How Do I . . . ?
Teaching evaluations (SPOT scores) cannot be entered into the EFAR system at this time.
You may need to generate your report as a Word document and add or attach the SPOT scores manually.
CALS faculty can attach a copy of their SPOT scores to their annual review in the Courses taught section.
Online databases do not distinguish between peer-reviewed/refereed and non-peer-reviewed/refereed journal articles, so for articles that are peer reviewed/refereed you will need to change the activity type from "Journal Article" to "Refereed Journal Article". You can do that on the "My Publications" screen. Under the title of each article, on the "Summary" tab, look for the small pencil icon next to "Journal article". Click on the pencil icon to see a drop down menu for "Type" and select "Refereed Journal Article", then click Save.
Follow this same procedure to change a book chapter to a journal article, etc.
After you have entered information about your activity, click on the title to go to the detailed information page for that activity. Look for "Labels" at the top of the page and click on "Add labels". In the box that appears, click the "+" by "VT Strategic Initiatives" and select the appropriate label.
From the Home page, click the Menu tab, then look under Build and click on CV and Reports. Choose the report and select a date range and format (Word or PDF).
From the Profile page, look for the CV and Reports button on the upper right, under the Virginia Tech logo. Click the CV and Reports button, then select the report, date range, and format.
If your scholarly activities are not captured by online databases searchable by Elements, you may want to turn off the search function. You can also turn off individual databases that do not apply to you. Go to Menu>My Account>Data Source Search>Name-based search, scroll to the bottom of the Publications search settings page, and click to remove any check marks in the boxes in the Currently searched column, then click Save.
On the My Publications screen, find the item that you want to deposit and look for the pale blue icon with an up arrow in the row of icons for that entry.
Click on the icon to navigate to the Deposit page. Review the instructions and deposit advice, then upload the file to be deposited. Items deposited in VTechWorks using Elements appear in the All Faculty Deposits collection.
Note that it is the responsibility of the depositor to ensure that s/he has the legal right to deposit a work in VTechWorks under the terms of U.S. copyright law and under the terms of any existing contracts related to the work. If you have questions about copyright restrictions, see VTechWorks Help or email vtechworks@vt.edu.
If an item is already in VTechWorks, you will see the double “pages” icon. You may have already deposited the item, or VTechWorks staff may have added it to the repository (for example, open access journal articles, Extension publications, etc.).
See Troubleshooting citation counts in Elements (PDF). You may also want to consult your liaison librarian - see More help with search settings.
Instead of deleting duplicate entries, join duplicate entries together by clicking the greenish icon next to the red X to add both entries to the “workspace”, then go to the workspace and join them together. Access the workspace with the button on the black bar at the top of the page, next to the help and envelope icons. You can designate a preferred record for reporting purposes.
If you really want to delete an entry, go to the activity summary page, where all activities are listed, and look for the row of icons on the lower right of the entry - five round icons, different colors and images. The one on the far right should be a red circle with a white X in the middle. Click on the red X to remove that entry.
You cannot edit data imported from an online database, but you can add a manual record to correct or add additional information about a publication. Click on the title or the magnifying glass icon to go to the detailed information about the publication, and click on Add Manual Record. Once you have entered the desired information, click Set as Preferred Record.
Information about sponsored research is imported into Elements from Virginia Tech's Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and is updated monthly. You cannot edit the imported information, but you can "Add a manual record" to change the way information appears in Elements. If you believe the information from OSP is incorrect or have other questions about that data, please email Katie Reaves.
The prefix field (Mr/Ms/Dr) is populated from Banner. Your department Banner representative can change it. The Banner field is called spbpers_name_prefix on the screen PPAIDEN.
Elements updates information from Banner monthly, so once your data is corrected in Banner it may take a few weeks for the change to be reflected in Elements.
You can make someone a "delegate" to allow them to manage your Elements data. Log in to Elements and click on the menu tab. Look under My Account>Account Settings >Manage delegates. Type in the person's last name to find them in Elements.
If your delegate's name does not appear, they may not have an account in the system. Accounts are automatically created for faculty on a monthly basis based on information in Banner. Accounts can be created for staff or student workers to allow them to manage data for faculty with the approval of the department head. Contact your college Elements lead or email efarshelp@vt.edu for assistance.
Elements can import publications from Google Scholar, EndNote, or other bibliographic databases in RIS or BibTeX format. You will first need to export your publications from EndNote into a RIS format, or log in to your Google Scholar profile, select all of your publications, and export them into a RIS format. Then follow these instructions (PDF) to import them into Elements.
Go to Menu>My Account>Account Settings and scroll to the bottom of the page to enter a preferred name.
An embargo option can now be specified during deposit to VTechWorks, allowing authors to observe the embargo period that many journals require when archiving a submitted or accepted manuscript (the publisher’s PDF is generally not permitted in a public archive, except for open access journals). After you upload your file to VTechWorks, step 2 allows you to check the box “I would like to specify an embargo.” Once checked, click the drop-down box for “Choose an embargo period” and select the appropriate period (6 months, 12 months, etc.). You may also leave a comment if the embargo is different. In VTechWorks, the item metadata will appear, but the file itself will not be available until the specified period has passed. Submissions without an embargo request will appear immediately in VTechWorks. Submissions with an embargo request will have a delay while they are processed.
Please note that a VTechWorks user who clicks on the file will generate a request form containing the user’s email address that VTechWorks will forward to you. You can respond to or ignore requests at your discretion. You can fulfill a request by emailing the requestor directly with the file attached. VTechWorks cannot provide the file or make the item public. For questions please email vtechworks@vt.edu.