PhD dissertations
The UM Regulations on Doctoral Exams stipulate that every PhD candidate must send a digital copy of their dissertation to the library, where it will be included in the Digital Archives of UM Publications.
PhD dissertations comprise part of the most recent and valuable research that universities produce, but they are relatively rarely used as source material for research. By making them available on the internet, both the author and the university can put their research in the limelight, which may benefit not only fellow researchers but also the wider public.
- I am happy to supply my PhD dissertation to the library, but I also intend to publish it through a publisher. Is this possible?
Yes, supplying material to the archive is in principle unrelated to publishing it elsewhere. However, you need to agree with the publisher that you retain the right to have your PhD dissertation included in and made available through the UM archive.
You can find examples of licences you may submit to your publisher under the heading ‘Licences’.
- I already published my PhD dissertation (or part of it) through a publisher, but I would like to supply it to Open Access as well. How should I go about this?
It depends on the agreement you signed with your publisher. In most cases you will have stipulated that you are entitled to have your dissertation included in the Digital Archives of UM Publications, or most publishers will permit this. However, please note that some publishers do object to the inclusion of a pdf file they produced. In that case you will have to make a new pdf file.
If your agreement does not state anything about inclusion in a digital archive, you may find information on this on the publisher’s website. Several publishers have policies that permit inclusion in a digital archive, and state this on their website.
Finally, you could write to the publisher, asking for permission to include your material in the UM archive. Most publishers are sympathetic to this.
- I would prefer the library not to give web access to my PhD dissertation until after a certain time. Is that possible?
Yes, it is possible to embargo your PhD dissertation. This means it cannot be accessed until the embargo has been lifted, which may vary from two months to several years, if the publisher requires it. It is not possible, however, to impose an embargo on parts (e.g. chapters) of the dissertation.
- What about my copyrights and my publisher’s rights in the case of inclusion in the Digital Archive of UM Publications?
- Was the work published before 1997?
As publishers have only been claiming copyright for media other than paper from 1997, all publications up to and including 1997 can be included in the UM archive without objection. - Was the work published after 1997?
For the period after 1997, the publisher may claim the copyright. This depends on whether you actually transferred the copyright (in writing) to your publisher, or agreed on an exclusive licence. In that case the publisher’s policy may still be more lenient than you might expect, and may permit the inclusion of the author’s version in a digital archive.
SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) has produced a list of about 100 leading publishers and their policies on copyright and self-archiving. You can find it at www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo
- Was the work published before 1997?
- I have been explicitly forbidden to publish my PhD dissertation. Do I nevertheless have to supply it to the library?
Yes, we collect all UM dissertations. This is beneficial for the long-term accessibility and visibility of your work. It is usually possible to agree on an embargo period with the party concerned. PhD dissertations on embargo will be archived on a long-term basis and will be visible after the embargo has been lifted, whether or not at campus level.
- Can I link to the pdf file from the Digital Archive of UM Publications on my own website?
Yes, you do not need the library’s permission to do so.
