Policy On Archiving, Repository, and Unique Identifiers

POLICY ON ARCHIVING, REPOSITORY, AND UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS

1. Archiving Policy

1.1 Objective

To ensure the long-term preservation, accessibility, and integrity of all published content, the journal commits to archiving its materials in reputable digital preservation services.

1.2 Policy Statement

All published articles, including metadata and supplementary files, shall be deposited and preserved through one or more of the following long-term digital preservation services:

• PKP Preservation Network (PKP-PN)
• LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe)
• CLOCKSS
• Internet Archive
• Portico

Where applicable, arrangements may also be made for preservation in national or institutional libraries that support open-access archiving.

1.3 Implementation

The editorial office shall maintain up-to-date agreements with at least one certified archiving service. Back issues shall be progressively migrated to new preservation systems when technological upgrades occur. Metadata shall conform to OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) standards for interoperability.

1.4 Information Disclosure

The journal’s archiving arrangements are publicly available at https://thedyke.msu.ac.zw/ 

2. Repository Policy

2.1 Objective

To promote open access and facilitate the dissemination of research outputs, authors are encouraged to deposit versions of their manuscripts in institutional or subject repositories.

2.2 Policy Statement

Authors are permitted to deposit the following versions of their work:

• Pre-print (Author’s Original Manuscript) – before peer review.
• Post-print (Author Accepted Manuscript) – after peer review but before journal formatting.
• Publisher’s Version (Version of Record) – after publication, provided proper citation and a DOI link to the journal are included.
  
  Deposits may be made in:
• Institutional repositories
• Disciplinary repositories
• National open-access repositories
• The author’s personal website or research profile (e.g., ORCID, ResearchGate)

2.3 Licensing

Deposited versions must acknowledge the original source of publication and retain the Creative Commons licence applied by the journal (e.g., CC BY 4.0).

2.4 Information Disclosure

Repository policy details are accessible at: https://thedyke.msu.ac.zw/ 

3. Unique Identifiers and Structured Data Policy

3.1 Objective

To enhance the findability, citation, and interoperability of published research.

3.2 Policy Statement

Each published article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) provided through Crossref. All article metadata (title, authors, affiliations, abstracts, keywords, ORCID iDs, references, and funding information) shall be registered with Crossref to ensure global discoverability.

3.3 Data and Metadata Standards

• Metadata shall comply with Dublin Core and Crossref standards.
• Persistent identifiers (DOIs) shall be included in all article citation formats and on landing pages.
• ORCID identifiers shall be used to identify authors uniquely.

3.4 Future Integration

The journal may adopt additional persistent identifier systems, such as ARKs or Handles, to complement DOI coverage and ensure redundancy.

4. Review and Compliance

This policy shall be reviewed biennially by the Editorial Board to ensure compliance with ZIMCHE, DOAJ, COPE, and OASPA standards.