A Digital Commons user account is needed for any of the following:

• Administrators
• Editors
• Reviewers
• Authors who are submitting their own works or who wish to receive monthly readership reports

In addition, anybody can create an account in order to save searches and use the Follow feature to stay up to date on authors, content, or institutions of interest. Content under access control will also require some users to log in with an account, unless the restriction is only by IP address.

For administrators or editors to access site management tools, it is necessary to have correct administrator permissions in place. Please see Managing Administrator Permissions for more information about adding administrators and assigning permissions.  

How to Create an Account

1. To create an account:
   • From the repository homepage and most other public-facing pages, start by clicking the My Account link that appears in the navigation bar or footer on most sites.
   • If you are following a prompt in an email notification because someone added you to the site as an admin, editor, author, or reviewer, click the link provided to access the login page.
2. Click the Sign Up link on the login screen. 
3. Enter the requested information, including your preferred email address, first and last name, and password. You likely already have an account if a site administrator or editor added you as a reviewer, author, or fellow administrator. In this case, enter the same email address they used to add you so all of your information remains connected in the system.
4. Click Create Account.
5. Click the confirmation link in the new account email that you receive. If you don’t receive an email, check your spam folder or contact Consulting Services for additional help with completing your account setup.

How to Log In

1. From the repository homepage and most other public-facing pages, click the My Account link in the site’s navigation bar or footer. If you are following a prompt in an email notification or clicking a link requiring a login, such as a Submit Article link, you will be prompted to log in before going to the intended page.
2. On the login screen, enter your account email address and password, and click Login.

If you don’t recall your password, click Forget Your Password? to access the Reset Password screen. Enter your email address and click Reset to have a password reset email sent to you. Click the link in the email and follow the prompts to choose a new password.

“My Account” Page

The My Account page is accessible via each repository’s My Account tab or footer link. If you are not logged in when clicking My Account, you will first be prompted to log in.

Your My Account page provides general account settings as well as specific tools for the contexts you manage, or for which you are an author or reviewer.

Account settings

Edit your account details:

The Edit Profile link provides options to edit your personal account details (name, contact information, affiliation, etc.).

To change your account email address or password, enter a new value and click Update. For fields within the “About” section, only the email address is required, though it is recommended to also enter a first and last name at minimum. 

Alerts and Follow management:

The Research Alerts link includes preferences for receiving saved search email notifications.

The Follow Management link allows you to see the names of sites, publications, authors, or disciplines that you have chosen to follow. This is done using the blue Follow button that appears across Digital Commons sites. For details, see Follow: Enabling Visitors to Stay Up To Date with Your Current Scholarship.

Site and content options

What you see on the My Account page depends on your roles and activities within the system. All users will see options to edit their profile and manage research alerts as described above. 

If a user has submitted to a publication or participated as a reviewer within the system, they will see each submission and the corresponding status, as shown below. Clicking the title of an unpublished submission leads to its details page, where the author or reviewer can access tools for that submission. Once an item is published, the submission link goes to the public article page on the repository instead of the details page, and any further changes to the work require an administrator or editor.

Editors with permissions enabled for a journal, or administrators for series or other specific publications, can access those publications’ tools from their My Account page. Each publication will appear in its own section.

Site administrators will see a Site Administration Tools section with links to configure the site and access additional tools.

A Dashboard Tools section will also appear, if applicable. Authors with published works will see a link to their Author Dashboard. Administrators will see a link to the Digital Commons Dashboard if they have the relevant administrator permission. 

External Authentication

Digital Commons supports external authentication using LDAP or CAS. Either option allows users from your institution to log in to the repository using their existing credentials. If you would like to set up LDAP or CAS, please contact your consultant for details.