal authority requires the withdrawal or restriction of the document;
The material contains personal data or sensitive information published without consent, potentially violating data protection legislation;
At the request of the author or a co-author, if strongly justified reasons are provided.
3. Withdrawal procedure
The initiation of the withdrawal procedure may be requested by the authors of the materials, by a third party, natural or legal, or may be initiated by the repository administrator following a self-report;
Any withdrawal request from third parties will be analyzed by the repository administrator together with the author, the UBB representatives within whose sphere of competence the reason for which the withdrawal was initiated lies (e.g., Ethics Committee, DPO Office) and, as appropriate, with representatives of the department/academic structure associated with the author;
The withdrawal decision will be documented, explicitly motivated and sent to the author and / or to the third party via the institutional email address;
When a document is retracted, essential metadata (e.g., title, authors, justification for withdrawal) will remain visible in the repository, with the mention “retracted” and a brief reason, for the integrity of the academic record history.
4. Right to appeal
The author or any other interested party may appeal the withdrawal decision within 15 working days from the notification, by sending a formal appeal to UBB, in the form of a reply to the electronic message through which the withdrawal was communicated. Any such situation will be analyzed and resolved expeditiously, the result being communicated to the author via the same institutional e-mail address.
5. Recommendations for prevention
It is recommended that authors carefully verify the authenticity, correctness and compliance of submitted works, to prevent situations that may lead to their withdrawal from the repository.
Section 6. Quality Control Policy
1. General principles
To ensure the integrity, relevance and accuracy of the content in the DSpace Institutional Publications Repository of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB), each submitted material undergoes a verification process carried out by the repository administrators.
2. Quality control stages
Submitted materials are reviewed before publication to verify:
Compliance with eligibility criteria and compliance with the types of materials accepted under the policy (Section 2);
The correctness and completeness of metadata (title, authors, affiliations, year of publication, summary, etc.);
The classification of works in the scientific, didactic or university policy and management fields;
Respect for copyright and the license declared by the author;
Compliance with regulations related to the protection of personal data in the content of files uploaded to the repository
Absence of offensive, illegal or otherwise unethical content, including plagiarism;
Compliance with recommended technical formats for archiving and accessibility.
3. Measures in case of non-compliance
If the material does not meet the quality criteria or there are suspicions regarding authenticity or compliance with copyright or personal data legislation, the repository administrator will notify the submitter and request clarifications, additions or corrections before publication.
Materials that cannot be clarified or do not comply with the repository's policy will be rejected, and the author will receive a justification for the decision. In special situations, involving information in the field of personal data, the author may be offered the possibility of publication after anonymization of the respective data.
4. Collaboration and responsibility
Quality control is carried out in collaboration with the authors, who are responsible for providing correct and complete information;
Data repository administrators can develop guides (written, audio and/or video) or training sessions addressed to the academic community to facilitate the correct submission of papers;
Correspondence associated with the entire process of proposal, verification and acceptance of materials will be carried out exclusively through institutional email accounts in the domains associated with UBB.
5. Periodic quality control review
Quality control procedures will be reviewed periodically to respond to scientific, technological and legislative developments and may be improved based on feedback from repository users.
Section 7. Retention and Preservation Policy
1. The principle of long-term preservation
Materials deposited in the DSpace Institutional Publication Repository of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB) are preserved indefinitely, to ensure continuous access to academic contributions and the valorization of the university's scientific and intellectual heritage.
2. Technological migration and conservation strategies
The repository administrators will implement active digital preservation measures, which include the periodic migration of files to updated digital media, in accordance with international best practices and recommended technical standards. The IT infrastructure will be monitored and updated periodically to prevent data loss or degradation due to media obsolescence or technological changes.
In all possible situations, open and long-term recognized file formats (e.g., PDF/A) will be used, where possible.
3. Backup and security policy
Periodic backups of all digital content of the repository will be made on redundant and secure storage systems.
Access to backups is restricted and monitored, according to UBB’s internal IT security policies.
