Copyright in Theses and Dissertations: Home

Many students include portions of other author's or creator's works in their theses or dissertations, including longer quotes, illustrations, photographs, charts, or tables. Some of these are simply data and are not copyrightable. Others illustrate data in a creative context. Although you may be able to invoke fair use for some of these works, you may need permission to include others. Copyright Services can help you navigate this process. Generally speaking, we will need the draft title, approximate number of pages, and projected graduation date, along with complete citations to any works you would like to include. 

Students' use of their previously published journal articles, manuscripts, or other works as chapters or portions of their theses or dissertations has become common practice. Students need to obtain approval from their advisors as well as adhere to U.S. Copyright Law and all publication agreements to avoid self-plagiarism.

Students who plan to publish their work before they submit their theses or dissertations should keep their publication agreements. Sometimes, these agreements are copyright transfer agreements (CTAs) in which one or more of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner are signed over to the publisher. This means that even though they were written by the student, the student no longer owns all the rights to their work. If this is the case, students should contact their editors to ask for permission to include the content. If a student knows ahead of time that they will publish an article before they finish their dissertation, they should inform their editors of their plans so that permission can be obtained ahead of time. In some cases, publishers will request that students delay the release of their thesis or dissertation, also known as an embargo. Students need to complete the form linked from this site to delay publication. 

Articles or other manuscripts published under Open Access (OA) licenses may be used without permission as long as the OA license does not contain a non-commercial clause. In the case of a Creative Commons license, this is the NC (Non-Commercial) element. Submission of all dissertations is required by Kent State University, and ProQuest is a commercial entity. This is not applicable to theses because they are not sent to ProQuest.

As a professional courtesy, students should notify any coauthors of their dissertation plans. By law, students must account to their coauthors any royalties received from any ProQuest sales of the dissertation.

Students should retain any associated permission documents including email correspondence with publishers and co-authors as well as any licenses received from Rightslink/Copyright Clearance Center (CCC).

In all cases, students must follow their College's Style Guide to indicate that the material was previously published. Style Guides for each College can be obtained from the College's ETD Contact. Sometimes publishers require specific wording which they will provide in the permission license. 

By U.S. Copyright Law and University Policy, you already own the copyright to your thesis or dissertation, from your first draft to your final version. It is not necessary to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. If you plan to pursue publication of your thesis or dissertation as a journal article or book, know that the publisher frequently handles copyright registrations. If you would like to register your copyright, see Copyright Registration. A fee is involved, for which you will be responsible.

When submitting your thesis or dissertation, the OhioLINK ETD Center offers three options for the copyright statement that will be displayed with your ETD, including Creative Commons Licenses:

1. All Rights ReservedCopyright, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law. This may be required by third-party publishers you work with to publish your paper commercially. Generally, we recommend making this selection.

2. Copyright, some rights reservedMy ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may not be modified. All use must give me credit as the original author. [This is the Creative Commons "Attribution – Noncommercial –No Derivative Works" license.]

3. Copyright, some rights reserved
My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may be modified only if the modified version is distributed with these same permissions. All use must give me credit as the original author. [This is the Creative Commons "Attribution – Noncommercial –Share Alike" license.]

In addition, you may choose to allow additional use of your paper via a Creative Commons license. (Why would I do this?)

Creative Commons licenses are non-revocable; once granted, they cannot be taken away.
Please understand their terms carefully before selecting a Creative Commons option.