Northumbria Research Link (NRL) is an open access repository of Northumbria University’s research output. Depositing in NRL improves the online visibility of your research, making it easier for a global audience of researchers to discover and reference your work.
Pure is the central source of data about research outputs at Northumbria University, so depositing details of your work in Pure informs other systems at the University, including NRL, about your activity without the need to duplicate information. Information on depositing to Pure is available on the staff intranet.
Pure and Northumbria Research Link FAQs
Here are the most frequently asked questions regarding NRL. If your question isn’t listed here, or you would like more information, please email the Scholarly Publications team.
Who can deposit research outputs in Pure?
Academic staff are required to deposit outputs from any research conducted whilst working at Northumbria University. Postgraduate research students who publish during their doctoral studies and would like to make these outputs available should discuss this with their thesis supervisor. It is possible for a member of staff to deposit work on your behalf – advice is available from the Scholarly Publications team.
How do I deposit my output?
Outputs should be deposited to Pure. They will then be transferred to Northumbria Research Link (NRL) by the Scholarly Publications team in the University Library. Guidance on depositing to Pure is available on the
staff intranet.
I have deposited my output, why can’t I see it?
The Scholarly Publications team validate all new deposits, source additional metadata where available and check copyright permissions for uploaded documents. The output will then appear in Pure and on NRL. Please note that although it is then visible and can be linked to, some information such as author listings update overnight.
Can I add things that were published before I joined Northumbria University?
Yes, you can add any publications attributed to you. You can do this manually, or by importing details of the publications from a file, or from external databases such as Scopus, Web of Science and CrossRef. To access these options, click 'add new' when you're logged in to Pure and then select 'import from online source' or 'import from file' as relevant.
Contact the Scholarly Publications Team by email if you have any questions about this. Please note that the team may have to prioritise adding, or validating, only the most recent outputs to Pure and NRL.
I have noticed incorrect information on my output, how do I fix it?
Please email us with details of the required amendments including the title of the output to which you are referring, and we will make the change for you.
I want something taken off the site, how do I do that?
Please email us with details of the required removal and we will remove it on your behalf.
How do I access the full text of research outputs in NRL?
Any papers deposited in NRL that we are permitted to share are freely available on NRL. Not all records in NRL have a file available for download, as it depends whether the author has supplied an electronic copy, and whether copyright permits us to make the full text available.
- If a record has a file available to download, it looks like this example. Beneath the citation there is a PDF thumbnail and you have the option to download or preview the file without needing to log into NRL.
- If a record has a file to which the publisher does not permit access, the record looks like this example. The note “restricted to repository staff only” indicates that even with a login, we could not permit access to this file without breaking the publisher’s terms and conditions.
- Where there is no thumbnail or download options, in records such as this example, this is where the author has not supplied a copy of their work. There is no file to access, even to users with logins. Where possible, we provide the DOI to journal articles (unique identifier), so that if you are a member of an institution which subscribes to the eJournal in which a paper is published, you will be able to access the full text.
Should I upload my thesis?
We are only able to upload theses awarded by Northumbria University. This is due to our arrangement with the British Library to use NRL as a means of updating EThOS with Northumbria theses. We encourage staff to upload their postgraduate theses to the repository of the awarding institution.