4. Metadata persistence
In the event of withdrawal of a material or loss of access to the full document, the associated metadata (title, author, year, abstract, etc.) will be preserved and will remain publicly accessible, to maintain academic record and transparency.
5. Periodic review of the conservation policy
The digital preservation policy and procedures will be reviewed periodically to keep up with technological standards, legal requirements, and recommendations from international institutions in the field.
Section 8. Privacy Policy
1. General principles regarding confidentiality
The DSpace Institutional Publications Repository of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (UBB) is committed to protecting the personal data of all depositors and users of the repository, complying with applicable data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
2. Processing of personal data
Personal data collected from submitters may include: name, institutional affiliation, email address, other contact details, information regarding scientific contributions and, if applicable, other data necessary to manage the submission process and administration of the repository, but in no case sensitive personal data (e.g., ethnicity, nationality, religion, medical data, etc.)
In the case of users, the repository may collect technical data (eg, IP, access data) for statistical, security and service improvement purposes, in compliance with the principle of minimization of collected data (see Section 9 below).
3. Purpose and legal basis of processing
The personal data of submitters are processed exclusively for the management of submitted works, administrative communication, ensuring scientific traceability and compliance with legal/institutional obligations.
The data is collected with the explicit consent of the data subjects or on the basis of necessity for the execution of a contract or legal obligations.
4. Data access and disclosure to third parties
Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel managing the repository and to the authors of the materials, where applicable.
Authors’ contact information (e.g., email) may be published as part of the metadata of the papers, only if there is consent or if this is required by academic regulations.
Personal data will not be transferred to third parties or outside the EU unless there is a legal basis (explicit legal or judicial provisions) or the consent of the data subjects (according to GDPR), and in these cases we will inform users in advance.
5. Rights of data subjects
All rights of data subjects will be respected in accordance with the GDPR:
- the right to be informed (art. 13 and 14 of the GDPR) – by UBB Cluj about the type, purpose, and legal grounds of the processing of personal data;
- the right of access to data (art. 15 of the GDPR) – the person has the right to obtain confirmation from UBB Cluj if it processes personal data concerning them;
- the right to rectification (art. 16 of the GDPR) – of personal data without undue delay;
- the right to erasure of data (“right to be forgotten”) - (art. 17 of the GDPR) - to obtain from UBB Cluj the erasure of personal data concerning you, without undue delay, and UBB Cluj has the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay;
- the right to restriction of processing (art. 18 of the GDPR) – when you consider that the personal data is not accurate, or you consider that the processing is unlawful, or UBB Cluj no longer needs this data;
- the right to notification regarding the rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing (art. 19 of the GDPR);
- the right to data portability (art. 20 of the GDPR) – you have the right to receive the personal data concerning you that you have provided to UBB Cluj in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format in order to transmit them to another operator;
- the right to object (art. 21 of the GDPR) – you can object to the processing of personal data concerning you, including the creation of profiles based on those provisions;
- the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling (art. 22), which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you;
- the right to file a complaint with the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (art.15) - anspdcp@dataprotection.ro or https://www.dataprotection.ro/?page=Plangeri_pagina_principala ;
Note: Before filing a complaint with the ANSPDCP, the complainant must contact UBB to exercise the rights recognized by the GDPR. If no response has been received within one month of receiving the request (exceptionally, the period may be extended by two months, subject to compliance with certain obligations by the operator) or the complainant is dissatisfied with the response received, a complaint may be filed with the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing. The complaint must be accompanied by evidence. See the Complaints Resolution Procedure approved by Decision no. 133/2018. anspdcp@dataprotection.ro or https://www.dataprotection.ro/?page=Plangeri_pagina_principală
For additional information regarding the privacy policy regarding the protection of personal data of UBB Cluj (https://www.ubbcluj.ro/ro/politici/) as well as for filing a complaint, you can contact the Data Protection Officer (DPO) of UBB Cluj at dpo@ubbcluj.ro or by phone at 0744.423.188.
