Thesis Submission

If you have directly copied or modified another person’s image (such as graphs, tables, figures, photos) to use in your thesis, you will need to obtain copyright permission to include these (even if it does not have a copyright symbol and/ or was freely accessible via the internet). Although you will have already provided a reference, actual permission from the copyright owner is still required because you are sharing it online. This applies to any images copied from books, publications, search engines, websites, or colleagues.

For figures from a journal article, you may be able to request permission online through a platform called RightsLink by following the RightsLink permission directions. Some websites, such as Google Maps, may already have terms and conditions that allow you to use their images. For all other permissions, you should seek permission via email using the permissions template provided. If you cannot obtain permission, you can remove the image so it won’t be shared online (see: Preparing your files).

For guidance on seeking permissions, please email the Copyright Librarian.

Although you are the author, it is likely that the copyright in your journal publications were transferred to the publisher which means there are limits on the way you can share copies of those publications, including in your own thesis.

Most publishers will allow you to share the ‘accepted manuscript’ version in your thesis. This is the peer reviewed manuscript before it has received any typesetting from the publisher. You should include this version along with a citation and link to the final published article.

The exception is if your article was published open access, in which case you can include the final formatted PDF.

This table outlines how you may include copies of journal articles from the following publishers:

If your journal article was published by a publisher not on this list, you should only include manuscripts in your thesis unless you have obtained express permission to do otherwise.

Conference papers published through a major publisher (such as Springer or IEEE) will be subject to the same restrictions as journal articles. For  unpublished conference contributions such as posters, you will have retained the rights in these and can share them in your thesis. If you have authored a book chapter, you should consult your individual publication contract or contact the publisher.

For queries on whether you can include a publication in your thesis, please contact the Copyright Librarian.

Be mindful of any data, text, photos, or appendices that may not be intended for public viewing. You can include these in your thesis when submitting to examiners, but then make a second copy of your thesis for the library which has this material redacted (see: Preparing your files). University computers provide access to Adobe Pro which has a built in function which allows you to redact sensitive information.

Examples of material you may want to avoid sharing publicly include photos of participant’s faces or of yourself, email conversations included in appendices, signatures, longitude and latitude of sacred or private locations, phone numbers and addresses, private communications, permits and registrations in your name or other documents that you were only including for the benefit of your examiners.

You have the option to submit two versions of your thesis to the library. All students must submit a ‘Master Copy’ which is the full complete examined thesis after any amendments have been made. If required, you can also submit an additional ‘Library Copy’ which is a file that has been amended for public viewing by removing  copyright material or confidential/ sensitive content. If you do not plan on making a separate copy (because your thesis does not contain any material that needs to be redacted) then you can just submit the one Master Copy and that is what will be made public.

Version 1: Master Copy of Thesis

Your final amended thesis as approved by the University, this version will not be made public if you submit a separate Library Copy.  

1. Make sure your thesis has a title page using the template provided by Office of Graduate Research (with the date you award was completed, not when it was submitted). Only one title page is required.

2. Name your file ‘SurnameThesisYear_MasterCopy.pdf’. Ensure that it is saved as a PDF and not as a Word document.

Version 2: Library Copy of Thesis

Optional additional copy which must be supplied if you have confidential material or third party copyright protected material (e.g. published images) that need to be redacted for public viewing. If supplied, this is the version which will be available for the public to read via the Library website, after any applicable embargo periods.

1 . Go to ‘Save As’ from your MasterCopy file and create a duplicate PDF copy of your thesis, named ‘SurnameThesisYear_LibraryCopy.pdf’.

It is best to redact material from  a PDF file rather than from Word, as it will avoid disrupting page numbering and citation management. If preferred, you can edit in Word and then convert to PDF, but this could affect your layout and numbering.

2. PDFs can be edited in Adobe Pro which is available to students; follow the Adobe instructions on redacting sensitive material. Alternatively, you can use the Edit PDF tool to delete content. In Adobe edit mode you will be able to click on images and text boxes as objects. Use the mouse to select any images you need to remove and delete them.

3. ​Where an image has been removed, it is recommended to add a text box in its placethat says “Removed due to copyright restriction” (you can choose the wording you use and provide a link to the image if available online). To do this, follow the Adobe instructions on adding new text.

4. Clean up your appendices. If they contain clinical assessments or surveys that were designed by a third party, you will need to remove these as well as they will be copyrighted. Consider removing any other material that you only included for the benefit of your examiners and which may not have been intended for public viewing. Examples include letters of recommendation and correspondence. To keep your page numbering intact, you can keep the headings for each appendix, but delete the content and replace with a statement that says “Content removed for privacy reasons”.

5. Redact any other confidential material.

6. Save file, it is now ready to submit.

By default, your thesis will become immediately available online (after it has been processed by university staff). If you are currently seeking to have portions published or have other valid reasons why your thesis should not be made available immediately, you can request an embargo through the library submission form. This allows you to choose a period of up to 3 years (36 months) delay before your thesis becomes public. You should discuss the need for an embargo with your supervisor first. The submission form requires you to put in a reason for your embargo which will then go through a formal approval process.

Be aware that even if your embargo is approved, the file you supply to the library during your submission will be the one that is made public at a later date. You will not have the opportunity to resubmit a new file at the end of the embargo period. If you later need the embargo to be extended, you must contact HDR Exams and request an extension no more than 2 months before the embargo was due to end.

Submission Form for PhD, Doctorate, or Masters by Research thesis

Download step-by-step submission instructions. Please ensure you have read the preceding sections of this webpage prior to submitting.

Submission form for coursework awards

Download step-by-step submission instructions. You should read the other sections of this webpage (particularly about Including Images and Preparing your files) before you submit.