Sigma Group Participation Policies

Group Defined

A group may be from any professional setting where nurses or nursing students* work or learn, such as schools of nursing, hospitals, other clinical settings, national/international nursing organizations, professional groups/consortia, or health-related businesses.

Groups include Sigma chapters!

*Nurses and current nursing students must hold or currently be enrolled in an appropriately accredited BSN (or equivalent) program or above to be eligible to submit materials to the Sigma Repository.

Helpful Information

Curious about submission types? - visit the Content page.
Have questions about copyright? - visit the Copyright Information page.
Want to know more about submitting presentation materials (i.e., posters, podium/oral presentation slides)? - visit the Event Materials page.
Would you like to focus on your students' works? - visit the Student Works page.
The Sigma Repository does not offer peer-review. There is a peer-review option for groups mentioned below. To learn more about the Sigma Repository's evaluation process visit Acquisition and Evaluation page.
Other questions regarding policies and guidelines? Visit the Information Hub and look for the group symbol.

Copyright

Because copyright is so important, here is additional information to consider.

Upon submission and posting of materials, copyright remains with the original copyright holder.
Only the original copyright holder may submit their material to the Sigma Repository.
In the United States, students and faculty are the copyright holders of the work they create during courses or as part of teaching, tenure, and promotion, respectively.
Copyright holders may assign someone the right to submit on their behalf by completing the repository's proxy form.
In most cases, a journal owns the copyright to the as-published article. So, published articles should not be submitted to the Sigma Repository unless they were published with a Creative Commons License.
Individual copyright holders (e.g., students, faculty, members, employees) cannot be compelled to submit their materials to the repository, only invited to submit.
Before a group begins submissions, they should have a critical conversation about copyright and copyright ownership!

Participation Options

There are 3 ways that groups can participate in the Sigma Repository. Options are independent and not sequential.

Groups with existing collections prior to July 2024 will not lose their collections. The exception being inactivity for a consecutive 14-month period which has always been grounds for collection removal. Groups will not be notified prior to a collection's removal for inactivity.

Informal. No contact with Sigma Repository staff is required. Start submitting materials according to the Sigma Repository policies and guidelines.
- Make sure that submitting authors place your group's name in the Author Affiliation field to facilitate location of the group's materials across collections once items are posted in the repository.

Enhanced Visibility - Exhibit Level.
- Description. A Digital Commons Exhibit (DCX) page is designed to present your group's best works and digital presentations in a flexible, contemporary showcase that can engage a wide range of viewers. Integrated with the Sigma Repository site, DCX allows Sigma Repository staff to create eye-catching exhibits from your group's repository content. Curation tools allows staff to highlight the best and most important works with a modern, museum-like design, effectively communicating the prestige of your group. Works will appear in their best light, allowing research, evidence-based practice, clinical and educational materials to benefit from a visually inviting gateway to attract a global audience.
- Eligibility. Groups that have participated in the Sigma Repository via an existing collection or that have at least 75 items posted in the Sigma Repository may request an Exhibit page provided they are still submitting materials to the Sigma Repository.
- Timeliness. At least 5 of the items in the Exhibit page must be current (i.e., posting date no older than 12 months prior to the Exhibit page launch date.).
- Duration. Exhibit pages will be live for 8 months.
- Subsequent Applications. Groups may reapply for an Exhibit page, but must have new content posted in the Sigma Repository in order to qualify for a subsequent Exhibit page.
  - New content = additional items submitted and posted since the preceding Exhibit page went live.
  - Exhibit space is limited; there may be a waiting period after a request form has been received and the application approved.
- Design. Sigma Repository staff will work with Sigma marketing and graphic design staff to create a professional DCX page for each qualifying group.
- Request Form: Coming Soon.
Enhanced Visibility - Site-Specific Journal Level.
- Description. Publish and share high-quality open access journals with minimal effort or platform expertise. Elsevier's Digital Commons Journals empowers your group to create a world-class, site-specific open access journal. It ensures compliance with industry practices and offers 99.9% uptime and top-notch security. In addition to industry-leading visibility and indexation by Google Scholar and the Sigma Repository, your group's journal will benefit from dedicated technical support and expert advice provided by the Elsevier Digital Commons journal community. Journals are hosted on a secure and stable platform with automatic releases and customization options.
- Eligibility. Group leaders must complete a journal request form: Coming Soon, and be committed to all aspects of creating, leading, and running a journal, including locating and training peer reviewers. Sigma reserves the right to reject journal applications not in line with Sigma's mission and vision.
- Scope. The journal will be site-specific and limited to showcasing articles authored by the group's members. Depending on the group type this may be employees, organization members, faculty, and students. Secondary co-authors may be from outside the group.
- Peer Review. Details Coming Soon.
  - Double-blind
  - Mentoring
  - Open Peer Review
- Instruction. Journal creation and platform training is provided.
- Collection Creation. Operating a journal allows a group to have a named collection within the Sigma Repository as all articles will be indexed in the Sigma Repository automatically once a specified time has elapsed. The collection will be created when articles from the first issue are indexed in the repository.