Thesis Deposit Guide

Personal details

• Personal email address - please provide an email address that you will continue to use after you leave the University. We may need to contact you about your thesis after your University email account has been closed.
• ORCID iD - if you do not have an ORCID iD, you can register with ORCID.

Thesis details

• School
• Department
• Title of thesis
• Year of sustainment - the year your thesis was awarded.
• Year of submission
• Award - for example, PhD, MPhil, MLitt or MSc (Research).

Supervisor(s)

• Supervisor details - surname and first name for each supervisor.

Sponsorship and funding (if applicable)

• Sponsor/Funder(s)
• Grant number(s)

Subject information

• Subject(s) – Enter up to 5 keywords or short phrases that describe your research. Add one keyword or phrase per field and use specific terms that other researchers might search for. Avoid very broad terms (for example, science, history, or engineering) and full sentences.

Required for all submissions

• Final sustained thesis - PDF format.
• Abstract - a separate PDF of no more than 300 words.
• Supplementary materials, if applicable.

Please make sure that supplementary files are in one of the accepted formats listed in the submission form. See Accepted File Formats | Library | The University of Aberdeen.

Important: The final sustained thesis, abstract and any supplementary materials are required for all submissions, including submissions where you request access restrictions.

The University encourages research to be made openly accessible, but recognises that restrictions may sometimes be necessary.

Important: Please make sure that the access restrictions you select are allowed under the terms of any funding you may have received.

3.1 Restricting access to your thesis

If you choose to restrict access to your thesis, you can choose the type of restriction and how long it will last. A restriction can be applied for up to five years.

• Restrict access to everyone except University of Aberdeen staff and students for a specified period.
• Restrict access to everyone for a specified period.

After the restriction period ends, the thesis and any supplementary materials will be made available to everyone without restriction, including through EThOS (British Library Electronic Theses Online Service).

3.2 Confidential information

Redaction allows a version of your thesis with confidential, third-party or other sensitive information removed to be made available in the repository. A permanent embargo means that the original, unredacted thesis will never be made available.

3.2.1 Redaction

If your thesis contains confidential, third-party or other sensitive information that cannot be made available in the repository, you can request redaction.

If you select this option, you must also provide a redacted copy of your thesis as a PDF and provide details of the information that has been redacted.

Important: The original, unredacted thesis is also required and will be subject to a permanent embargo.

You can choose a restriction period of up to five years for the redacted thesis. After the restriction period ends, the redacted thesis and any supplementary materials will be made available to everyone without restriction, including through EThOS (British Library Electronic Theses Online Service).

3.2.2 Permanent embargo

If your thesis contains confidential, third-party or other sensitive information that can never be made available, you can request a permanent embargo.

If you select this option, you must provide a completed confidentiality justification form.

The form must be signed by your supervisor and Head of School.

Please:

1. Download and complete the form before you start your submission.
2. Obtain the required signatures.
3. Save the completed and signed form as a PDF.
4. Upload the PDF with your other documents.

Copyright means that you own the rights to your thesis. When completing the form, you will be asked whether you want to apply a Creative Commons licence to your thesis.

For information about the different Creative Commons licences, please visit the Creative Commons licence chooser.

If you choose a Creative Commons licence, we recommend adding text to the footer of your thesis that identifies the licence and includes a link to it.

Important: Before submitting your thesis, please read the Terms of Deposit. You will be asked to confirm that you have read and agree to them as part of the submission process.

Regulations

Under the University’s regulations governing the submission of theses and dissertations for higher degrees, available at www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/calendar/postgraduate.php, any thesis (unless restricted) may be:

1. Consulted for research purposes by any user within the University Library, whether that user is a registered staff member or student of the University or a member of the public.
2. Made available through the University of Aberdeen institutional repository and be accessible to a wide variety of people and institutions (including automated agents) via the World Wide Web.

A candidate may restrict ALL ACCESS to a thesis both through consultation and by any electronic means only if the Librarian is requested in writing to do so by the Head of School. A copy of the request must accompany the thesis.

Alternatively, a candidate may stipulate a period of time, up to a maximum of five years, during which access to the electronic version is restricted to University of Aberdeen staff and students (via the university repository), or completely withheld.

University of Aberdeen Electronic Theses Deposit Agreement

Non-exclusive rights

Rights granted to the University of Aberdeen through this agreement are entirely non-exclusive and royalty free. The candidate is free to publish their thesis in its present version or future versions elsewhere. The candidate agrees that administrators of the University of Aberdeen institutional repository or any third party with whom the University has an agreement to do so may, without changing content, translate the Thesis to any medium or format for the purpose of future preservation and accessibility.

Deposit in any University of Aberdeen institutional digital repository

The candidate understands that a thesis deposited in the University of Aberdeen institutional repository without restriction will be accessible to a wide variety of people and institutions (including automated agents) via the World Wide Web, e.g. EthOS

The candidate understands that once their thesis is deposited, a citation to the thesis will always remain visible. Removal of the thesis can be made after discussion with the administrators of the University of Aberdeen institutional repository, who shall make best efforts to ensure removal of the thesis from any third party with whom the University has an agreement.

By signing the declaration the candidate agrees as follows:

1. That the candidate is the author or co-author of the thesis and has the authority on behalf of the author or authors to make this agreement and to hereby give the administrators of the University of Aberdeen institutional repository the right to make available the thesis in the way described above
2. That the candidate has exercised reasonable care to ensure that the thesis is original, and does not to the best of their knowledge break any UK law or infringe any third party’s copyright or other Intellectual Property Right

The administrators of the University of Aberdeen institutional repository do not hold any obligation to take legal action on behalf of the candidate, or other rights holders, in the event of breach of intellectual property rights, or any other right, in the material deposited.

Download the Terms of thesis deposit

Information

• Personal email address.
• ORCID iD.
• School and department details.
• Thesis title.
• Year of sustainment and year of submission.
• Names of all supervisors.
• Sponsor/funder and any relevant grant number(s).
• Descriptive keywords or phrases for the subject of your thesis.

Review

• Read the Terms of Deposit.
• Read the Accepted File Formats guidance.

Files

• Final sustained thesis as a PDF.
• Separate abstract of no more than 300 words as a PDF.
• Any supplementary materials in an accepted file format.
• Redacted thesis as a PDF, if you have selected the redaction option.
• Details of the information that has been redacted, if you have selected the redaction option.
• Completed and signed confidentiality justification form as a PDF, if you have selected the permanent embargo option.

Decisions

• Choose whether to restrict access to your thesis and, if so, choose the restriction type and period.
• Choose whether to apply a Creative Commons licence to your thesis.
• If you choose a Creative Commons licence, add the licence information and link to the thesis footer, if you wish to do so.

Download the Thesis deposit final checklist