Who can use the ERIC online submission system?

Grantees, contractors, and individual authors of documents or journal articles if the source is not under agreement with ERIC. Publishers or editors may not submit for authors. The system can be accessed at https://eric.ed.gov/submit/

Do you have any tips for using the ERIC online submission system?

Please watch the video Tips for Using the Online Submission System and see the infographic Tips For A Successful Online or Grantee Submission to ERIC for guidance on how to ensure your online submission will be accepted.

Is my work eligible for online submission?

ERIC accepts materials that are education research and meet the quality criteria set forth in the ERIC Selection Policy. Preference is given to content funded by the Department of Education or other federal agencies, professional conference papers or proceedings, reports from credible sources not yet reviewed for selection, and dissertations. A journal article is eligible only if it is a result of federal funding or is submitted by the author (not by a publisher or editor).

I presented a paper at a conference several years ago but forgot to submit it to ERIC. May I still do so?

Yes. ERIC welcomes contributions of materials meeting selection standards, regardless of the date.

How can I contribute my paper to ERIC?

Individuals may submit materials using ERIC's online submission system.
Before you begin, be sure your paper is ready for submission.

• Create a cover page that includes the title of the article, paper, or book (chapter); author name(s); journal citation, or conference, or book information, publication date (for unpublished works, use the date of document completion), and abstract.

• If your work was federally funded, include the name of the funding entity and the grant or contract number(s).
• Remove personally identifying information about research participants such as names, Social Security numbers, or addresses. For privacy reasons, this information may not be included.
• Remove your CV or resume if it is appended or included in the document.
• Verify that all edits and corrections are complete, and that any editing marks from tracked changes are removed.
• Make sure the document is a single, 508 compliant PDF.

For additional information on how to submit work to ERIC, see the webinar Contributing Research to ERIC Through the Online Submission System, watch a short video Tips for Using ERIC’s Online Submission System, and see the infographic Tips for a Successful Online or Grantee Submission to ERIC.

To submit your paper, click here.

Can I have my report indexed without allowing ERIC to display the full text and instead providing a link to my website?

No. Authors submitting documents or articles through ERIC’s online submission system must grant permission for the full text to display in ERIC.

Do I need to provide an abstract?

Yes. For guidance on how to create an abstract, please see our video Tips and Best Practices for Writing ERIC Abstracts.

I am submitting an in press or other unpublished work. What should I enter for the publication date?

ERIC requires a publication year, at a minimum, for online submissions—on both the PDF and in the submission form. You can use the date the document was completed. The date on the cover page of your document must match the date recorded in the online submission form.

I coauthored a paper with two other authors. Who is eligible to submit the work to ERIC?

The paper may be submitted by any of the copyright holders. All copyright holders should agree to the submission prior to providing the paper to ERIC. During the submission process, you will be required to check a box agreeing that you are authorized to submit the material and that no other source holds a copyright that would prohibit you from submitting the work to ERIC.

We have more coauthors than spaces for author names are provided on the submission form. What should we do?

You can enter up to 6 author names in the submission form. The ERIC processing team can enter more names and will complete the list from the submitted PDF.

My references, tables, slides, and text are in different files. Can't I just submit them one after the other?

No. Your submission must be one complete PDF file.

How will I know if ERIC has accepted my submission? How long does it take for an accepted item to appear in the database? How will it appear?

You will receive an email confirmation of receipt when you submit your material. Upon review, if your material is deemed incomplete or not meeting ERIC selection criteria you will receive an email to that effect. Materials selected for inclusion in ERIC will be added to the collection within approximately 90 days of submission. Accepted materials are indexed with an ED (ERIC Document) accession number, and 'Online Submission' or ‘Grantee Submission’ is indicated in the Source field.

I am the editor of a journal not regularly indexed in ERIC. May I submit a complete issue PDF or individual articles through online submission?

No. The online system was established as an opportunity for individual authors to submit their work to ERIC and not as an alternative for editors to submit entire issues. Editors or other publisher representatives may submit a request to ERICRequests@ed.gov to have a journal reviewed for possible inclusion in ERIC under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education. Be sure to read the ERIC Selection Policy to make sure your publication is a good fit for ERIC.

If I submit a paper to ERIC, and it is added to the database, can I still publish the paper elsewhere?

Yes. When you contribute your work to ERIC, you grant permission to index the material and disseminate it online. You do not transfer copyright to ERIC and may seek publication. However, once you submit a document to ERIC, it will not be removed, per the ERIC Selection Policy.

