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Electronic deposit of Thesis in Library
Why does the University require edeposit?
It is now a regulatory requirement (University regulation 2D) that all Keele postgraduate research students enrolled from September 2011 onwards deposit an electronic copy of their final approved thesis for uploading to the University’s open access Research Repository .
This is in addition to the required bound paper copy. Remember this must conform to the Code of Practice Annex D4, especially with respect to the date on the cover and spine being the year you are awarded the degree by Senate (which may not be the same year you undertook the viva).
The hard copy thesis is the full, final, examined and awarded version and remains the authoritative copy. Where possible, the electronic version should be the same as the hard copy, but there will be some exceptions, which this guidance explains.
Taught postgraduates are currently exempt from the requirement to deposit electronically, though research degree candidates who commenced study before September 2011 are strongly encouraged to edeposit voluntarily.
What are the benefits?
Like most universities, Keele has established a Research Repository to capture, store, index, preserve and redistribute the University’s scholarly research in digital formats.
Your thesis will be uploaded to the repository, becoming exposed to internet search engines and harvesters, as well as being made available to EThOS and linked to Index to Theses
As a result, your research is more readily available, easily searchable and more visible worldwide. This has potential implications for your career progression and research success - as your thesis is picked up and cited more widely, so it makes a greater impact in your subject discipline.
What changes to do I need to know about?
Online access to theses constitutes publication and requires more sensitivity to copyright, confidentiality, Intellectual Property Rights and co-sponsorship issues.
Before depositing your ethesis, and ideally at an early stage in your research, you should read the following guidance. Please read alongside the Code of Practice on Postgraduate Research Degrees
Third Party Copyright
Copyright in theses is covered by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Third party copyright is where the rights are owned by others – you may have included published extracts, quotations, images, maps, tables, diagrams, music scores or other third party copyright material in your thesis. Third party copyright also includes extracts from publications that you have authored and use depends upon the agreement you entered into with the publisher. If you have included unpublished material, such as manuscripts and photographs, remember that much unpublished work remains in copyright until 2039. For the purpose of examination, it has been acceptable to quote from copyrighted works without seeking permission from the rights holder. However, electronic availability is a form of publication, and so permission must be obtained from copyright holders before including extensive and significant third party copyright material in your ethesis.
Fair dealing
Under ‘fair dealing’, it is not necessary to seek permission from the copyright holders where extracts are short and insubstantial and are cited accurately. It is important to reference correctly to avoid accusations of plagiarism. However, the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 does not define what constitutes short or insubstantial, so if in doubt, you should seek permission. Inclusion of images and music extracts in copyright will certainly require permission. When making a judgement, consider whether you would be happy for others to copy a similar quantity of your work in such a way.
Contacting copyright holders
When seeking copyright clearance to include ‘substantial’ material from published books or journals in your thesis, contacting the publisher is usually the best starting point. Contact addresses can be found on publishers’ websites and the larger companies usually have Rights and Permissions departments (or search under ‘copyright’ and ‘clearance’). Seeking approval can take time, so don’t leave it until the last minute. Be aware that images from publications usually have different rights holders who need to be contacted separately. Where permission has been granted, remember to include evidence in your full thesis, e.g. ‘Permission to reproduce…has been granted by…’ You might find the following sample text helpful when contacting rights holders:
Sample permission letter 1
I am completing a research degree thesis at Keele University and I am contacting you to request permission to include the following material within the electronic version of my thesis:
[Insert citation details of the original work and a full description of the excerpts and/or specifics relating to content to be reproduced] [“the Material”]
An electronic version of my thesis will be deposited in Keele University’s Research Repository. Once available in digital format, access to the thesis will be freely available via the Web and through the ‘Electronic Thesis Online Service’ (EThOS). The User of the thesis will be required to agree that they shall only use the thesis for non-commercial research, private study, criticism, review and news reporting, illustration for teaching, and/or other educational purposes in electronic or print form.
I would be grateful if you, or the company you represent, could grant me permission to include the Material in my thesis and to use the Material, as set out above, royalty free in perpetuity.
If you are not the owner of the copyright in this material I would be most grateful if you would confirm this and advise me who to contact.
Sample permission letter 2
I am the author of [insert full citation details for the work] [“the Work”] which was published by [insert publisher’s name] in [insert name of publication/s] and which was assigned to [you or your company] by an agreement dated [insert date].
