This paper gives an overview of DORAS – an online open access repository of research papers from Dublin City University – and explores how repositories like DORAS are increasing the visibility, and potentially the impact, of research output from educational institutions. In this paper the main motivations for authors to deposit papers in DORAS are identified: increasing the accessibility of papers, increasing the visibility of papers on search engines and web portals, promotion of cutting-edge research, and the need to comply with research councils' policies on open access.