Information for Submitters
Is the repository for PhD theses only?
The postgraduate community produces an enormous amount of important research
each year, which is currently hard to access. By creating this repository we
want to free up access to this research output. PhD theses make up the bulk
of this literature (ca. 400 theses a year), however MSc dissertations make an
important contribution. We want to preserve and make available as much content
as possible, which is why we accept PhD theses, MPhil and MSc dissertations.
What is the difference between submitting and depositing my thesis?
The Theses Alive! project will provide two related, yet distinct, services to
promote the take up of ETD's in the University of Edinburgh. The first service
is an online submission system, for use by current postgraduate students to
hand their thesis in to the Faculty office for examination. The second service
will be a database of ETD's available via the World Wide Web. Authors who have
already graduated can deposit their thesis in the University online repository.
We introduce the terms submit and deposit to differentiate between the two
services.
How do I submit/deposit?
If you are a post-graduate student about ready to hand in, we aim to provide
you with a method of electronically submitting your thesis to the University
via the Internet. The submission process will mirror the existing traditional
procedure for traditional hard copies.
When you are ready to submit the first copy of your thesis to the Faculty
Office follow the links on the Theses Alive! homepage to the Edinburgh
University online thesis repository where you will be guided through the
process. Once you have registered as a user, fill in the online forms and
upload your thesis to the workspace. The workspace is an area allocated to
you where you can store individual chapters/appendices or your entire thesis
prior to submission. You can use this area to swap files, look at corrections
from your supervisor or check the thesis before submission. Think of this area
as a 'holding pen' where you have a last chance to change things before you
click the submit button and eternally commit the thesis to cyberspace. For the
time being you will also still be required to submit hard copies to the relevant
Faculty Office.
The thesis will not appear in the repository right away, as we want to include
the definitive version only. After your successful viva defence, you will need
to submit the final corrected version to us. Once the thesis has been checked
for content it will appear in the Edinburgh University online repository.
If you have recently (or maybe not so recently) graduated, rather than using
the electronic submission system you should send us a copy on CD. Most file
formats are accepted, although if you wish your thesis to be read by a wide
audience then you should seriously consider converting to PDF file format.
Once we have checked the library records your thesis will be deposited into
the repository straight away.
But why do I still need to submit hard copies of my thesis?
You may ask why you should go to the effort of submitting a hard copy to
Faculty and an electronic version to us. Apart from the benefits of including
your thesis in the Edinburgh University online repository, this project is a
stepping-stone towards adopting an electronic submission system for the
University of Edinburgh. For this to eventually happen we need to show that
there is demand for such a service and that it is viable. By using this
service you help this goal become one step closer.
What file formats do you accept?
We recognise that everyone has their own preferences when it comes to
producing documents and we want to make it as easy as possible for you to
deposit your thesis in the Edinburgh University online repository. This is why
we will accept most widely used file formats, including Word, LaTeX and PDF.
However, it is worth bearing in mind that as the pace of technology rolls
relentlessly on it may be hard/impossible to open some proprietary formats
such as Word in a few years time. If you want people to be able to easily read
you thesis then we suggest converting to PDF, as it has become a worldwide
document standard, it is relatively easy to convert most document types, and
it is platform independent with the Acrobat Reader being free and widely
available.
Can submission be done remote to the Library?
You can deposit your thesis from virtually anywhere as long as you have a
computer with internet access.
Will users be charged for access?
This service is provided in the spirit of the Open Access movement, so no
charges will be passed on to the authors or readers of material held in the
repository.
What about copyright and plagiarism issues?
As with the traditional hard copy thesis, the onus is with the author to obtain
copyright permissions for all material used. In an instance where parts of the
document are subject to copyright restrictions, choosing the appropriate
restriction on the deposit form can restrict these parts, or the whole document.
Some authors may be uncomfortable with the prospect of placing their work
online because of the threat of plagiarism. This threat will always be a
problem and a concern. However, most authors participating in similar schemes
across the world feel that publishing on the web is more likely to be an
effective foil against blatant plagiarism. Plagiarism is only likely to succeed
if no one detects the problem; therefore, by making your thesis more freely
available to a wide audience you are increasing the chance of detection.
If you have further concerns please contact the Thesis Alive! team.
Can I restrict access to my thesis?
In some scenarios (e.g. CASE-funded or patent-pending research) it might be
necessary to restrict access to the thesis for a period of time. If this is
the case for you, then you can choose the appropriate restriction from the
online deposit form. It is advisable to discuss this with your supervisor
and/or the Thesis Alive team before you chose this course of action.
Can you tell me how often a thesis is viewed and by whom?
We can tell how many times the thesis has been viewed but not by whom. To do so
would require capturing personal details, which would have implications
regarding privacy.
Last updated: Wed, 01 September, 2004
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