I would like to include the Work in my research degree thesis, ‘[title of thesis]’. My thesis will be made available electronically in Keele University’s Research Repository. Once available in digital format, access to the thesis will be freely available via the Web and through the ‘Electronic Thesis Online Service’ (EThOS). The User of the thesis will be required to agree that they shall only use the thesis for non-commercial research, private study, criticism, review and news reporting, illustration for teaching, and/or other educational purposes in electronic or print form.
I would be grateful if you, or the company you represent, could grant me permission to include the Work in my thesis and to use the Work, as set out above, royalty free in perpetuity.
Editing your eThesis
Where approval from a rights holder has not been obtained, or where a publication fee is being requested and you do not wish to pay this, then the ethesis should not be made available online, unless you first remove the relevant third party copyright material from the e-version. Remember, you should not compromise what is included in your hard copy thesis as this is the authoritative copy. The thesis deposit agreement gives the option to deposit an abridged electronic version. Where third party copyright material has been removed from the ethesis, you should include reference to where this material can be found. On the title page of an edited ethesis, you should include wording similar to:
‘This electronic version of the thesis has been edited solely to ensure compliance with copyright legislation and excluded material is referenced in the text. The full, final, examined and awarded version of the thesis is available for consultation in hard copy via the University Library’
Where a student or supervisor believes a thesis may contain intellectual property with potential commercial value, this should be brought to the attention of Research and Enterprise Services before any disclosure takes place. If you are seeking to patent an idea, it must not have been published already. Electronic availability of your thesis constitutes publication, so do seek advice. You may decide to place a time-limited restriction on access to the hard copy and the electronic thesis, or to place an embargo on the electronic version only. The duration of an embargo is most commonly between 2 and 5 years. Please refer to the options on the Thesis Deposit Agreement
Where a studentship is funded by an external organisation and governed by a formal contract, in order to prevent a possible breach of contractual obligation, advice should be sought from Research and Enterprise Services. It might well be decided to place a time-limited restriction on access to the hard copy and electronic version, or to restrict access to the ethesis only. Embargoes do not usually exceed 5 years. Please see the access options on the Thesis Deposit Agreement
Many publishers are not concerned about availability of theses in repositories and do not consider them to be equivalent publications. However, if you are seeking to publish your research and are concerned that electronic availability of your thesis could constitute prior publication, do consult your supervisor and contact your publisher to ask for their policy on etheses. After consultation, it may be decided to restrict access to both print and electronic versions. In such cases, an embargo period of between 2 and 5 years is advisable. Access options can be found on the Thesis Deposit Agreement
Plagiarism can occur in any medium. By making your thesis available electronically, it becomes easier to discover whether your work has been plagiarised and appropriate action can then be taken. As your research becomes widely available, it can be recognised and acknowledged as your work and appropriately referenced. Keele’s Research Repository and EThOS both operate an immediate thesis take-down policy, should issues arise. Further guidance on plagiarism can be found in the Code of Practice on Postgraduate Research Degrees
Before your degree can be awarded by Senate, both hard copy and electronic copy of your thesis must be deposited in the Library, along with your completed Thesis Deposit Agreement
The ethesis should be the full and final approved thesis, unless an edited version is being deposited for reasons relating to Copyright. There may be some delay before your ethesis is uploaded to the Research Repository as we need to check it against the hard copy and create metadata.
If you are placing an access restriction on your thesis (see guidance on Intellectual Property, Co-sponsorship and Publishing) you must still deposit a full electronic copy with the Library for preservation. The ethesis will be accessed by authorised persons only and uploaded to the Research Repository once the embargo has expired.
The ethesis should be deposited as a single PDF on CD, as PDF is a recognised international standard and will ensure retention of the original layout. The file should be readable text and not digitised images of the pages of your thesis. Ensure that the CD is clearly labelled.
Presentation requirements for hard copy theses can be found in Annex D4 of the Code of Practice on Postgraduate Research Degrees
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Library Administrators
Diane Warrilow d.warrilow@lib.keele.ac.uk
Helen Burton h.burton@lib.keele.ac.uk
Research Repository
Nicola Leighton n.leighton@keele.ac.uk
Michael Debenham m.g.debenham@lib.keele.ac.uk
Research and Enterprise Services
Dr Peter Hooper p.hooper@uso.keele.ac.uk
Dr Andy Brooks a.s.brooks@uso.keele.ac.uk
Planning and Academic Administration
Ian Britton i.p.britton@keele.ac.uk
Catherine Greaves c.e.greaves@keele.ac.uk
n.leighton@keele.ac.uk
