Can I upload a PDF of a journal article I obtained through the library’s e-journals to Queen's learning management systems for my students to read?

The licences for some of the e-journals provided by the Library allow instructors to upload articles into secure learning management systems such as those available through Queen's (onQ/Desire2Learn/Medtech etc.). While there may be good reason to upload articles into Queen's learning management systems, it is important to consider that doing so may mean that your students do not have the most recent version of the article. It is not unusual for publishers to make corrections or changes, such as adding supplementary material, to articles after initial publication. If such changes are made after a copy has been uploaded they will not be reflected in that copy. A direct link is the best way to ensure access to the most recent version of an article. Linking to the article also allows the Library to track use and obtain data about the importance of a particular journal to the campus.

You are free to create a direct link yourself, or you might want the Library and the Copyright Advisory Office to do this for you. As well as saving you time, the Copyright Advisory Office will ensure that authentication is taken care of so that your students don’t need to remember to log-in to the Library’s proxy server before going into Queen's learning management systems. They will also prepare a “persistent” URL. The publisher’s URL for many articles can change from day to day; a persistent URL will ensure that your students get to the right articles quickly and without frustration.

Contact your liaison librarian if you would like help with creating links to articles in the library catalogue.

Resources

Tools

While uploading and linking to articles in Queen's learning management systems is sometimes permitted by the licences, it is important to remember that licences generally do not permit you to upload to a website, or create links on a website, that is not part of the University’s secure network, and that is open to the world at large. None of the licences that the Library has with publishers allows for uploading to, or linking from, websites that allow access without authentication.

Copyright in the Digital Classroom

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