Politecnico di Milano Institutional Repository

Overview

Re.Public@Polimi is the institutional repository of the Politecnico di Milano, one of Italy's leading technical universities. It serves as the central open-access platform where research publications produced by the university's scholars, researchers, and collaborators are collected, maintained, and made publicly available. The repository is built on IRIS (Institutional Research Information System), the information technology platform used by many Italian universities to manage and disseminate research data and outputs.

History and Policy

The Politecnico di Milano's open access policy has been in force since 1 October 2014, requiring professors, researchers, and collaborators to self-archive their scientific outputs in the institutional repository. This policy aligns with European Commission recommendations under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, and with Italy's national requirements set by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR/MIUR). The Politecnico di Milano was also a signatory of the Messina Declaration, an Italian initiative supporting open access to scholarly literature.

Collections and Holdings

IRIS collects electronic documents arising from the scientific activity of the Politecnico community, including journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, doctoral theses, and other scholarly outputs. Each item is assigned a persistent identifier (handle) to ensure long-term access. The repository also interfaces with external bibliographic and bibliometric databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, and Journal Citation Reports, and integrates with OpenAIRE for Horizon Europe compliance. Publications can be deposited as fully open access, under embargo, or in restricted form, in accordance with publisher policies.

Research Journalism and Media Relevance

As the research repository of a major polytechnic institution, IRIS includes work from disciplines such as communications, media studies, urban design, and information technology, which intersect with media production and journalism research. Faculty and researchers at Politecnico di Milano have contributed to studies on digital media, human-computer interaction, and data journalism practices.

Access and Usage

The repository is publicly accessible at iris.polimi.it. Researchers can search and download available open-access publications. Full-text access may be restricted for some items depending on publisher agreements. The system is also integrated with authors' ORCID profiles and institutional HR databases, enabling automated reporting to national assessment bodies.