Scholarly Publications: Creating and Maintaining a SSRN Account: Adding Publications

1. The vast majority of papers posted in SSRN are working papers; however, if/when those papers are published in an academic journal, the author generally signs a copyright transfer agreement that grants the journal publisher copyright over the paper.  In some cases, this may mean that the working copy needs to be removed from SSRN upon acceptance or publication.
   You may post the abstract of any article regardless of whether the full text can be posted on SSRN.
   Check which versions of a publication, if any, you may post on SSRN using the Posting Journal Articles Online guide.  Please only post the full-text of articles that have been published in journals that allow you to do so.
2. From your User Home page, click on My Papers in the navigation menu on the left side of the screen.
   
   
   
3. Read the notification that pops up. Note that you will need a PDF copy of your paper, the name of the working paper series of which the paper is a part, and the working paper number.
   
   
   
4. Begin by clicking on the button labeled Start New Submission.
   
   
   
5. Click on Expand All Sections for Editing.
   
   
   
6. If you want to add the full text of your paper to SSRN, click on the button labeled Choose File under Upload Full Text PDF Document.  Select the file from your computer and click Open.  If you do not wish to upload the paper (or can't because of copyright restrictions), move on to the next step.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Fill in the Title of the paper in the Title field.  If you have any co-authors, they can be added in the Authors.  If you (or your co-author) have multiple affiliations, you will also need to select which institution and role this paper is associated with.
   
   
   
8. Enter the date on which the paper was completed (or an approximate date) in the Date field.
   
   
   
9. In the References field, select whether the paper is a working paper (WPS) or a paper that has already been accepted for publication (APS).  If it is a working paper that has already been accepted into a paper series, select Yes and search for the paper series.  When prompted, enter the paper number in the working paper series.
   
   
   
10. Enter your abstract in the Abstract body field along with any applicable keywords or JEL Codes 
11. In the eJournals Classification field, search for Darden and select the appropriate category for the publication you are submitting.  This will ensure that your work appears on the Darden page in SSRN.
    
    
    
12. On the right side of the screen, there will be a labeled Status.  Make sure you have completed each item on the list and click Submit to SSRN.
    
    
    
13. A message will pop up prompting you to proofread the information you have submitted and agree to SSRN's copyright requirements (that you haven't granted a journal the exclusive right to distribute the form of the paper you have upload.  Review your submission and the information in the message, check the box, and click the button labeled Submit to SSRN.
    
    
    
14. You can add additional papers or edit or delete those that you have already posted by returning to the My Papers page.

In general, authors who publish articles in academic journals are required to sign a copyright transfer agreement, which grants the journal's publisher copyright for the article.  This limits whether the full text of an article can be posted on sites like Social Science Research Network (citations for any article may be posted anywhere, including SSRN).  

The guide below contains a chart with guidelines detailing whether articles from specific journals may be posted on SSRN.