what does it mean when a dissertation is embargoed

Dissertations & Theses: Understanding Embargoes

• Introduction
• Task Definition
• Information Seeking Strategies
• Location and Access
• Use of Information
• Searching for Dissertations & Theses
• Accessing ETDs from Off-Campus
• Writing & Submitting ETDs

Understanding Embargoes

What is an embargo.

In academia, an "embargo" is a restriction placed on a thesis or dissertation that allows only the title, abstract, and citation information to be released to the public, while the full text of the work is kept hidden for a limited period of time. Embargoes typically last from one to five years following publication of a thesis or dissertation via the college or university's Institutional Repository or some other publishing service (e.g., ProQuest). Colleges and universities have different rules about whether and how theses and dissertations can be embargoed; however, most embargos can be extended under certain circumstances.

Why Embargo a Thesis or Dissertation?

Most theses and dissertations are not embargoed, but are made  publicly available following their formal defense as part of completing a masters or doctoral degree. Some reasons to embargo a thesis or dissertation include:

• The author wants to patent something described in the work.
• The author wants to publish the work in whole or in part in the future and is concerned that making the work public will interfere with this.
• The author has previously published the work in whole or in part, and the publisher is restricting public release of the work in some way.
• The dissertation includes data covered by a nondisclosure agreement for a specified period of time, including personal information, company secrets, or intellectual property.

Some colleges and universities encourage all authors to embargo their work, while others discourage embargoes except when they are absolutely needed. 

What are Georgia Southern's Embargo Guidelines? 

As a condition of enrollment at Georgia Southern University, each student grants the University a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce and make publicly available the student’s dissertation or thesis, in whole or in part, in electronic format via Georgia Southern Commons  subject to the following voluntary elections:

• The student may elect to restrict access to the work to the Georgia Southern University campus.
• The student may embargo the work for a period of one or five years. After the ending date of the initial embargo period, the work will be made publicly available unless the student submits a written request, signed by the major professor, to the College of Graduate Studies for an extension. This request must be received prior to the ending date of the initial embargo period.

Embargoes are intended only for documents that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Includes potential patent pending information
• Includes prospective trade secrets
• Includes sensitive security information that could be detrimental to the institution, agencies, state, or country if released.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact the College of Graduate Studies at [email protected] or 912-478-2647.

Should I Embargo My Thesis or Dissertation?

Always discuss the pros and cons of embargoing your thesis or dissertation with your graduate committee prior to submitting your work to Georgia Southern Commons . In addition, to help you with this decision, here are some recent articles that address this question:

• Dissertation Reviews: Embargo Your Dissertation, or Not?
• Indiana University: Should I embargo my dissertation?
• Daily Nous: Should PhD Students Embargo Their Dissertations?
• ScienceBlog: Why I Placed A Digital Embargo On My Dissertation, And Maybe You Should Too
• Chronicle of Higher Education: Embargoes Can Go Only So Far to Help New Ph.D.'s Get Published, Experts Say

How Do I Get Access to an Embargoed Thesis or Dissertation?

If you learn about a thesis or dissertation that you want to read but it currently is embargoed, your best bet is to contact the author. If you are having difficulty finding contact information for the author, try contacting your library or the library at which the author earned his or her degree. 

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What’s a thesis or dissertation embargo, and when to use it?

As part of the degree requirements for theses and dissertations, students hold a public defense and will have their document published electronically in the ASU Digital Repository and with ProQuest. Publication in the ASU Digital Repository is required; however, students may elect to delay (known as “embargo”) publication of their thesis/dissertation for a period of two years with support from their committee.

Why embargo a thesis/dissertation?

Delayed publication can protect:

• information of commercial value
• patentable rights
• sensitive or classified information
• academic or commercial press from acquiring publishing rights
• other relevant scholarly issues related to the release of your work

How can a student establish an embargo?

• Consult with committee at the time of the defense (or earlier) to decide whether an embargo is necessary
• Complete the Delaying Publication of Thesis/Dissertation form and include the chair’s (or a co-chair’s) signature.
• Include the embargo form with the completed Pass/Fail form that will be submitted to the Graduate College.

If approved, an embargo allows for a temporary delay of the publication of your document for two years through the ASU Digital Repository, KEEP. Embargo requests made after publication cannot guarantee non-viewing or downloading.