My unpublished paper is in ERIC via the online submission system and now journals will not accept it because the full text is already available online—will you remove it from ERIC so I can have it published?

No. ERIC is not a publisher, but when you contribute your work to ERIC, you grant permission to index the material and disseminate it online, in perpetuity. Please see the Preservation Policy in the ERIC Selection Policy. You do not transfer copyright to ERIC and may seek publication elsewhere. However, it is an author's responsibility to check the publication policies of any journals you may be interested in having publish your work before you submit to ERIC.

My institution requires that work appear in ERIC for promotion and tenure advancement, but I don't see it—why?

ERIC is not responsible for fulfilling requirements set by academic institutions. ERIC must adhere to the selection policies and processing procedures approved by the US Department of Education. If your article appears in a journal that is regularly indexed in ERIC, your work will appear when that journal is processed and uploaded to the ERIC website. If the journal is selectively indexed, it may be that your article was not deemed to meet the ERIC selection standards or criteria and it will not appear in ERIC. Work sent via the online submission system is evaluated against the ERIC Selection Policy and must meet the standard and criteria.

What if I prepare multiple papers from the same study?

It is possible that an individual author may prepare and submit multiple papers addressing aspects of the same topic. In order for ERIC to consider them all as unique contributions, however, they must differ in major, substantive ways. Papers in which the content has been reorganized, but whole passages are repeated from previous works, or for which only the title has been slightly reworded, are not eligible for inclusion in ERIC.

Will the ERIC record indicate whether my paper has been peer reviewed?

The peer-review indicator is assigned if the submitter provides proof that the content has been peer reviewed using one of these processes:

• Blind, or Anonymous, Peer Review — Content is reviewed by external reviewers and the author's identity is unknown to the reviewer. A double-blind peer-review process is where both the reviewer and the author remain anonymous throughout the process.
• Expert Peer Review — Content is reviewed by internal or external reviewers, and the author's identity may or may not be known to the reviewer.

A peer-review process employing at least two reviewers with scholarly affiliation is preferred.

Internal, editorial reviews and dissertation reviews are not recognized by ERIC as accepted types of peer review.

See the infographic How Do I Provide Evidence that My Online Submission Was Peer Reviewed?

If the submitter claims that a work has been peer reviewed, but does not provide adequate evidence, the work will not be marked as peer reviewed.

What does “Process Included” refer to as evidence of peer review?

If you want the peer-review indicator assigned to your work you must provide documentation of the peer-review process. “Process Included” does not mean the research process outlined in your article or document. In lieu of entering a link to the process as shown on the publication website, you may include an explanation of the peer-review process that was followed on the PDF’s first or cover page. See the infographic How Do I Provide Evidence that My Online Submission Was Peer Reviewed?

I submitted a paper to ERIC's online submission system last year that was peer reviewed Can I apply for the peer-review indicator be added to the ERIC record?

No. The peer-review indicator is being added to new online submissions from individuals going forward.

All submissions are final and cannot be edited or deleted, except for reasons outlined in the ERIC Selection Policy.

May I make changes to my paper after submission or inclusion in the database?

No. Please be sure to check all files carefully before uploading them to ERIC so that your document is the final, edited version.

All submissions are final and cannot be edited or deleted, except for reasons outlined in the ERIC Selection Policy.

I receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education for my research. Must I submit my published work to ERIC?

Beginning in FY 2012, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) requires grantees and contractors publishing work outside of an IES publication to submit the electronic version of their final manuscript to ERIC. Work should be submitted upon acceptance for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The author's final manuscript is defined as the final version accepted for journal publication, and includes all modifications from the peer review process. The grant or contract number and funding agency name must appear both in the online submission form and on the document itself to be accepted as a submission.

For more information, see the IES Policy Regarding Public Access to Research and the Grantee and Contractor Requirements FAQs.

Our organization produces materials (e.g., research reports) that are funded by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). How should they be submitted to ERIC?

Grantees and contractors who produce work that is not published by ED should submit their work through the online submission system and follow the guidance for grantees and contractors. Work published by ED will be indexed automatically and grantees and contractors do not need submit these reports to ERIC.

For more information, see the IES Policy Regarding Public Access to Research and the Grantee and Contractor Requirements FAQs.

Whom can I contact with questions?

Questions may be submitted to the ERIC Help Desk at ERICrequests@ed.gov.