Overview

SSRN is ending Research Paper Series (RPS) institutional collections over the course of 2026. If your institution benefits from an RPS to aggregate its authors' early-stage research, this article explains what's changing and how Digital Commons can help.

You can learn more about the Research Paper Series (RPS) sunset in the following blog posts:

• SSRN Strategic Update: Renewed Focus on Core Research Sharing Mission:
  https://blog.ssrn.com/2026/04/13/ssrn-strategic-update-renewed-focus-on-core-research-sharing-mission/
• SSRN's Ongoing Commitment to Legal Scholarship:
  https://blog.ssrn.com/2026/06/04/ssrns-ongoing-commitment-to-legal-scholarship/

What Your Institution Can Do

Depending on your institution's needs, Digital Commons can accommodate several paths forward for SSRN RPS content. You can pursue one or more of the options below.

Build a new structure for working papers and preprints

If you'd like a dedicated, institutionally-branded space in your Digital Commons repository for the types of content your SSRN RPS housed, Digital Commons Consulting Services can help you build a series and/or a broader collection to fit your needs. They can also adjust an existing structure if you have one you’d like to use.

When planning this structure, it's worth considering:

• Metadata fields. SSRN tracks specific metadata for research papers. Consulting Services can help you set up matching fields in a Digital Commons series (or other publication structure) so your records stay consistent.
• Preprint versioning. If your faculty members post preprints before publication, decide in advance how you'd like to handle newer versions: replace the earlier file; add it as a supplemental file; or keep both. Your Digital Commons consultant can walk you through your options.
• Series logo. To emphasize the connection to your school or center on campus, you can upload your own logo to customize the appearance of your new collection. See options and instructions for uploading a logo or ask your consultant for more information.
• Citation format. Law schools: if your faculty follow Bluebook citation style, ask your consultant about changing your default citation format.

Migrate your existing SSRN content to Digital Commons

If you want to bring your SSRN Research Paper Series content into Digital Commons, there are two options.

Option 1: Self-service import. To manage a migration yourself, or if you want to continue capturing new content over time, you can approach this in a couple of ways:

• Authors can submit their papers directly to your Digital Commons repository.
• IR managers can bulk import metadata using an export from your SSRN RPS. If you choose this approach, request a metadata export from SSRN as early as possible before your RPS term expires.
• Once your RPS is no longer available, you may be able to use your preferred AI tools to compare your faculty directory against SSRN and generate a spreadsheet of matching articles—either all articles or only newly added ones.

Option 2: Paid migration service. Elsevier's migration team can perform a one-time import of your SSRN content into Digital Commons. Contact your Digital Commons consultant to get started. Later, if you want to add more recent SSRN works to the repository, you can consider option 1 for those works if you wish to avoid an additional migration fee.

Important: SSRN does not support full-text file exports. Migration from SSRN brings over metadata only, not the original files; these metadata-only records on Digital Commons can be great referrers to the main content piece housed on SSRN. Alternatively, Digital Commons batch revision and Batch Upload File Manager can streamline the process of adding files to records if you want the full text to appear on both Digital Commons and SSRN.

Stay connected with your audience

SSRN provided newsletters that alerted subscribers when new content was added to an RPS. Using Digital Commons, there are three ways to keep your audience informed.

• Mailing Lists. For the most control, use the Digital Commons Mailing List feature to create a subscriber list and share fresh content, news, and other announcements. See Publication Mailing Lists for instructions.
• Follow buttons. Your repository pages include follow buttons that let readers subscribe to updates that are automatically generated with links to new content. See Follow: Enabling Visitors to Stay Up to Date with Your Current Scholarship for more information.
• Digital Commons Network. Content that meets open-access criteria is included in the Digital Commons Network which aggregates research across over 700 academic institutions. Followers of specific subject areas receive email notifications of new content, most popular institutions, and most popular authors across all participating institutions.

If preserving your existing SSRN subscriber list is a priority, see the FAQ section below.

Choose to make no changes

Some institutions may not need to take any action. If your faculty post preprints to SSRN independently and your published works already live in an existing Digital Commons structure, your current setup may continue to serve you well. Talk to your Digital Commons consultant if you're unsure whether any action is needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SSRN shutting down?

No. SSRN is sunsetting its commercial Research Paper Series offerings—the institution-specific collection landing pages. SSRN will continue to exist as a platform for sharing and discovering individual scholarly work.

What happens to our existing SSRN content and DOIs?

All existing content and DOIs will remain active and unchanged. Every DOI link will continue to direct readers to the article on SSRN. Your institution is welcome to keep its content on SSRN after the RPS landing page is retired.

Can we get a full export of our SSRN content, including files?

SSRN does not have a mechanism to export full-text files to other platforms. An export of your RPS will include metadata only. Request an export from SSRN as soon as possible, and then another export as your RPS end date approaches, if needed.

Can we bring our SSRN subscriber list to Digital Commons?

Due to GDPR compliance, SSRN is unable to provide subscriber lists to institutions. However, SSRN has been sharing information within institutional newsletters to help subscribers find where their institution's research will live next. This is available to any institution upon request—contact Addie Jackson at addie@ssrn.com or reach out to your SSRN Client Services Specialist. You can also set up a Digital Commons Mailing List going forward.

What if I need something that isn't listed here?

Contact your Digital Commons consultant. They can help you assess your options and escalate to another appropriate team if needed.

New to Digital Commons?

If your institution doesn't currently have a Digital Commons subscription and you're exploring it as an alternative to your SSRN RPS, please contact Rebecca Karberg at r.karberg@elsevier.com.