Other considerations

In unique cases, students may be granted an embargo of their document for an additional two years by emailing [email protected] before the original embargo expires. The maximum allowable embargo period for the ASU Digital Repository is four years, while ProQuest may allow for an indefinate embargo. Those requests are to be emailed to [email protected] .

These embargo guidelines apply to other culminating experience documents (such as bound documents and DMA research papers) that are required to go through format review and submission to ProQuest. Please check with your academic unit if unsure if this applies to your culminating experience.

Embargo questions can be directed to [email protected] .  

Formatting your Thesis and Dissertation:Tools,Tips and Troubleshooting

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• Do I need to embargo my thesis or dissertation?
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Understanding Embargoes

What is an Embargo?

In academia, an "embargo" is a restriction placed on a thesis or dissertation that allows only the title, abstract and citation information to be released to the public, while the full text of the work is kept hidden for a limited period of time. Embargoes typically last from one to five years following the publication of a thesis or dissertation via a university's Institutional Repository or some other publishing service (e.g. ProQuest). 

Some colleges and universities encourage all authors to embargo their work, while others (such as Florida Tech ) discourage embargoes except when they are absolutely needed.

Reasons not to Embargo

• The more accessible your thesis or dissertation is, the more likely it is to be cited.
• Making your thesis or dissertation accessible allows it to be scrutinized by others in the field, prompting collegiality.
• If you are worried about copyright infringement and/or plagiarism, then you should get your idea out there as soon as possible so that it is documented and accessible. That way, you have proof that the idea originated from you and that the alleged infringer had access to your work. While copyright protection is automatic, people who are concerned about copyright infringement can also register copyright in it with the U.S. Copyright Office. ProQuest will do this for you for an additional fee, or you can do it yourself at http://copyright.gov/eco/. Registration provides statutory damages and attorney's fees in the event of an infringement.
• Having theses or dissertations available helps future scholars about the process of scholarship.
• You do not intend to pursue a tenure-track position.

Why Embargo a Thesis or Dissertation?

Most theses and dissertations are  not  embargoed but are made publicly available following their formal defense as part of completing a master's or doctoral degree. Some reason to embargo a thesis or dissertation include:

• The author wants to patent something described in the work.
• The author wants to publish the work in whole or in part  in the future  and is concerned that making the work public will interfere with this.
• The author has  previously  published the work in whole or in part, and the publisher is restricting the public release of the work in some way. 
• The dissertation includes data covered by a nondisclosure agreement for a specified period of time, including personal information, company secrets, or intellectual property.

What are Florida Tech's Embargo Guidelines?

The standard embargo options for theses and dissertations at Florida tech include: Six months, One year, and Two years. If needed, you can also specifiy a different desired embargo timeframe. All requested embargos require a justification. The standard options for embargo justification are publishing process and patent filing process, However, if needed, you can specify a different justification.

Image o f Embarg o Options section of Electronic Theses and Dissertation (ETD) Access Form

Select access Option 1 or Option 2

Option 1: Immediate worldwide access - The thesis will be freely available on the Internet to all users. (Recommended)

Option 2: Embargoed access – Graduate students and their faculty advisor may request to embargo the release of their thesis or dissertation for up to 2 years (or longer by special request). The Embargoed Access Option is recommended if, for example, you plan to submit patent application or publication (although most publishers will not automatically dismiss papers derived from online theses). The thesis will not be available to anyone outside Florida Tech for (choose only one time period and indicate your justification):

Should I Embargo My Thesis or Dissertation?

Always  discuss the pros and cons of embargoing your thesis or dissertation with your advisor  prior  to submitting your work. Below are links to recent articles that address this question:

• Dissertation Reviews: Embargo Your Dissertation, or Not?
• Indiana University: Should I embargo my dissertation?
• Daily Nous: Should PhD Students Embargo Their Dissertations?
• ScienceBlog: Why I Placed A Digital Embargo On My Dissertation, And Maybe You Should Too
• Chronicle of Higher Education: Embargoes Can Go Only So Far to Help New Ph.D.'s Get Published, Experts Say

How Do I Get Access to an Embargoed Thesis or Dissertation?

If you learn about a thesis or dissertation that you want to read but it currently is embargoed, your best bet is to contact the author. Additionally, if you try to access a document that is embargoed, you will be directed to a form where you can request access.

