Who can submit work?
Lesley University faculty, staff, and students. Non-affiliated scholars may contribute if co-authoring with Lesley authors.
What types of works are accepted?
Peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, working papers, conference papers, and creative works of scholarly or institutional significance.
Can I submit a work in progress?
No. Submissions must be final and intended as permanent contributions.
What if my work includes copyrighted material?
You must own the copyright or provide documented permission for all third-party content (images, music, datasets, interviews).
What file formats are preferred?
PDF for text; MP4/MP3 for media. Text files are converted to PDF during upload.
Are there size limits for files?
No size limit, but please consider download impact for large files.
Why does my abstract lose formatting when I paste it into the form?
The submission form only supports HTML formatting for web display. Use HTML tags like <p> (paragraph), <br> (line break), <strong> (bold), <em> (italics), <sub> (subscript), and <sup> (superscript). If submitting in HTML, select the correct option on the form.
How do I include accents and special characters in abstracts and titles?
The system supports Unicode (UTF-8). You can copy and paste accents, symbols, and special characters from a word processor or type them directly.
Windows: Use Character Map.
Mac: Use Character Palette (Edit > Special Characters in Finder).
How can I submit multiple chapters or sections?
Combine all sections into one Word or PDF file. If the file is too large, upload the full text as one file and additional sections as Additional Files.
Can I upload related files (e.g., sound clips, datasets)?
Yes. Upload them as Additional Files during submission. They will appear with your description. Where possible, include images/charts directly in the main document.
How do I revise a submission?
If posted: Contact the repository administrator with the new version.
If not yet posted:
Go to My Account, locate the article, and click the title.
Click Revise Submission in the left sidebar.
Upload the updated file.
Provide the date and a short description of the revision in the Reason for Update field.
Click Submit.
What happens if I need to withdraw my work?
DigitalCommons@Lesley was established to provide long-term, persistent access to deposited items. If a situation may arise requiring the removal of an item, contact your librarian liaison or send an email to digitalcommons@lesley.edu and together we will determine the best course of action. Since any item within DigitalCommons@Lesley may have been cited via its persistent URL, a “tombstone” page will remain with metadata and removal notice; but the item and its metadata will no longer be searchable or harvested by services like Google.
What if I leave the University?
Your work stays in the repository for long-term access.
