The Lehigh Preserve is Lehigh University’s institutional repository, providing long-term open access to the scholarly output and archival holdings of the Lehigh community. The following policy governs the deposit, access, and preservation of all content held in the repository.  Lehigh Libraries commits to preserving the authenticity and integrity of the scholarly and historical record.

Collection Policy

  1. The Lehigh Preserve is dedicated to educational material produced by Lehigh University faculty, staff, students, or Lehigh affiliates, as well as institutional archives and historical materials managed by Lehigh University Libraries. 
  2. Eligible deposits include:
    • research papers and working drafts at any stage (submitted, accepted, or published versions)
    • supporting files, including multimedia and datasets
    • scholarly materials in various supported media formats
    • archival and special collections materials 
  3. Metadata-only records are not permitted without explicit approval of the Preserve Committee.

Submission Policy

Items may be self-submitted to the Lehigh Preserve or submitted through authorized library staff.

  1. By depositing to The Lehigh Preserve, depositors grant Lehigh University a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, preserve, and make their work accessible in accordance with these policies.
  2. Depositors are solely responsible for the validity, authenticity, and copyright compliance of submitted content. Items found to be in violation of copyright will be subject to withdrawal.
  3. The Preserve Committee reviews submissions to verify depositor eligibility, file integrity, and to screen for spam.
  4. Depositors may embargo individual files until a specified date up to a maximum of five years (pending on renewal). Embargoed files are not accessible to any user until the restriction is lifted or expires, at which point they become publicly accessible. Embargos can be extended at the request of the depositor.
  5. Files exceeding 10GB may not be uploaded directly to the repository. Depositors should instead provide a link to an external hosting site or contact the Preserve Committee (inpresrv@lehigh.edu) to make file transfer arrangements. 
  6. DOIs for deposited items are available on request from the Preserve Committee. Please review our DOI Guidelines for more information about what type of material is appropriate for a DOI and how they are assigned
  7. Individuals who identify inaccuracies in item metadata may contact the Preserve Committee to request corrections.

Access Policy

  1. Individuals may access publicly available Lehigh Preserve items and metadata free of charge.
  2. Metadata and publicly accessible items may be freely reproduced for research or personal study, in accordance with copyright laws and licensing terms, provided:
  3. The content is not changed in any way
  4. Full citations are given, including author, title, and Lehigh Preserve URL
  5. Some items may be individually licensed under different terms. Licensing options currently include rightsstatements.org and creativecommons.org
  6. Any commercial use requires prior written permission, which may be acquired by reaching out to the Preserve Committee (inpresrv@lehigh.edu).

Preservation Policy

  1. Items in The Lehigh Preserve are held indefinitely by default. Large research datasets or items with associated costs may have specific retention periods based on funding. Material stored using ongoing funding may be removed from the repository when funding ends.
  2. The Preserve Committee seeks to maintain the accessibility of deposited items through ongoing software updates and file migrations, though long-term readability cannot be guaranteed for all file formats.
  3. Regular backups are maintained in accordance with current best practice.
  4. Items may be withdrawn at the request of the author or copyright holder, though this is strongly discouraged. Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
    • Publisher requirements
    • Proven copyright infringement or plagiarism
    • Legal requirements

  5. Objection to the content or findings of an item does not constitute grounds for withdrawal. Given Lehigh Libraries commitment to preserving the authenticity and integrity of the scholarly and historical record we are prevented from correcting errors or inaccuracies present in original items; redact digital content or indices; or otherwise remove access to materials except in cases where there are legal concerns (for example, the presence of HIPAA or FERPA protected information), significant risks to privacy (for example, exposed Social Security numbers), or documented evidence of a clear and imminent threat to personal safety and well-being.

  6. Withdrawn items are removed from public view and access but not permanently deleted. Persistent identifiers and URLs are retained indefinitely, pointing to a tombstone record that includes, where possible, the reason for withdrawal and, where available, a link to a replacement version.
  7. If an updated file is available, it may be deposited. The persistent URL will always link to the most current version.