If you are having difficulty finding contact information for the author, try contacting your library or the university library at which the author earned his or her degree. 

Many thanks to Kay Coates, Zach Henderson Library at Georgia Southern University and  Shayna Pekala , Scholarly Communications Office at Indiana University, for permission to reuse content.

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Theses & Dissertations

• Submitting your Thesis or Dissertation
• Depositing with ProQuest
• Understanding Copyright
• Understanding Embargoes
• Frequently Asked Questions

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Jessica Benner , Library Liaison for Computer Science and GIS, for compiling the information on which this page is based. 

What is an Embargo?

Authors who share their work openly will gain more visibility for their research and are contributing to the scholarly record of work conducted at Carnegie Mellon University. Even so, a n embargo on your work may be appropriate in certain circumstances. An embargo is a specified time period to delay online access . Applying an embargo to your thesis or dissertation does not mean that your work will be completely hidden. A public record of your thesis will exist online, including the author’s name, title of the work, keywords, and an abstract. In either KiltHub or ProQuest, the embargo options can range from 6 months to 5 years, and will automatically expire. In most cases, an embargo is not needed, but you should discuss your options with your thesis advisor.

Embargo Dos and Don'ts

• When to apply an embargo
• When not to apply an embargo

Embargoes are recommended for a few typical cases: 

Non-disclosure agreement, patent agreements or commercially valuable research.

In this case, the authors believe the research is commercially viable and may want to protect intellectual property rights while securing a patent. The embargo period should be used to obtain the patent not for conducting more research.

Publisher Requirements

An embargo is not recommended if: .

• The author wants to do more research or believes the quality of the research is poor. Conducting more research is not an appropriate cause for an embargo.
• The author is against depositing their work in open access venues. They can deposit their dissertation in ProQuest, a subscription based database.
• The author believes everyone else in the department is obtaining embargoes so they want to follow the crowd. Each dissertation is unique and should be evaluated independently.
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An embargo is a restriction set on a work, typically to allow limited access to a work prior to wider dissemination. With reference to a thesis or dissertation, it similarly means limited access for a period, depending on a variety of considerations, followed by wider access thereafter. While physical deposit in library stacks or electronic deposit into an institutional repository is a form of publication, it is understood that theses and dissertations are typically transitional works.

When an author includes material in a dissertation in which they are not the (or sole) rights-holder, they have the options to get permission from the rights-holder, comply with fair use, or choose to exclude said material.

Reasons to request an embargo might include the author is pursuing a patent for the work; the research sponsor requires a specific embargo period; the submission includes sensitive or proprietary content, such as work conducted with a corporate partner or a risk of research participants' identity exposure. See our LibGuide for more information. Academic departmental policy may govern the use and duration of embargoes and students should consult with their department for this information.

Many degree candidates consider embargoes specifically because they have heard that publishers will not consider publication of a book if it is based on a dissertation that is available in an online institutional repository. It is true that this is the case for some publishers in some disciplines, but it is not universally true. There are pros and cons to making your work immediately available with open access. The University does not make recommendations on this decision. Please consult your department and research the options for your field.

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What is an embargo and why would I want to place one on my dissertation or thesis?

• Article Number: 000032589

An embargo is a hold placed on the release of the full text for your dissertation. You may request we wait to release your document for a period of time. Some reasons for requesting an embargo might include:

• You are publishing your dissertation in a journal that prefers to publish your document first
• You have a patent pending on an idea presented in your dissertation
• You have mentioned sensitive materials and/or names which cannot be released at the time of publication

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Dissertations, Doctoral Projects, and Theses: Embargoes

Should i request an embargo for my dissertation.

If you are concerned that public release of your research may be inadvisable, you may request an embargo, which will restrict access to your work for a limited period of time. Reasons for an embargo include: making public information about a pending patent application, violating privacy rights; disclosing sensitive data or information; and adversely affecting your chances of publishing a revised dissertation. In these cases, you should consult with your advisor and dissertation committee to determine whether an embargo would be appropriate.

In 2013, the American Historical Association released its Statement on Policies Regarding the Embargoing of Completed History PhD Dissertations suggesting that doctoral students should be permitted to embargo online access to their dissertation for up to six years, with access being provided only for those on campus or with the student’s explicit permission off campus. If you are concerned that the availability of your dissertation in an open access repository will negatively affect your future publication prospects, you may find our Revising Your Dissertation for Publication page and the articles below of interest.

