The Use of Institutional Repositories for Self-Archiving in Canadian Universities

This study investigates the use of institutional repositories (IR) for self-archiving journal articles inthe U15 universities as well as the presence of institutional policies and publisher embargos. While 45.1%to 56.6% of publications are available in open access (OA), only 0.5% to 10.7% are found in the IRs. Wefound only three university-wide OA policies, and embargo periods of 12 months or more for 25.6% ofjournal policies. This suggests that IR play a minor role in OA practices, and a need for more policiesrelated to self-archiving and the use of IR specifically.