FAQ for authors registered in RePEc

Registration issues

1. I do not like my password

   Then change it! Click on settings in the top right corner. Do not forget to save your changes.

2. I do not remember my password, how can I get it?

   Click on the "remind you the password" link next to the password field, or click here. You will the get the password in your email, if it is still valid.

3. I do not have access to my old email address, how can I get a password reminder?

   Ask us to change the email address for you. Please provide old and new email addresses. We may ask for additional evidence to check for the validity of this address change.

4. I moved, what should I do?

   Log in with your old email address and then change your email address under "contact". Do not forget to save. You should also consider amending your affiliations, under "affiliations".

5. Why do not all my works show up?

   There can be various reasons: they are not in the database at all, the publisher provided faulty data, or your name variations are not appropriate.
   What is in the database? All data in RePEc is provided by the publishers. They may provide data for all or only part of their publications. To see what is currently listed, click the following links: working paper series, journals, software components, book and chapters.
   Faulty data. Data we get from publishers that contain syntaxic errors is generally not listed, and publishers are notified about the errors, but they may not act on these reports. Typographical errors, for example in names, remain generally undetected. If you discover some, email the listed technical contact for correction.
   Name variations. Make sure all your works are listed in your profile. To do so, you should have a proper set of name variations listed (once logged in click on "names"). Indeed, publishers do not have a consistent way of refering to authors. For example, John Edgar Smith may be listed as:

   1. John Edgar Smith
   2. John E. Smith
   3. John Smith
   4. J. Smith
   5. J. E. Smith
   6. Smith, John Edgar
   7. Smith, John E.
   8. Smith, John
   9. Smith, J.
   10. Smith, J. E.
   not counting misspellings. If you fill the first, middle, and last name fields on the name variations page, and then click on the "suggestions" button, you should have a good set of relevant variations. Do not forget to "save".
6. There is a typo in the listing of my works, who should I alert?

   For every item or series, a technical contact is listed. On the IDEAS abstract page, look for the email and the end of the "publisher info section". For a series or journal, the email address is listed right under the name header. Email this person about your problem. RePEc cannot do anything about the error, the technical contact holds the keys to the relevant data.

7. I want to register my colleagues. How do I proceed?

   The best is, of course, to ask them to do it themselves. But you can initiate the registration yourself, and they will get a confirmation email. It is then up to them to click on the URL provided in that confirmation email.

8. There is an inaccuracy regarding the listing of my affiliation(s). What should I do?

   Contact Christian Zimmermann with all relevant details. He will update the database. There is no need to remove the affiliation and submit a new one.

9. How do I remove an item from the database?

   First, why would you want to remove it? If it is a working paper that has now been published, wouldn't you want people who follow a link to your working paper to find out it has been published? For this link between different versions of the same paper to happen, they need to have the same title and all be in your profile. Thus deleting an (obsolete) item would be counter-productive. Besides, removing it from your profile does not remove it from the database, it just says your are not its author. If you really, really want the item removed, only the publisher can add, remove or amend items. A contact email is provided for this purpose on the abstract page.

10. A working paper of mine now got published in a journal. What should I do?

    Nothing at first. Wait for the publisher to put it in RePEc (See the list of journals), and then claim it in your profile once it is up. You will be notified when it is available automatically if the author name the publisher has listed is among your name variations.

11. Should I delete old working papers?

    No! Quite the contrary. You should have all versions of your works listed in your profile. When they are there, we try to build links between them, so that someone who finds your working paper can see where it is published, and someone who cannot access the online version of your article can download the working paper. Note: deleting something from your profile does not delete it from the database. Also: most publishers have nothing against working papers available online after an article is publisher, see this list of policies, or this other list.

12. How can I link two versions of the same paper?O As long as two works have the same titles and are both listed in an author's profile, we will link them automatically. Just give us some time. However, if the titles differ, you can create the links yourself by using this online form.
13. I mistakenly asked that some of my papers be never suggested again. What can I do to have them back in my profile?

    They can be put back into the suggestion pool. Look on the research page for the "refused items".

14. Is RePEc responsible for the spam I get?

    This is highly unlikely. Indeed, RePEc services encode all email addresses so that robots and web spiders cannot understand them. Users that use email addresses only for RePEc purposes confirm that they receive no spam. And if you still not not trust us, you can still hide your email address (see under "contact" when you log in).

15. I am getting a security certificate warning when accessing the RePEc Author Service

    This is a known issue with Internet Explorer on older versions of Windows and old versions of Java and Android. See here. There is nothing we can do except recommending to use a different computer or web browser.

Comments and additions about your own experience are welcome. Send them to Christian Zimmermann.