Institutional Repository - Manara

What is the institutional repository?

An institutional repository (IR) is a digital platform that stores and shares a university’s research and scholarly outputs. It provides open access to publications, theses, data, and more. The IR increases global visibility and preserves work long-term. It supports open access and academic collaboration. Manara is UDST’s institutional repository, showcasing the scholarly work of our faculty, researchers, and students. It is part of QNL’s national repository initiative, supporting open access across Qatar’s academic institutions.

Who can submit content to the institutional repository?

Current UDST students, faculty, researchers, and staff are encouraged to deposit their scholarly works in Manara, the UDST institutional repository. Only active UDST members are permitted to submit items directly. If you are a past UDST member and would like to deposit UDST-affiliated publications, please contact the scholarly communications team at scr@udst.edu.qa.

Is the repository open to the public?

​​​​​Yes, the repository is freely open to the public. Manara is powered by Figshare, which enhances the discoverability of openly licensed materials using keywords and metadata submitted during deposit. Public items on Manara are indexed by Google, Google Scholar, and Google Dataset Search, making UDST’s research globally accessible.

What kinds of work can one find on Manara?

Manara hosts open access journal articles (articles available without an access charge or other barriers), conference posters, conference proceedings, datasets, and a variety non-traditional academic output. Manara can also host certain versions of closed access journal articles, provided that the author can certify that the version they are uploading to Manara is an appropriate one, as per the journal's policies. For more on this, visit this page.

I published an open access article. Does Manara create a duplicate DOI?

 No. Manara hosts a copy of your open access article and uses the original DOI. 

How do I upload my work to Manara?  

• Register as a researcher using your institutional email address.

• After you have been verified (you must wait for this to occur), access your profile/login.   

• Upload your work along with as much information as possible about it.

What if my articles are behind a paywall?
Many articles published behind paywalls have embargo periods, after which time, the author accepted manuscript can be deposited in Manara. That version may be shared freely online, at conferences, and amongst your networks. Embargo periods vary by publisher. A UDST librarian will help determine when your preprint or author accepted manuscript can be posted on Manara. 

What file formats are preferred?

Text files- Plain text (TXT), Portable Document Format (PDF, PDF/A, PDF/UA-1, PDF/X-3), Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) DTD/schema, XSD/XSL presentation style sheets and defined started character encoding 

Research Data (e.g. Quantitative tabular data) - Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP), Tape Archive (TAR), Comma Separated Values (CSV), Microsoft Excel (MS-XLSX, MS-LSX) 

Audio files - Waveform Audio (WAVE) 

Video files - Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 4 (MPEG-4) 

I have a conference poster or presentation. Can Manara create a DOI for it and host it for me?

Yes. The Manara team will assign your work a DOI if it does not already have one and make your work accessible via Manara.  

Can I deposit work that has already been published elsewhere?

Yes, you usually can deposit work that has already been published elsewhere, but it depends on the following:

Check the Publisher’s Policy - Many publishers allow authors to deposit certain versions of their work (often the accepted manuscript rather than the final published PDF) in institutional repositories.

Versions You Can Deposit

• Preprint: The version before peer review (usually allowed).

• Accepted Manuscript (Post print): Peer-reviewed but not yet formatted by the publisher (commonly allowed with conditions).

• Publisher’s PDF: Often restricted unless the work is open access or you have retained rights.

Embargo Periods - Some publishers require waiting for a certain time (e.g., 6 to 24 months) before depositing.

Licensing - If the article is under a Creative Commons license, you can usually deposit the publisher’s version without restrictions. 

Can I restrict access to my work? 

Our repository team ensures full compliance with the publisher guidelines. If your journal requires an embargo period. we'll securely store your manuscript and release it automatically when the embargo expires. 

What rights do I retain when I deposit my work?

When you deposit your work in Manara, the rights you retain depend on:

• If you own the copyright (e.g., unpublished work or published under a license that lets you keep rights), you retain full control. You can grant the repository a non-exclusive license to distribute and preserve the work.

• If the work was published elsewhere, your rights depend on the agreement you signed.

• For traditional publishing, you may have transferred copyright to the publisher but often retain rights to share the accepted manuscript in a repository and use the work for teaching, research, and personal purposes.

• For Open Access publishing under Creative Commons (CC BY, CC BY-NC, etc.), you retain broad rights to share and reuse.

• If the publisher imposes an embargo, you retain rights but must respect the timing before making it publicly accessible.

• Depositing in Manara does not take away your copyright. You keep ownership and grant the repository permission to store and share your work under agreed terms.

What licenses can I apply to my work?

Manara have grouped licenses under these main categories: 

• Creative Commons Licenses

• Open Data Commons Licenses

• Software

• Open-Source Initiative Licenses

• In Copyright

Why Use CC Licenses?

• They retain your copyright while granting permissions.

• They increase visibility and reuse of your work.

• They are machine-readable, making your work discoverable in open access platforms.

Will depositing in the repository increase my citations?

Yes, depositing your work in Manara can increase citations. Publicly available data on Manara is indexed by Google, extending the reach of your research. 

Can I track downloads or views of my work on Manara?

Yes! Manara provides following built-in usage metrics for each deposited item.

• Views

• Downloads

• Citations

Where to find usage metrics?

On the item’s public page, you’ll see counters for views and downloads.

How does the repository support research visibility?

Deposits made open on Manara will be indexed by Google and should appear in due time in Google searches, Google Scholar and Google Dataset. 

What happens if I need to update or remove a deposit?

Manara supports version control of all publicly available data. Editing an item that was already made available online will create a new version of it. In exceptional cases, you can also request the deletion of an item by contacting the Manara Team.

Who manages the repository and how can I contact them?

UDST Library SCR team

Why do I need to register as a researcher with Manara?

• Eligibility for funding through QNL's OA publishing fund. 

• Link your collected works together on Manara by author

What size of materials can I deposit in Manara?

The default storage limit for new user accounts is 20 gigabytes per user. The Manara team may increase the limit upon individual request.