The 'Request a Copy' feature on Apollo at the University of Cambridge lets individuals request copies of works under embargo. Copyright rules mean we can’t share embargoed works directly. However, authors can share these manuscripts with others, and this feature helps facilitate that.
How to Request a Copy in Apollo
To request an embargoed file, just click on the file name with the padlock icon. This will take you to the Request a Copy form. Fill out this form to make your request. You’ll need to provide your name and email address, where the file will be sent if your request is approved.
In your message, include details about who you are, your job, your research topic if relevant, and why you want this specific article, thesis, or dataset. If the Apollo record has other files, you can request all of them at once instead of submitting separate requests.
The author or relevant person will see your message and use it to decide whether to approve or reject your request. To increase your chances of getting approval, make your message as clear as possible. Here’s an example of a good message:
"My name is John Smith, and I am a Research Associate in Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. My research focuses on computational approaches to language acquisition. I would like to consult this thesis to learn about the author's methodology.”
After you submit your request, it will go to the relevant person or department. It may take several days or weeks to get a response, especially if the author is unavailable. You might not get a reply if they ignore the request. However, once you see a confirmation screen, your request is being processed. There's no need to submit another one.
How to Handle a Request for a Copy of Your Work
When someone requests a copy of your journal article, thesis, or dataset, you’ll get a notification email. This email will include the requester’s name and email, the title of the work requested, and a link to the Apollo record. If there are multiple files, the email will say if all were requested.
You'll also see the message from the requester, which will include details about them, their job, research topic, and why they want your work. While we encourage informative messages, it’s up to requesters to provide this information. You may have to decide based on limited details.
To accept or reject a request, follow the link in the email. You’ll choose either ‘send a copy’ or ‘don’t send a copy’. Apollo suggests a template message for each option that you can modify. Your response will only go to the requester.
If you choose to send a copy, the file will be attached automatically, and you won’t need to do anything else. In some cases, you may want to email the requester directly to send them the final published version of your work instead of the version in the repository.
If you have questions about a request, you can contact us at support@repository.cam.ac.uk.