Requests regarding personal data can also be sent to the repository administrator, who will respond according to institutional procedures and applicable law, after prior consultation with the UBB data protection officer.
6. Data security
Personal data is protected by appropriate technical and organizational measures (controlled access, encryption, backup, periodic auditing) to prevent unauthorized access, loss or unjustified disclosure.
All information, as well as correspondence related to the hosting process in the repository, will be hosted and deployed exclusively through the IT infrastructure of UBB Cluj-Napoca.
7. Policy review
The privacy policy is periodically reviewed and updated based on legislative, technological changes, or feedback from the academic community. Any changes will be announced in advance on the repository page .
Section 9. Policy on the use of statistical and usage data
The repository collects usage statistics (number of views, downloads, accesses to collections, etc.) automatically, in compliance with the principle of data minimization. The data may include technical information such as IP addresses, browser type or time range of accesses, processed in accordance with the privacy policy.
Statistical data is used to: monitor the functioning of the repository, improve services, develop internal reports on the impact of UBB research and report to the university management. Indicators may include the total number of documents submitted, downloads, views or distribution by faculties/collections.
UBB may periodically publish aggregate statistics regarding the use of the repository (e.g., on the platform page), without disclosing personal data of users.
Section 10. Interoperability Policy
The UBB repository uses open metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core) and the OAI-PMH protocol to allow aggregators and other repositories to retrieve the metadata of works. The use of persistent identifiers (handle, DOI, ORCID) for works and authors is encouraged.
The repository is developed to be compatible with OpenAIRE requirements for reporting publications resulting from European projects and can be integrated into national and international infrastructures. The repository administrators ensure registration in international repositories registers and indexing in academic search engines in such a way as to maintain the visibility, interoperability and long-term accessibility of the stored publications and metadata.
For collections holding cultural or historical value, UBB can pursue compatibility with platforms such as Europeana, to the extent that this is relevant to the content managed by the repository.
Section 11. Policy on the rights and obligations of platform users
Users (members of the UBB community or external public) have the right to access, view and download the materials available in open access, under the terms of the licenses attached to each work. Use for research, educational and informational purposes is permitted, with proper citation of the source.
Users are required to respect copyright and license terms. Commercial reuse or systematic redistribution of content is permitted only in accordance with the license and with the consent of the rights holders, where applicable.
The following are prohibited: attempts at unauthorized access to the system, affecting the functioning of the platform (e.g., uncontrolled massive downloads, cyber attacks), unauthorized modification of content or misuse of data about other users. Serious violations may lead to access restrictions and, where appropriate, notification to the competent authorities.
UBB assumes no responsibility for the way users use content downloaded from the repository; the responsibility for respecting copyright rests with each individual user. However, the University will act promptly to remove or correct problematic materials reported, in accordance with the removal policy (Section 5).
Section 12. Technical and institutional administration of the repository
The repository is managed by a team appointed by UBB, which includes IT staff (system administrators) and information and documentation specialists. They ensure the operation of the DSpace platform, software updates, security, backup, and support for users and depositors.
In terms of content and metadata, UBB collaborates with the Central University Library "Lucian Blaga" in Cluj-Napoca, which manages the faculty libraries. Librarians can contribute to verifying metadata, organizing collections, and training authors.
For strategic aspects (integration into national and international infrastructures, financial resources, new functionalities), the administration team collaborates with the UBB management (Rectorate, Board of Directors, Senate, Scientific Council), which approves the development directions of the repository.
The repository usage policies are reviewed periodically, whenever significant legislative, technological or institutional changes occur. Proposals for changes are formulated by the administration team, in collaboration with the relevant structures within UBB, and are subject to approval at the UBB management level, in accordance with internal procedures. After approval, the changes are communicated publicly: the updated document is published on the repository page, indicating the date of the last revision, and major changes are announced through institutional communication channels. A version history is maintained for transparency.