Frequently Asked Questions

See also Author FAQ


How do I create a Scholarly Commons account?

You do not need an account to search, browse, or view documents in Georgetown Law’s Scholarly Commons. However, you will need an account to request personalized notifications and to sign up for newsletter mailings.

To create an account, go to "My Account" and click on “Sign up.” You will be asked for your name, email address and institutional affiliation; and then you will create a password. One you have submitted this information, an account activation email will be sent to your email address.

When creating a password, please use a different password from the one you use for your Law Center account or other sensitive accounts. Logins to this site, and email password notifications, are currently not encrypted, and are therefore vulnerable to interception in some cases.

Once your account has been activated, you may log in to your account by selecting "My Account" entering your email address and password.

Remember Me Next Time: If you select the "Remember Me Next Time” option, you will not need to log in each time you visit the site. To prevent others from accessing your account, you must click the logout option on your "My Account" page.

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What should I do if I have forgotten or want to change my account password?

If you forget your password, you can enter your email address without a password, and your password will be immediately sent to you by email.

If you want to change your password, go to the "My Account" page, choose the "Edit Profile" option, and enter a new password of your choice.

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Can I set up an alert or notification that will let me know when new materials of interest are published in the Scholarly Commons?

You can save a past search to set up parameters for personalized notification of new materials that fit the criteria of your specialized search. You must be logged into an account with the Scholarly Commons to enable this feature. Once you are logged in, click the "Notify me" button after making a search to get future notification. When logged in, you can click on "Email Notification" to adjust notification frequency (daily, weekly, monthly) of a saved search, or delete any of the saved searches. Alternatively, you may also receive notification of all new content in the Georgetown Law Scholarly Commons via RSS feed.

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Is there a charge to access Scholarly Commons?

There is no charge to access Georgetown Law’s Scholarly Commons. However, access to parts of the Scholarly Commons may be limited to authorized Law Center users in the future.

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What is the difference between searching "in this repository" vs. "across all repositories"?

When entering a search term into the search box, you may limit your search to only the materials in the Georgetown Law Scholarly Commons by selecting “in this repository” from the drop-down menu.

To expand your search to include all works posted by the larger Digital Commons community of universities and academic institutions, select “across all repositories” in the drop-down menu before conducting your search.

Searches include document descriptions and their full text.

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Are materials in Scholarly Commons protected by copyright?

Yes, materials posted in the Scholarly Commons are copyrighted by their authors and/or publishers. All rights are reserved. Please consult the works themselves for additional information regarding copyright. Questions about copyright may be directed to the repository administrator at .

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Who can submit materials to Scholarly Commons?

Any full-time faculty member at Georgetown Law may submit materials to Georgetown Law’s Scholarly Commons. In addition, we encourage all institutes and centers to submit reports and other scholarship.

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Additional questions?

Please contact us at .

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