FAQ

What is HohPublica?

hohPublica is the University of Hohenheim's online publication platform. It replaces the publication server Opus Hohenheim. hohPublica offers members of the University of Hohenheim the opportunity to publish electronic documents on the Internet that have been produced as part of research activities at the University of Hohenheim. Users of hohPublica can search for them specifically and download the full-text files without technical or financial barriers.

What happens to the documents previously published in Opus Hohenheim?

All documents will be imported from the old publication server Opus Hohenheim to the new hohPublica platform and will therefore remain available.

Can documents in hohPublica also be published elsewhere?

The authors, as the intellectual creators of the documents, own all exploitation rights to their document in accordance with copyright law. If a document is first published in OPUS, the author assigns a simple, non-exclusive exploitation right to the University of Hohenheim, i.e. he/she can publish the document elsewhere (e.g. in a scientific journal or as a monograph).

Some publishers require the transfer of exclusive rights of use for publication. However, if the author wishes to subsequently publish the same document with another publisher, the publisher cannot demand that the previously published document be subsequently blocked or deleted on hohPublica.

If the author wishes to publish documents on hohPublica that have already been published elsewhere, this possibility depends on the agreements that the author has made with the publishing body (usually a publisher). Many publishers allow electronic parallel publication, provided it is a university non-profit server (such as hohPublica). The detailed regulations in a publication or author contract are ultimately a matter for negotiation. The following links provide an overview of publishers' standard guidelines on this point:

• Publishers' copyright policies & Self-Archiving - (SHERPA, UK): https://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/
• Copyright page of the e-Doc server of the Max Planck Society: https://pure.mpg.de/

How long will the documents remain available online?

There is no default time limit on availability (because of the ability to cite - see next question). Availability should be guaranteed for as long as possible (at least 5 years). For this reason, hohPublica also works together with the German National Library and the Network for Long-Term Archiving.

Are publications on hohPublica citable?

Publications in hohPublica are in principle equivalent to conventional publications and can therefore also be cited. First publications on hohPublica receive a permanent identifier in the form of a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), which guarantees long-term access to the document.

For formal instructions and assistance regarding the citation of electronic sources, please refer to the website Citing online sources of the open access server SciDok of Saarland University.

How should publications on hohPublica be cited?

In accordance with ISO 690-2, electronic publications should be cited as follows:

Böhm, Andreas:
Studies on the physical mapping of the grapevine genome [online]
Hohenheim University, Dissertation, 2000
DOI 10.12345/1

Can documents on hohPublica be changed or deleted?

The possibility of changing or deleting documents is not provided for in principle. This guarantees the authenticity and long-term citability of the documents, which are thus comparable to printed publications. Deletions can only be carried out by the responsible staff of the KIM library at the request of the author if publications have been made inadvertently for which the rights of use are already held by a third party, e.g. a publisher. Subsequent deletions of first publications on hohPublica due to conflict situations in connection with a desired subsequent parallel publication with commercial publishers are expressly excluded from the publication contract and are not possible. If the author wishes to correct the content or form, he/she must resubmit the modified document via the input mask. The old, incorrect document will then be blocked. This is similar to the process for a new edition of a printed publication.

What does the library do with the documents?

The KIM Hohenheim library stores the documents for a period of at least five years and makes them accessible via hohPublica and our catalog. It creates an index list that enables search engine robots to index the documents. It catalogs the documents in the national union catalog K10plus so that they can also be found there. The data is made accessible to the German National Library via an OAI interface. The German National Library creates copies of the (full-text) files for long-term archiving and generates URNs for the publications.

What is a URN?

The German National Library generates a Uniform Resource Name (URN) for each document in hohPublica for the URN resolver of the German National Library (DNB). The URN is a persistent identifier with which the DNB uniquely identifies and addresses a network publication permanently and regardless of where it is stored. The DNB operates a URN resolver that lists all registered URNs. The resolver guides users to the locations (URLs) of a network publication. The URN ensures that a publication can always be found, even if its storage location changes.

What is a DOI?

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique and persistent identifier used to identify digital objects such as scientific articles and data. DOIs are important because they enable constant linking, even if the URL of the document changes. This ensures that scientific works can be found in the long term. DOIs support the standardization of citation, facilitate the correct citation and tracking of citations and are crucial for the integration of research papers in scientific databases. In open access publishing, DOIs increase the visibility and influence of research results by making them easily accessible and findable.

hohPublica automatically assigns DOIs for first publications and registers them with DataCite.

How can the documents be read?

The text documents in hohPublica are generally available in PDF format. To open a PDF file, you need a PDF reader. We recommend Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can also be installed as a browser plug-in.

Can the documents be printed out?

The PDF documents can be printed using the print function of the selected PDF reader.

How are documents submitted in hohPublica?

University members (teaching staff, students and researchers) with a valid Hohenheim user account can log in to hohPublica with this account. There they will find an input form in which they can enter descriptive data about the document (e.g. title, document type, abstract etc.) and upload the corresponding file.

Who can submit documents to hohPublica?

University members can log in with their Hohenheim user account and submit documents via the input mask. In exceptional cases, people without a valid Hohenheim user account (e.g. doctoral candidates whose user account has expired) can receive an external user account consisting of an e-mail address and password to submit documents after consultation with the KIM colleagues.

Which documents can be uploaded to hohPublica?

In principle, all documents that have been produced as part of a research activity at the University of Hohenheim can be submitted for publication. This includes theses with an obligation to publish (dissertations and habilitations), articles, reports, conference papers, etc.

In the case of theses without a publication requirement (e.g. Bachelor's and Master's theses), the author must also submit a recommendation from the respective supervisor to publish the work and a declaration of consent from the supervisor to be named on hohPublica in relation to the published work. Both can be sent informally by e-mail from the respective supervisor to hohPublica@uni-hohenheim.de.

Lecture lists, lecture announcements, notes of talks, invitations or similar are not published.

How must the documents be prepared for publication?

The documents should be offered in a standardized, platform-independent file format. The PDF (Portable Document Format) format is required for text documents. Please read the instructions "Preparation of electronic documents". The documents must not contain any restrictions in the security settings that make subsequent use within the scope of the right to quote more difficult. They must therefore not contain any copy protection, password protection or printing restrictions. In addition, the texts of the documents must be searchable and copyable thanks to OCR text recognition. If the PDF file is created using common text creation software such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice / LibreOffice Writer and LaTeX without additional settings, these technical requirements are generally guaranteed.

How are the documents in hohPublica indexed?

The subject indexing of the documents is carried out partly by the authors and partly by employees of the KIM Hohenheim library. Authors can suggest free and controlled keywords (according to GND). The metadata provided is editorially checked and, if necessary, corrected by trained and qualified library staff. In addition, all documents are assigned a subject group from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC).