Georgia Southern Scholars
Adding Content
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The following offers a high-level overview of how to add content to your profile. For detailed instructions on how to create and update specific content records, see the Managing Content page.
After logging into your profile and updating your personal information, you can begin adding and updating research content. GS Scholars allows you to create records for all types of research outputs relevant to your scholarly and creative activity. This includes the more ‘traditional’ records of research such as journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. It also includes other types of research output, such as conference posters and exhibitions as well as other outputs and activities that may or may not be subject to peer review.
Research Outputs and Activities You Should Add
You are strongly encouraged to add any content to your profile that highlights your scholarly and creative interests, tells your story as a scholar and researcher, and shows your scholarly impact. This includes outputs such as scholarly and creative publications, research projects and grants, datasets, and scholarship-related professional activities, prizes and honors. As you think about what to include in your profile, keep in mind these examples:
- Publications and Presentations: Prioritize scholarly, peer-reviewed publications and presentations appearing in prestigious or high-impact venues.
- Projects & Grants: Focus on projects and grants that explicitly support scholarly and creative activity.
- Professional Activities: Focus on editorial service and scholarship-related professional leadership roles, memberships, and licensures.
- Prizes & Honors: Prioritize noteworthy external prizes, honors, and awards, for example: fellow in a professional society, Fulbright Scholar, outstanding editorial board service, outstanding conference paper, honor society membership. Limit internal honors and awards to high-profile college and university accolades.
- Press/Media: Focus on press/media activities that are explicitly related to and highlight your scholarly and creative activities and expertise.
Create a New Record or Open an Existing Record
1. Log in to your GS Scholars profile.
2. To create a new record, click + Add content, then select the submission type appropriate to your work:
3. Alternatively, to update an existing record, click the dropdown menu on the Personal tab, then click My research output under the appropriate submission type header for the record you want to open. Use the search bar to locate and open the record:
If you need any help creating a new record or opening an existing record, contact the GS Commons Team.
Available Updates Tab
If you open an existing record with available updates from an online source, then the record will automatically open on the Available Updates tab. Updates are highlighted in yellow.
For each update, click the radio button to select your preferred option, then resave the record. After you make updates and resave the record, the Available Updates tab will be hidden until new updates become available. Reopen the record at any time to continue making edits, including to any updated fields.
If you need any help with the Available Updates tab, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Publication Status
For the Publication Status section, your research output may go through a number of stages on its journey to publication. Edit the Publication Status section according to the following definitions:
- In preparation
Enter the date that the work is being prepared for submission. By default, the record's visibility is set to Backend - restricted to Pure users and so will not appear on the GS Scholars portal.
- Submitted
Enter the date that the work was submitted to a journal for peer review. By default, the record's visibility is set to Backend - restricted to Pure users and so will not appear on the GS Scholars portal.
- Accepted/In Press
Enter the date that the work is approved, following all peer review changes. By default, the record's visibility is set to Public - No restriction and will appear on the GS Scholars portal.
- E-pub ahead of print
Enter the date that the publisher-formatted version was made available on the publisher’s webpage. The record can be updated to include a link. By default, the record's visibility is set to Public - No restriction and will appear on the GS Scholars portal.
- Published
Enter the date that the work was formally published. The record can be updated to include volume, issue and page numbers. By default, the record's visibility is set to Public - No restriction and will appear on the GS Scholars portal.
If you need any help with the Publication Status section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Authors and Affiliations
For the Authors and Affiliations section, you may have multiple organizational affiliations listed, including research centers, institutes, and Research Impact Areas. If one or more of these is not relevant to a particular output, remove it by clicking on the Subtract symbol next to the name. Conversely, you can add an affiliation by clicking Add Organizational Unit…
For yourself and any other current Georgia Southern faculty, make sure that the department where you hold your faculty appointment appears under your name.
Add any related Research Impact Areas by clicking Edit next to your name, then clicking Affiliate to another organizational unit. Add any relevant Georgia Southern centers or institutes in the same way. If Georgia Southern University appears as a separate affiliation or as an author, remove it.
To add additional authors, click Add person… and either search for another current faculty member (i.e., internal person) or add an external person. Use the Up and Down arrows to arrange authors as they appear on the work.
If you are importing works from one or more previous institutions, make sure that your current department affiliation appears above the external institution where you served at the time that the work was published. To do this, click Edit next to your name, add the external organization, then click Update.
If you need any help with the Authors and Affiliations section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Publication Managed by
For the Publication Managed By section, make sure that the department where the first current Georgia Southern author holds their faculty appointment appears here.
If you need any help with the Publication Managed by section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Electronic Version(s), and Related Files and Links
Add any relevant documents or links in the Electronic Version(s), and Related Files and Links section. If there are no related documents or links, leave this section blank.
We strongly encourage you to include a link to the final published version of the work if available, ideally a DOI or the publisher's URL. We also encourage you to upload a post-print of the work if this is allowed. If the final published version of the work is open access, be sure to select Open in the Public access to file field. This will add the Open Access logo to the record and make it searchable as open access. Add Creative Commons license information as well if it is available.
If you upload a copy of the final published version, a post-print, or a pre-print, please ensure that the terms of publication permit this.
If you need any help with the Electronic Version(s), and Related Files and Links section, including with copyright terms or posting a file, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Keywords
The Keywords section may include different fields depending on the record template. For the Keywords section, GS Scholars allows you to add a variety of keywords and descriptors to your work. Adding or editing keywords is optional; however, we strongly recommend adding UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to you work where appropriate.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 interconnected objectives addressing global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and sustainable development. These goals provide a comprehensive framework for countries, organizations, and individuals to work towards a more equitable, prosperous, and sustainable future by 2030.
Researchers find the SDGs invaluable as they offer a universal language and roadmap for aligning their work with global priorities. By addressing the SDGs in their research, scholars contribute directly to solving pressing societal issues, guiding policy decisions, and fostering collaboration across disciplines and sectors. Furthermore, the SDGs provide researchers with a basis for measuring and assessing the impact of their work, facilitating accountability and evaluation of research outcomes. Overall, the SDGs serve as a catalyst for meaningful research that promotes positive social, economic, and environmental change on a global scale.
GS Scholars includes SDG information imported from Scopus and added manually by faculty and administrators. By adding one or more SDGs to your work, it will be searchable by SDG in GS Scholars and the SDG badges will display in the record.
Here is an example record displaying an SDG badge:
- Scopus Subject Areas
The All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) system is used by Scopus to classify journals and conference proceedings into four broad subject areas: life sciences, physical sciences, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. Within these subject areas, the ASJC includes 27 categories, which are further divided into 334 subcategories. The ASJC also includes a class for multidisciplinary titles. The ASJC is based on the aims and scope of the title, and on the content it publishes. When a new journal and conference proceeding is added to Scopus, in-house experts classify the title and all its content according to the ASJC.
Adding one or more Scopus subject areas increases the discoverability of any works not indexed in Scopus when someone searches GS Scholars using ASJC keywords.
- Disciplines
Search for and add Dublin Core (DC) Disciplines to your work. Disciplines are good for indicating how your work is likely to be described in online archives or institutional repositories like Georgia Southern Commons.
- Keywords (free text)
Add one or more free text keywords to your work. Free text keywords are helpful when LC, DC, or other available classification schemes lack sufficient granularity or currency to describe your work. As you type, GS Scholars will suggest free text keywords that have been added to the platform previously. To add a keyword, click on a suggested keywork or press Enter on your keyboard when you are done typing.
If you need any help with the Keywords section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Event
If your work is related to a conference, meeting, or other scholarly event, add this relation in the Event section. If there is no related event, leave this section blank.
To add a related event, click Add event. Search for and select an existing event if one exists. If a record does not exist, click Create new, complete the fields, then click Create. The GS Commons Team will update the event information if needed.
If you need any help with the Event section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Relations
If the record is related in any way to one or more additional output or activity records in GS Scholars, you can add these relations in the Relations section. Relations provide an effective way to show relationships between scholarly outputs and activities, such as:
- Showing what outputs or activities were produced under a specific project or grant.
- Showing what outputs or activities were derived from a graduate thesis.
- Showing what activities contributed to an eventual publication.
- Showing what scholarly outputs or activities led to an invited paper, presentation, and/or press/media activity.
To add a relation, click the + icon for the category of output or activity that you want to search, then click on the record you want to relate in the dropdown.
Please note: You may only search for existing records from the Relations section
If you need any help with the Relations section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Metadata Tab: Visibility
The Visibility section determines whether a record appears on the GS Scholars portal. The four available visibility statuses are:
- Public - No restriction: The content is visible on the GS Scholars portal.
- Campus - Restricted to specific IP range: Do not use.
- Backend - Restricted to Pure users: The content is visible only on the back end to others logged in with a GS Scholars account.
- Confidential - Restricted to associated users and editors: The email addresses of those who can view the record will be displayed. This includes other contributors as well as platform administrators.
For most records, the default setting is Public - No restriction. The default setting for research outputs depends on their publication status. Outputs that are In preparation or Submitted have the default setting of Backend - Restricted to Pure users. Outputs with the status E-pub ahead of print or Published have the default setting Public - No restriction.
The colored dot associated with each visibility status will appear in your content lists.
If you need any help with the Visibility section, contact the GS Commons Team.
Manage Duplicates Tab
The Manage Duplicates tab can help identify and merge duplicate records. For example, GS Scholars may import multiple records for the same work if it is unable to match the records at the time of import. In some instances, GS Scholars will recommend possible duplicates, for example when two records have identical titles.
At any time, click Search for other candidates to search for additional potential duplicates. If you find any records that you want to merge, click Merge to start the process.
Please note: GS Scholars does not allow you to merge records using different record templates. When this occurs, the best course of action may be to delete the record you don't want. For example, GS Scholars may include separate records for a conference paper and a corresponding presentation. However, many faculty prefer one record corresponding to the conference paper. In this case, we recommend that you delete the presentation record rather than merge the records.
Check the boxes beside at least two records that you want to merge. Click Start merge and complete any subsequent prompts.
If you need any help merging or deleting records, contact the GS Commons Team.
Relations Tab
Review the Relations tab to see if the record is related to any other records. Use this tab to identify any relations that should be added or removed from the current record. Relations provide an effective way to show relationships between scholarly outputs and activities, such as:
- Showing what outputs or activities were produced under a specific project or grant.
- Showing what outputs or activities were derived from a graduate thesis.
- Showing what activities contributed to an eventual publication.
- Showing what scholarly outputs or activities led to an invited paper, presentation, and/or press/media activity.
On the Relations tab, click on the title of any related record to open and edit the record. Also, relations may be added or edited in the Relations section on the Metadata tab of most records.
If you need any help with the Relations tab, contact the GS Commons Team.
Fingerprints Tab
Edit the fingerprints associated with the record on the Fingerprints tab. Similarly, restore fingerprints by reversing these steps for any omitted concepts and disabled categories. When you are done making changes, click Save at the bottom of the record. Learn more about fingerprints on the GS Scholars FAQ.
To remove fingerprint categories:
- Select the category you want to remove.
- Change the blue On switch to Off.
- Click Save.
To remove individual fingerprint concepts:
- Select the individual concept you want to remove.
- Click on the Red Cross.
- Click Save.
If you need any help with the Fingerprints tab, contact the GS Commons Team.
History and Comments Tab
Under the Comments heading on the History and Comments tab, add a comment to the record's history. Comments are helpful for preserving information about changes to a record over time. To add a comment, click Write a comment about the content, write your comment, then click Save.
Emails are currently disabled, so leave the email section blank.
If you need any help with the History and Comments tab, contact the GS Commons Team.
For help, contact the GS Commons Team at digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu. A team member will respond as soon as possible during regular business hours.