Changes affecting the Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP)
Changes affecting the Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP)
The university is running a wide-ranging project to update its research administration systems, contributing to its strategic priority to champion and develop state-of-the-art infrastructure. As part of this project, the repository software that supports the Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP) is being replaced.
The repository software (called ePrintsLink opens in a new window) is being decommissioned in 2026, to be replaced by FigshareLink opens in a new window, a solution that’s integrated with the university’s new current research information system, or CRIS, called Symplectic ElementsLink opens in a new window, which is fast-becoming the single source of all data related to research administration at Warwick. The repository will continue to be known as WRAP, but the new software underpinning it will enable this integration with the CRIS. By integrating the repository with Symplectic Elements, alongside researcher profiles, grants and impact data, the end-to-end picture of research activity across the institution will be completed within one system.
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What's been happening
A project team of colleagues in the Library & Archives and IDG (Information and Digital Group) has been planning and testing the complex data transfer of all existing records into the new system. This is being managed carefully, with a series of test data extracts, issue resolution and further testing, to ensure everything transfers smoothly. This process will take several months, and is expected to conclude in the late summer of 2026.
What this will mean for users
Once the new system is in place, you will submit publications to WRAP via Symplectic Elements, the same system in which you’ll manage your profile and document evidence of the impact of your research. The principle of ‘Act on acceptance’ will continue; outputs should be deposited as soon as you know they are accepted for publication; for REF and funder compliance, you will still need to upload the author-accepted version of any journal articles and conference papers to Elements. Guidance will be provided on how to do this. You will also be able to upload other item types (e.g. presentations, grey literature, software) into Elements in order to get them into WRAP, to take advantage of the benefits of open access or meet funder requirements.
What happens next
Once we are closer to finalising the data transfer, the direct submission of publications and datasets into WRAP will be paused, to allow the WRAP team and the Metadata Librarians to clear any backlog and ensure everything submitted to WRAP is in the best shape for the transfer. During this time, publications will not be able to be deposited for open access compliance, however we will aim to re-open submission as quickly as possible and clear any backlog, so that compliance is not at risk. More information will be shared on the date that depositing will be paused, but this will not be before July.
What you can do now
For now, please don’t do anything differently with your outputs; continue to submit them for deposit as you usually would. Make sure you have claimed your researcher IDs in Symplectic Elements, (see here for guidance) and that you have helped the system to identify your publications by claiming or rejecting any suggested ones (guidance here). This will help to ensure the data on your publications is as complete as possible.
What changes will researchers notice?
The main change is that, in most cases, you will not need to notify the WRAP team of a new publication. You will be able to create a record and deposit your publication into Symplectic Elements directly. The exception is very large files (e.g. data sets over 100MB in size), for which the WRAP team (contactable here) will provide support to upload directly into WRAP. In order to give researchers the best possible opportunity to be compliant, the policy of ‘Act on acceptance’ remains in place; you should deposit files as soon as you have them, and add any detailed information you can.
FAQs
Yes. The repository system that you can search via WRAP is a proprietary software called ePrints, and this is being replaced by another software called Figshare. The new WRAP, powered by Figshare, will look a bit different to the current one but will still hold all of the records currently available in WRAP.