Frequently Asked Questions


About the Research Exchange

Research Exchange Procedures

Research Exchange Governance Policies

What is the IAAO Research Exchange?

The IAAO Research Exchange is IAAO’s member-only, full-text institutional repository. The Research Exchange is a repository for research papers and journal articles relevant to the property tax assessment and administration community. The repository is a service of the International Association of Assessing Officers library. Research and scholarly output included here has been selected and deposited by IAAO members and staff.

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What are the benefits of sharing my work through the IAAO Research Exchange?

Stability—Materials deposited in the Research Exchange are given a stable, permanent URL. This means that when you link to your works in the repository, or when your colleagues cite your research, users will always be able to find it. 404 Errors will be a thing of the past.

Download Statistics—Digital Commons, our repository platform, provides authors with a monthly e-mail indicating the number of times their works were downloaded in the preceding month. For authors with an account, we provide an Author Dashboard with detailed download information. Download counts provide authors with insight into the impact of their scholarship.

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How can I add materials to the IAAO Research Exchange?

Adding your published scholarship to the Research Exchange is easy! All you need to do is send the IAAO Library a copy of your work. We'll check the copyright of your article, look up your publishers' self-archiving policies, ask your publisher for permission to include your publication in the repository, and upload a copy of your publication to the repository.

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What types of materials can I add to the IAAO Research Exchange?

Materials contributed to the IAAO Research Exchange should be scholarly in nature. Materials frequently deposited in the digital repository include journal articles (including manuscripts), book chapters, proceedings, extension publications, monographs, white papers and technical reports. IAAO Library staff members will assist in handling copyright clearance for published works. If authors would like unpublished works included in the repository, such as posters or papers presented at conferences, authors will need to submit those items to IAAO Library Staff along with citation information outlining when and where items were presented.

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I don't have electronic versions of old working papers that I'd like to include in the repository. Is it okay to scan the printed page to a PDF file?

Scanning printed pages is a great way to create PDF files for inclusion in the repository. There are two ways to scan a page: using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or scanning the page as an image. Making OCR scans requires careful proofreading and loses the original formatting of the documents. Image scans cannot be searched. The best solution takes advantage of both of these methods. Many software applications allow for the OCR capture of image scans. When documents are scanned this way, users see the image scan but search the full-text of the document. This is the preferred method for scanning documents for the repository.

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How do I revise a submission?

To revise a submission that has been posted to the repository, contact the repository administrator with the new version.

If the submission has been submitted, but not yet posted, you may revise it via your My Account page:

  • Locate the article on your My Account page, and click the title.
  • Click Revise Submission from the list of options in the left sidebar.
  • Enter your changes in the Revise Submission form, and click Submit at the bottom of the page to submit your changes. (You only need to modify the portion of the form that corresponds to the changes you wish to make.)

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Can I post a reprint from a journal?

It depends on what the journal allows, which is usually specified in their agreement with the author. If it would not violate copyright to post the reprint on the IAAO Research Exchange, you're welcome to do so. Permissions for many publishers can be found at SHERPA RoMEO.

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A working paper in our repository site has been published in a slightly revised form in a journal. What should I do?

Many journals do not have any restrictions on working papers that preceded an article, especially if substantial revisions were made. You should check your author agreement with the journal to confirm that there is no problem with leaving the working paper on the site. The repository would constitute noncommercial use.

Assuming the working paper does remain posted in the repository, it is a good idea to include the citation to the published article on the cover page of the repository working paper. Please contact the repository administrator to request this change.

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Who can contribute to the IAAO Research Exchange?

Eligible contributors of content are potentially any IAAO members with content to share. Contributors must have either the copyright, or the right to deposit, for all contributed content. Designated staff in the IAAO Library will administer the site and will consult with contributors.

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What types of materials can be added to the IAAO Research Exchange?

Materials may include document files, image files, data sets, and audiovisual materials. Almost all digital file types may be deposited, but the following are preferred for preservation reasons:

  • text: pdf (PDF/A format is preferred), html, doc, ppt, xls, csv, rtf, sgml, xml, marc, css
  • images: bmp, jpeg, png, psd, tiff, ai/eps/ps, gif
  • audio: mp3, wav, aiff, ra
  • video: mpeg, mp4, mov, wmv

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Can materials be removed from the IAAO Research Exchange?

All deposits are considered permanent. Content may be removed if copyright infringement or other violations are discovered, in which case the record will remain with the message: "Item withdrawn by authority of International Association of Assessing Officers."

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Do I need to be concerned with copyright if I am the author?

Copyrights may apply to content submitted to the institutional repository. Copyrights held by the contributors do not transfer to IAAO upon deposit. By depositing their work, contributors grant to IAAO on an item-by-item basis, a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to distribute their items. This license does not limit author rights in any way. Institutional repository content is intellectual property, and may only be submitted with the consent of the property owner.

Journal article authors may contribute PDFs of their articles only if they are in compliance with the agreement they signed with the journal publisher. Depositors may search Sherpa/Romeo to determine the journal publishers’ policies, or consult the publisher directly. Authors are encouraged to negotiate with publishers for their rights, and to use such tools as the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine.

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What if an article has multiple authors?

If submitted content was created by multiple authors, the contributor is responsible for obtaining explicit permission for depositing the article in the Research Exchange from all co-authors. At least one author/creator must be associated with IAAO.

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Is there a way to restrict use of materials?

There are three levels of access for collections of content. Public access allows anyone to see the content. Membership access allows anyone with an IAAO membership to access the content. Private allows only the contributor and the site administrator to access the content. Content may be embargoed and released for public access at a later time.

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Additional information regarding privacy

When individuals visit the IAAO Research Exchange, certain information is automatically gathered and stored. This information does not generally identify the individual, but does include::

  • the Internet domain and IP address used to access the repository
  • the browser and operating system
  • the date and time
  • which pages or files were visited or downloaded

This information is used to aggregate statistical reports and to improve the functionality of the site.

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