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Accepted File Formats for Thesis Deposits

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Open Research

The University of Aberdeen is committed to open research, ensuring there are no barriers to sharing knowledge.

Accepted File Formats for Thesis Deposits

The University of Aberdeen is committed to open research and ensuring there are no barriers to sharing knowledge.

Main thesis documents must be submitted as PDF (.pdf).

You may also choose to upload supplementary materials to accompany your thesis. Accepted file formats for supplementary materials are listed below. Where multiple file formats are accepted, they are listed in order of preference for long-term preservation and accessibility.

1. Main Thesis Documents

All main thesis documents must be submitted as PDF (.pdf).

This includes:

  • Final thesis
  • Abstract
  • Redacted thesis (if applicable)
  • Confidentiality justification form (if applicable)

PDF will ensure that thesis documents can be preserved, accessed and displayed consistently over time.

2. Supplementary Materials

As part of the submission process, you will be asked whether you wish to upload any supplementary materials. Supplementary materials may be used to provide additional content that supports your thesis, such as datasets, images, audio, video, presentations or other research outputs.

The following file formats are accepted for supplementary materials and are generally listed in order of preference for long-term preservation and accessibility, with the most preferred format first.

2.1 Documents and Text

  1. PDF (.pdf)
  2. OpenDocument Text (.odt)
  3. Microsoft Word (.docx)
  4. Rich Text Format (.rtf)
  5. Plain Text (.txt)
  1. Microsoft Word (.doc)

2.2 Spreadsheets and Tabular Data

  1. Comma Separated Values (.csv)
  2. OpenDocument Spreadsheet (.ods)
  3. Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)
  4. Microsoft Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (.xlsm)
  5. Microsoft Excel (.xls)

2.3 Presentations

  1. OpenDocument Presentation (.odp)
  2. Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx)
  3. Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt)

2.4 Images

  1. TIFF (.tif, .tiff)
  2. PNG (.png)
  3. SVG (.svg)
  4. JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
  5. GIF (.gif)
  6. BMP (.bmp)

2.5 Audio

  1. WAV (.wav)
  2. OGG (.ogg)
  3. MP3 (.mp3)

2.6 Video

  1. MKV (.mkv)
  2. MP4 (.mp4)
  3. MOV (.mov)
  4. WMV (.wmv)

2.7 Databases

  1. Microsoft Access Database (.mdb)

2.8 Archive Files

  1. ZIP (.zip)
  2. TAR (.tar)
  3. 7-Zip (.7z)
  4. RAR (.rar)
3. Final File Checklist

Before starting your submission, make sure that:

  • All thesis documents are saved as PDF
  • Any supplementary materials are in one of the accepted file formats listed on this page.
  • All files open correctly and are complete.