• Cohen, Philip N. " Sociologists: Don’t Embargo your Dissertation ." Family Inequality. 2021.
• " Can't Find It, Can't Sign It: On Dissertation Embargoes ." Harvard University Press Blog. 2013.
• Gilliam, Christian and Christine Daoutis. " Can Openly Accessible E- Theses Be Published as Monographs? A Short Survey of Academic Publishers ." Serials Librarian no. 1–4 (July 2018): 5–12.
• Gold, Alexandra. " The Great Embargo Debate ." Inside Higher Ed. 2018.
• McCutcheon, Angela M. Impact of Publishers' Policy on Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (EDT) Distribution Options within the United States . 2010
• Ramirez, M. L., J. T. Dalton, G. Mcmillan, M. Read, and N. H. Seamans. " Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Social Sciences and Humanities? Findings from a 2011 Survey of Academic Publishers ." College & Research Libraries 74.4 (2013): 368-80.
• Ramirez, M. L., G. Mcmillan, J. T. Dalton, A. Hanlon, H. S. Smith, and C. Kern. " Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Sciences ?" College & Research Libraries 75.6 (2014): 808-21.
• Rosen, Rebecca J. " You've Spent Years on Your Ph.D.: Should You Publish It Online for Free? " The Atlantic . 2018.
• Dissertation Embargoes and Publishing Fears
• Open Access and Dissertation Embargoes
• Publishing a Revised Dissertation
• To Embargo Your Dissertation, or Not?
• Dr. Audrey Truschke's follow-up tweets on this subject (2019)
• Weinberg, Justin.  Should PhD Students Embargo Their Dissertations?   Daily Nous. 2018.

If my work is embargoed, what information will be available?

The Graduate School allows two types of embargoes:

Common Embargo

The citation and abstract will appear in DigitalGeorgetown and ProQuest. The full text of your dissertation, doctoral project, or thesis will be withheld from public distribution but will be available to the Georgetown community (current faculty, student, and staff). Your work will also be available to any researcher who contacts the Georgetown University Library in advance and comes to campus to read it. Visiting readers are not permitted to print or download your work.

Restrictive Embargo

The citation and abstract will appear in DigitalGeorgetown and ProQuest. The full text of your dissertation, doctoral project, or thesis will not be available to anyone. This most restrictive option could be requested for a patent pending application and must be supported by a letter from your mentor or Director of Graduate Studies.

How do I request an embargo?

The Graduate School's embargo policy is set out in Part V.B. of the Graduate Bulletin ," Publication of Theses, Doctoral Projects, and Dissertations ." Additional information about requesting an embargo is on the Graduate School's Embargo Policy page. For questions about how to place an embargo, email [email protected] .

Is there a time limit on the embargo?

Both ProQuest and DigitalGeorgetown allow an embargo for up to two years. In rare circumstances, an extension beyond two years might be granted. Such request must be made before the expiration of any previously granted embargo and must be addressed in writing to the Dean of the Graduate School, accompanied by a letter of support from your mentor or the Director of Graduate Studies. The decision whether or not to grant such an extension will rest with the Dean.

Requests to extend your embargo in ProQuest should be made directly to ProQuest by emailing [email protected] .

If you submit your thesis or dissertation through the ProQuest submission portal without requesting an embargo, your work will be made available openly in DigitalGeorgetown within a few weeks after graduation.

Can I embargo my work after it has already been submitted to ProQuest and DigitalGeorgetown?

Requests to embargo a dissertation that has already been publicly available will not generally be approved. Even if an embargo is allowed, it is important to note that if your work has already been freely available in DigitalGeorgetown, and any copies made by others won't be affected by a later embargo.

TAMU-CC Repository

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• Recommended Formats
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• TAMU-CC Theses, Dissertations, and Other Projects in TAMU-CC Repository
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What is an Embargo? 

In publishing, an "embargo" is a delay placed on a publication. For Theses and Dissertations, an embargo is a restriction period placed on a thesis or dissertation that allows only the title, abstract, and other citation information to be released to the public, while the full text of the work is restricted for a limited period of time. Embargoes typically last from six months to two years following the submission of a thesis or dissertation to the TAMU-CC Repository or ProQuest. 

Why Embargo a Thesis or Dissertation? 

