The ASSAf Research Repository is an institutional repository, governed by an ASSAf Research Repository (RR) Working Group. Dedicated metadata editors oversee the quality of the content.

The members of the Working Group include:

Susan Veldsman
Louise van Heerden
Chief Dingiswayo
Floyd Masemola
Nadia Grobler
Renate Venier
Henriette Wagener
Khutso Phalane
Ina Smith

About this Repository

This repository contains both peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed publications and event outputs by ASSAf and its members (e.g. ASSAf Consensus Study Reports, ASSAf Workshop Proceedings and Other Reports, ASSAf Policymakers' Booklets, Quest: Science for South Africa, ASSAf Statements)

ASSAf Research Repository Policies

Open Access Policy

The ASSAf Research Repository subscribes to the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of Open Access, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Content Policy

ASSAf Research Repository contains:

• Knowledge, Research and Data generated by: -
  • ASSAf
  • Researchers
  • ASSAf collaborating partners
  • Speakers at ASSAf events
  • Other stakeholders

Where possible a full-text download of each knowledge item is provided in an open file format. In the majority of cases full text is available in English and in some cases, there will be full text in one of the main South African local languages. In a very few cases a metadata-only entry will be included to provide a record of the knowledge item. Knowledge items in the ASSAf Research Repository include, but are not limited to, peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed publications; technical reports; conference and workshop proceedings; reports; magazines; books and book chapters; and presentations.

Any recordings and slides made available through this repository were done with the consent of the owners thereof. Letters of consent accompany the individual items and are accessible to the administrators of this database only.

Data and Metadata Policies

These policies pertain to the full-text (including recordings) and other dataset of the knowledge items hereby termed full data items in the following text.

Commercial re-use of full data items permitted.

1. Access to some or all full items is controlled.
2. Copies of full items generally can be:
   • reproduced, displayed or performed, given to third parties, and stored in a database in any format or medium;
   • for personal research or study, educational, not-for-profit, or commercial purposes without prior permission or charge.
     provided:
     • the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given;
     • a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page;
     • the original copyright statement is given;
     • the original rights permission statement is given.
3. Full items must not be harvested by robots except transiently for full-text indexing or citation analysis. Metadata can be harvested, provided hyperlinks are provided to the full text in the ASSAf Research Repository.
4. Some full items are individually tagged with different rights permissions and conditions.
5. The ASSAf Research Repository is both the publisher and the online archive.
6. Mention of ASSAf is appreciated but not mandatory.

1. Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
2. The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes and re-sold commercially provided the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given.

Licensing Policy

All content made available through the ASSAf Research Repository is licensed as CC BY 4.0. This means you are free to share (copy and redistribute) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon) the material, for any purpose, and even commercially. Attribution is required in all cases: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Copyright Policy

Copyright for individual contributions to publications published through the ASSAf Research Repository collectively resides with ASSAf and individual authors.

Submission Policy

Knowledge items are deposited by the author or their delegate and are subject to final checking and amendment by the ASSAf Research Repository metadata editors before being made publicly available.

• The administrator only vets knowledge items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, relevance to the scope of ASSAf, valid layout & format, and the exclusion of spam.
• The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
• Knowledge items can be deposited at any time but will not be made publicly visible until any publishers' or funders' embargo period has expired.
• Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.
• If ASSAf receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant knowledge item will be removed immediately.
• In some cases, knowledge items may be directly deposited by the metadata editors, with the agreement of the copyright holder where applicable.

Preservation Policy

Knowledge items and the full-text uploaded to the ASSAf Research Repository will be retained indefinitely. ASSAf Research Repository will aim to ensure continued readability and accessibility. Knowledge items will be migrated to new file formats where necessary. It may not be possible, however, to guarantee the readability of some unusual file formats. ASSAf regularly backs up its files according to current best practice. The original bitstream is retained for all items, in addition to any upgraded formats. Items are allocated a checksum to facilitate the detection of alterations.

In the event of ASSAf being closed down, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive. Knowledge items may not normally be removed from the ASSAf Research Repository; see the Retraction Policy for exceptions.

Retraction Policy

Knowledge items included in the ASSAf Research Repository must be cleared for inclusion by the copyright holder and must comply with any existing licence terms. The depositing author or their delegate confirms this clearance with their acceptance of the Distribution Licence, and metadata editors will perform additional checks before a knowledge item is made publicly available. The depositing author/delegate is responsible for ensuring that their knowledge item is otherwise legally suitable for dissemination.

Valid reasons for withdrawal of a knowledge item include:

• Proven copyright violation
• Breach of publishing contract/licence terms
• Plagiarism
• Libel
• National security
• Falsified research

Complaints about the inclusion of a knowledge item in ASSAf Research Repository should be sent in writing to scielosa-AT-assaf.org.za. Please include your full contact details, the bibliographic details of the knowledge item, ASSAf Research Repository identifier (URL), and the reason for the complaint.

On receipt of a complaint the following actions will be taken:

1. The ASSAf Research Repository Working Group will return an acknowledgement in writing that the complaint has been received and make an initial judgement as to the validity of the complaint.
2. If the complaint is judged to warrant further investigation, the knowledge item in question will be withdrawn from public view within 36 hours of receiving the complaint. Complaints sent on a non-working day (weekends, public holidays and other closure days) will be treated as being received on the next working day.
3. The complaint will then be reviewed by the ASSAf Research Repository Working Group (together with ASSAf Legal Department where necessary). If the grounds for the complaint are found to be plausible, the full-text of the knowledge item in question will be removed from the ASSAf Research Repository. In most cases the metadata will NOT be removed, and a note will be supplied giving reasons for withdrawal of the content. If the complaint concerns the breaking of an embargo, the content will be suppressed for the specified embargo period.
4. The complainant and the author will be informed of the outcome.

Withdrawn knowledge items are not deleted per se but are removed from public view and withdrawn knowledge items' identifiers/URLs are retained indefinitely. URLs will continue to point to 'tombstone' citations, to avoid broken links and to retain knowledge item histories, with:

• A link to a replacement version, where available
• A note explaining the reasons for withdrawal

Errata and corrigenda lists may be included with the original record if required and If necessary, an updated version may be deposited:

• The earlier version may be withdrawn from public view.
• There will be links between earlier and later versions, with the most recent version clearly identified.

Personal Data Privacy Policy

The names and email addresses entered in this repository will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the repository and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. Personal data collected is dealt with in accordance with the South African POPI Act, South Africa's equivalent of the EU GDPR.