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Anglia Ruskin University's Institutional Repository

Anglia Ruskin Research Online (ARRO) is ARU's institutional repository. It was launched in June 2010 with the aim of showcasing and preserving the research outputs of members of the Anglia Ruskin research community. It provides - where permissions allow - free and open access to the scholarly outputs of staff from across the University.

From January 2019, all newly accepted research outputs will need to be deposited to ARRO via our new research information system - Symplectic.

What is Symplectic?

Symplectic is a tool for managing research activity at an institution - either relating to a specific individual, or at the departmental or faculty-wide level. It consists of several “elements”, or categories, which researchers can use to list their professional activities, including grants, impact and publications. Symplectic is used by a number of universities across the UK, including Leeds, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL.

What do I need to deposit to ARRO, and why?

Since 1st April 2016, all journal articles and conference proceedings carrying an ISSN need to be deposited to ARRO within 3 months of formal acceptance, in order to meet REF open access policy. Outputs that are not deposited in time may not be eligible for submission to REF2021.

REF open access policy does not currently apply to other output types such as book chapters. However, ARU expects that these will still be deposited to ARRO in accordance with our own open access policy. There are considerable benefits to making your research open, such as improved visibility and higher impact.

How do I access Symplectic? How do I log on?

You can access Symplectic at http://symplectic.anglia.ac.uk. If you’re using a networked machine on campus, it should log you in automatically. If you’re off campus or connecting a device via Wifi, you can log in with your full username e.g. abc123@aru.ac.uk.

When you log in for the first time, you will notice that a profile has been set up for you automatically. You may also see a list of published outputs that Symplectic will ask you to claim or reject – these will be added to your profile automatically if claimed.

How do I deposit items through Symplectic?

The process is explained in detail in the guide prepared by RIDO (ARU login required).

Who do I contact for further information?

If you have any questions, or run into any problems, you can contact Dr Tim Brooks in RIDO at tim.brooks@aru.ac.uk, or the Research Support team in the Library at arro@aru.ac.uk. We are also happy to schedule one-to-one, group or departmental training, so please feel free to get in touch.



FAQs

What is the difference between Symplectic and ARRO?

  • Symplectic is an internal system used for managing the full spectrum of research activity, including grants, records of impact, and related professional activities, as well as publications. All of this information appears in one place (your profile) that only yourself and faculty administrators can view.
  • ARRO is publicly viewable by anyone on the web, and is indexed by Google and other search engines so that our records appear in search results. ARRO allows us to make outputs open access where possible, to meet REF policy, and to facilitate equality of access to research whilst increasing its impact. ARRO is intended to be a public facing ‘window’ into the breadth and depth of research happening at ARU.

Why is deposit via Symplectic better? Why not allow deposit via both systems?

Deposit via Symplectic is quicker and more user-friendly than the ARRO deposit process, with fewer steps to go through and fewer mandatory fields on the form.
We decided to mediate deposit through Symplectic so that you, as a researcher, only have to use one system, which saves you time. We also wanted to encourage people to engage with their Symplectic profile as there are many benefits to doing so, such as allowing you to have a better overview of what’s been deposited to ARRO, and allowing you to manage your other research activity in the same interface.

What happens if my paper is co-authored with others at ARU?

When someone adds a co-authored paper in Symplectic (or if Symplectic discovers the paper automatically from an external source), the paper should appear on everyone’s profile for them to claim. However, only one person needs to deposit the full text to ARRO. If a co-author has already deposited to ARRO, then this will be clearly indicated on the Symplectic record for the paper, under the section 'Full text' > 'ARRO (ARU Repository)'. If the paper has not yet been deposited, there will be a ‘Deposit’ button in this section allowing you to do so easily.

Can I edit the records for my papers once I’ve added them?

Information in Symplectic can be edited at any time. How you curate your Symplectic profile is largely up to you, and you can change, add and merge things as you wish.

ARRO is different, however. Only administrators can edit records in the public-facing repository, so you’ll need to contact us at arro@aru.ac.uk to make changes. For ARRO, the idea is that we largely leave the record alone once the output has been published and all the information added.
Page Last Reviewed: 27th February 2023 by Rocky Mak.