HAL is a multidisciplinary open archive for sharing published and unpublished research results. It serves researchers affiliated with academic institutions, whether public or private. In France, HAL is the national archive chosen by the French scientific and academic community for the open dissemination of its research results. The archive is also accessible to researchers affiliated with foreign academic institutions, whether public or private.
HAL is both an application (software), a unique multidisciplinary repository (list of domains), and a shared platform that brings together:
- more than 140 institutional archives from universities, grandes écoles and research organizations,
- an open archive dedicated to the humanities and social sciences (HAL-SHS),
- an archive for the dissemination of doctoral theses and HDRs (Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches),
- and an archive for visual and audio data (mediHAL).