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University Library | UPM Digital Archive | Sexenios and Accreditation

This brief article aims to help resolve the most frequent doubts about the deposit of scientific production in the institutional repository, an essential requirement for the evaluation processes of ANECA (Accreditation and Sexenios). In the case of UPM, the institutional repository is the UPM Digital Archive.

The Duty to Deposit: Legal Framework

The current Spanish regulations (Science Law and LOSU) establish that research results funded with public funds must be available in open access. It is not only a good practice but a mandatory requirement for your contributions to be positively evaluated by ANECA. Depositing in repositories — whether institutional, thematic, or generalist like Zenodo — guarantees the preservation and visibility of the work. Likewise, ANECA requires the use of persistent identifiers (DOI, Handle, or similar) to verify compliance with Open Science policies. The UPM Digital Archive generates as a persistent identifier a URL of the type https://oa.upm.es/82782/.

Before Starting

  • Check if it is already published in the UPM Digital Archive: The document may have been deposited by one of the co-authors, etc. previously. You can check by searching for the title or checking the documents of a certain author in the author index. Example publications Santiago Huerta Fernández.

  • UPM affiliation: In the articles, etc. to be deposited in the UPM Digital Archive, the affiliation of at least one of the authors must be UPM.

Ejemplo cabecera de un articulo de revista con datos de filiación de los autores.

 If there is no UPM affiliation, you can use ZENODO or check if it is already deposited in another institutional repository using OpenAIRE

  • PDF with the full text of the Document: Only documents whose PDF contains the full text will be published in the UPM Digital Archive. If it cannot be made open access, its consultation will be limited to the Repository Administrator.
  • Deposit from the UPM Scientific Portal: From the UPM Scientific Portal, you can deposit articles, etc. by uploading the PDF using the Open Science icon of each document.

Referencia bibliográfica del Portal Científico.

More information on the deposit process

  • Sexenios or Accreditation: If you want to start depositing documents in the UPM Digital Archive for a Sexenios or Accreditation process, the library of your School can advise and assist you.

Deposit of Publications and Data

Is it mandatory to deposit my work to apply for a sexenio or accreditation?

Yes. According to the 2025 ANECA call and the Open Science criteria, it is mandatory that the submitted contributions have a persistent identifier (DOI, Handle, or similar) that directs to the document deposited in the repository. The deposit is the first step to comply with the law and allows evaluators to consult the work and its social impact metrics (downloads and views).

What types of documents should I deposit and from what dates is it mandatory?

The obligation varies depending on the type of document and the legal framework in force at the time of its publication:

  • Scientific articles: Deposit of all articles published since the 2011 Science Law is mandatory.

  • Books and book chapters: Deposit is mandatory for works published from 2022 onwards (coinciding with the reform of the Science Law).

  • Research data: Data sets associated with publications must be deposited in repositories (under FAIR principles) if the publication is from 2022 onwards. UPM, together with the Universities of the Madroño Consortium, provides researchers at the university with the e-cienciaDatos repository for the deposit of final research data.

Which version of the document do I have to upload to the repository?

To comply with ANECA, it is recommended to always deposit the Publisher's Version (if it is an Open Access journal) or the Post-print (Accepted Manuscript), which is the version accepted after peer review but without the publisher's final formatting. The institutional repository manages embargo periods if required by the publisher.

If the full text of the document cannot be published in open access due to intellectual property issues, publisher permission, etc., the UPM Digital Archive staff will limit PDF access to the repository administrator.

Do I have to deposit if a co-author or the publisher has already done so?

It is not necessary to duplicate the deposit. If a co-author has already uploaded the work to their university's repository, or if the publisher has already deposited it in an official repository (such as PubMed Central), it is enough to provide the link or persistent identifier of that deposit in your application.

What happens if my publication has a publisher embargo?

You can and should make the deposit. Library staff will configure the embargo so that the document is not publicly visible until the time stipulated by the publisher has passed (usually 6, 12, or 24 months). For ANECA, the important thing is that the record exists in the repository.

How does the deposit affect the score of my sexenio?

In the 2025 call, the Contribution to Open Science scores up to 10% of the total contribution. Although the deposit is mandatory (a prerequisite), the fact that the work is in real open access and that the repository offers usage statistics (downloads) is positively valued within the indicators of scientific and social impact.

Sources Consulted

  • ANECA: Resolution of 5 December 2023 and specific criteria of the 2024-2025 sexenios call (on the obligation and evaluation of open science).

  • BOE: Law 14/2011 of Science and its amendment by Law 17/2022 (dates of obligation for articles, books, and data).

  • University Libraries (REBIUN, UAH, UniOvi, CSIC): Practical guides supporting research and deposit procedures in institutional repositories (RUO, e-ciencia, Digital.CSIC).

  • ANECA Frequently Asked Questions (2025): Technical documentation on persistent identifiers and permitted versions.