Thesis Submission

Making Your Thesis Available on Research Commons

Final Version of Thesis

The final version of your thesis must be submitted in PDF format to the University’s research repository, Research Commons.

• Digital Thesis Deposit Guide
• Digital Thesis Deposit form

After Submission

Once submitted, your thesis does not go live immediately.

• First of all, a copyright cover sheet is attached. Following this:
  • For doctoral theses, the School of Graduate Research will check that you have completed the requirements for the Degree and then release the thesis to the public via the Research Commons (unless an embargo has been applied)
  • For Masters theses, the Student Centre will check that you have completed the requirements for the Masters thesis and then release the thesis to the public via the Research Commons (unless an embargo has been applied)
• Following this step, you will receive an automated notification from Research Commons
• The full text will be openly available in Research Commons with a unique, permanent URL
• A description will appear in Library Search with a link to the thesis in Research Commons
• Your thesis will be indexed and available through search engines (such as Google Scholar)
• If you have applied for, and been granted an embargo, the thesis and associated metadata will not be made publicly available until the embargo has been lifted

Embargoes on theses

As freedom to exchange ideas and to publish acquired knowledge are fundamental to the purposes of a university, restrictions on freedom of access to dissertations and theses are acceptable only in limited circumstances. Embargoes on access to dissertations and theses, either in part or in full, require the written approval of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

The only grounds under which an embargo of a thesis or dissertation is likely to be approved, and even then for only a limited period, are:

• If it is pending publication;
• If it is pending the filing of a patent;
• To allow for a sponsor of the research to comment;
• To protect pre-existing commercial secrets of a sponsor;
• If there is a pre-existing contractual obligation;
• If restriction is necessary under the Privacy Act 1993 or the Official Information Act 1982.

If you wish to apply for an embargo you must apply as soon as possible using this form:

Application to Embargo / Restrict a Thesis.

Thesis with Publications

Can I include my published journal articles in the online version of my thesis on Research Commons?

If your thesis includes article/s you have previously published, please check the publisher's author agreement you have signed, as it will indicate which version of the article can be included in Research Commons

• does the publisher allow you to upload a copy of the published version online?
• does the publisher allow you to upload a copy of the "author accepted manuscript" (post-refereed, pre-published version) of your article?
• has the publisher placed an embargo on the author accepted manuscript? Most "author accepted manuscript" open access versions of papers have a 12 month or 24 month embargo before they can be made public?

Options available

• you may need to omit the chapter/article from the online public version of your thesis
• the chapter/article can be replaced with a redirection to the published article or to the open access version
• the author accepted version of a published paper can be made available on Research Commons