Most theses or dissertations are  not  embargoed, but are made publicly available following their formal defense as part of completing a masters or doctoral degree. Reasons to embargo a thesis or dissertation include: 

• Publication pending with another publisher
• Patent Pending
• Material under another copyright is contained in the work 
• Sensitive material is included
• Deferred degree date

What are TAMU-CC's Embargo Guidelines? 

When submitting a thesis or dissertation to the ProQuest Administrator Website , students have the option of selecting an embargo for 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years. Students are required to select one of the reasons outlined above for delaying release to the TAMU-CC Repository. 

Embargo Extensions

Any requests for an extension of an embargo past two years, must be formally submitted to the university by emailing the Embargo Extension Request Form to  [email protected] , and submitted at least one month prior to the expiration of the first embargo date. 

ProQuest Embargo Extensions must be requested by the author directly from ProQuest at [email protected] . The University does not process ProQuest embargo extensions. 

Should I Embargo My Thesis or Dissertation? 

Always discuss the pros and cons or embargoing your thesis or dissertation with your graduate committee prior to submitting your work to ProQuest. 

• Embargo Extension Request Form

Copyright Information

It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of and adhere to U.S. copyright laws regarding the thesis and its contents.

If you publish material that will be part of your thesis, dissertation, or record of study before you submit the final document (TAMU-CC policy):

The TAMU-CC policy is that graduate students may publish material that will later be used as part of the thesis, dissertation, or record of study. However, students must be aware of the agreement they sign when a journal accepts an article for publication. TAMU-CC eventually will release all manuscripts for public access in the TAMU-CC Repository. Do not sign any agreement that restricts TAMU-CC’s right to provide research results to the public.

If you are using your already published material in the thesis or dissertation (journal policies):

Students should be aware of the publishing agreement they sign when a journal accepts an article for publication. The corresponding author typically transfers copyright to the journal as publisher and may no longer possess the right to use this material without permission. The publishing agreement form can be modified before it is signed so that the student retains the right to include the material in the thesis, dissertation, or record of study. The publisher would still have the rights it needs to print, distribute, and sell the work. When negotiating with the publisher, remember to inform them that the thesis, dissertation, or record of study will be available online. Dissertations and records of study will be sent to ProQuest and can be purchased through them. TAMU-CC does not consider the posting of dissertations in the ProQuest repository a commercial venture. If you have not retained the right to use your previously published material in the document, you must get permission from the copyright holder to include it. A written statement of permission (email is accepted) should be provided. If the journal retains the right to an article and does not allow its exact reproduction in your thesis, dissertation, or record of study, we recommend that you contact them to ascertain whether a preprint version is acceptable, or whether you can revise or reword the printed version. Regardless of which rights students retain, authors are required to provide written documentation as evidence they have appropriate rights to include the pre-published material. This evidence might be a copy of the publication agreement, website documentation about author retained rights, emails, or other forms of written permission from the publisher.

If you are planning to use your thesis or dissertation material in a future publication

If you plan to publish any thesis, dissertation, or record of study material after graduation, investigate whether the journal of choice will publish material already made available to the public. Some journals insist on being first publisher. You have the option to restrict full-text access to your thesis or dissertation for two years before releasing it to the public through the TAMU-CC Repository. 

If you plan to include others’ copyrighted material in the thesis or dissertation:

If the manuscript contains any material (e.g., figures, tables, text) from copyrighted sources, you must determine if permission from the copyright holder is needed. There are numerous factors to consider, including whether the material is in the public domain or can be used under the provisions of Fair Use. Regardless of whether permission is required, proper credit must be given in the text. For material requiring permission, acknowledgment should be included in the text per the copyright holder’s instruction. For additional information regarding copyright and fair use, refer to Copyright and Fair Use Guide . 

Registering Copyright

Your manuscript is automatically protected under U.S. copyright as soon as it is finalized into a fixed form. Master’s and doctoral candidates may wish to take additional steps to register their copyright through the  P roQuest ETD site . Although it is not required, there are benefits to registering your copyright, including additional legal remedies if someone infringes upon your work.

Creative Commons License

Students may wish to include a Creative Commons license in the same location as the copyright notice. Creative Commons licenses allow the author to retain copyright, while authorizing specific uses of the work to others. More information about Creative Commons licenses can be found on  their website .

