Thesis embargo and open access
The University expects theses to be openly available. An embargo needs written approval before you submit the final thesis. It normally lasts no more than two years from graduation and applies to all copies.
Grounds for an embargo
- Commercial sensitivity, sponsor/partner agreements or pending patents.
- Security/sensitivity of data or significant risk to researchers, staff or students.
- Ethical sensitivity, for example identifiable/confidential information.
- Exceptional publishing restrictions, supported by evidence such as a prospective publisher’s letter.
Ordinary plans to publish from a thesis do not automatically justify an embargo. Consider confidentiality, anonymity and eventual dissemination during ethical approval, not just at deposit.
Apply
Send a written application via the Operations Team for RDEB consideration, setting out the ground, requested restriction and rationale. Include external sponsor/partner support if involved; otherwise include a DoS statement. Confirm the approved dates and conditions before Final thesis deposit.
Publishing material elsewhere contrary to a sensitivity-based embargo may breach its conditions and be treated as research misconduct.
Articles and other outputs
§6.7 also describes rights retention, accepted manuscripts in Worktribe, CC BY wording, long-form funder mandates and Repository Team opt-outs. Some wording expressly concerns staff scholarly works, so it should not be treated as a blanket instruction to apply a particular licence to every student thesis.
Ask Library/Repository staff to confirm your thesis/output licensing, publisher and funder obligations. See Intellectual property and research data.
Source: Framework §6.7, pp. 69–70. Read the source.
Writing and submitting your thesis · Completion and graduation