To summarize, if using published material:

• Determine if the material is copyrighted. Non-copyrighted material may be reused freely if credit is given to the original source.
• If the material is copyrighted, determine if it may be included in your document under the provisions of Fair Use. If Fair Use applies, do not seek permission.
• If Fair Use does not apply, obtain permission (in either the publisher agreement or in a letter or email from the copyright holder).
• Give proper acknowledgment and citation of all work included in the thesis, dissertation, or record of study. 
• Doctoral students must inform the copyright holder that the dissertation will be sent to, and sold on demand by, ProQuest.
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Theses: Embargoes and making your thesis open

• Queen's E-Thesis
• Embargoes and making your thesis open
• Copyright: seeking permission
• Thesis With Publications
• Training & support
• Getting published
• Finding theses

Applying an embargo to your thesis

What is an embargo?

A mechanism whereby access to, or visibility of, the full text is hidden or delayed for a set period.

This is usually for a very defined period of time (i.e. 1-5 years) which can be determined by a range of circumstances e.g. publication plans, funder requirements etc. You should also speak to your supervisor about your publication plans, this will help clarify if you require an embargo or not. 

The list of eligible reasons for an embargo is also contained on the Repository Deposit Form.

There could be certain circumstances in which a bespoke embargo could be required, in instance like this please contact Dawn Pike, Open Research Librarian  to discuss your options.

When you DO need to consider an embargo on your thesis

Circumstances when you do not need an embargo on your thesis, reasons for an embargo to the thesis.

If the purpose of conducting research is to share it and make it available as soon as possible, why would anyone choose an embargo? 

One of the primary reasons why people decide to opt for an embargo is because they are preparing the work for publication. And they do not want their work to appear until it has been presented in a formal publication or publications. This could be in the form of a research article or articles, or indeed am entire book (sometimes called a monograph). So, people often choose to embargo the thesis while they are preparing the material for publication.

Find listed below some of the reasons why people embargo their thesis:

• Publication - the thesis is embargoed while you attempt to get your work published. 
• Commercial reasons – the thesis has potential to be commercial and that is why you are embargoing. 
• Confidential – the thesis contains confidential information – secrets of a business, process or maybe some legal and the embargo is needed because of the confidentiality of the content. 
• Copyright – maybe your thesis contains excessive amounts of third party copyright  and this is why an embargo is required.

How to apply for an embargo?

If you want to embargo your e-thesis you must indicate this on the  Repository Deposit Form .

Please upload the  Repoistory Deposit Form  to  Pure  with your e-thesis record. Both are required as part of your submission process.

The E-thesis Team will cross-check the embargo in Pure with the embargo information provided in the Repository Deposit Form. 

If you wish to discuss your embargo options, please contact Dawn Pike,  Open Research Librarian 

The Open Research Librarian for E-theses can help

Common questions about embargoed thesis content.

• Why is uploading my thesis the best thing for my visibility, and the visibility of my research?
• Can the thesis text be seen if it is embargoed?
• What does an embargoed e-thesis look like?
• What are the most common embargo lengths?

So, as a result of making your thesis open access, it will eventually be visible on Queen’s Research Portal and other platforms. I include an example of a thesis from 2019 that is open access here on Queen’s Research Portal. There is no embargo. 

On the right-hand side is the EThOs thesis record . EThOS is the UK’s national thesis service which aims to maximise the visibility and availability of the UK’s doctoral research theses.  

EThOS , which is run by the British Library, harvest our content and EThOS is the place to go to look for PGR theses. 

So, by uploading to Pure, it is visible on Queen’s Research Portal - on the left-hand side, as well as be discovered via EThOS and various search engines, including Google. This is the best news for you raising your visibility 

This is how an embargoed thesis will look on Queen's Research Portal - this is where we PGR thesis content is publicly made available. One the left hand-side there is an image of an open thesis. There is a paperclip symbol visible, which means it is open access – it is similar to the green padlock symbol which means open access now– so it is NOT embargoed.

On the right-hand side, the same thesis is embargoed. The embargo may be identifiable by the fact that there is no full-text content attached to the thesis. There is no paperclip symbol, which indicates the presence of full text now. No full text has been attached to the e-thesis record or is visible publicly. This indicates that there is an embargo on the thesis.

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• Last Updated: Nov 27, 2024 4:32 PM
• URL: https://libguides.qub.ac.uk/ethesis