Publishing Options, Embargo, & Copyright

► View Michael’s recorded Copyright Workshop from 1/21/21.

UC Davis Scholarly Communications Officer Michael Ladisch helps graduate students and postdocs clarify copyright questions such as:
• Do I need permission to use copyrighted material in my dissertation?
• Do I have to register copyright for my work and how do I do it?
• Can I use parts of my dissertation in a journal article?
• Can I publish parts of my dissertation as a book?
• What is the UC Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertation?
• What is an embargo and should I apply it to my thesis?
• What are Creative Common licenses?

Requirement for Open Access Release

The University of California is committed to disseminating research and scholarship conducted at the University as widely as possible. The UC Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertations requires the deposit of theses and dissertations in an open access repository to be freely and openly available to the public, subject to an embargo obtained by the student. For more information on the policy visit the UC Policy webpage.

Previously, the full text of electronic theses and dissertations was freely accessible only to researchers from UC campuses and those with ProQuest accounts, unless the student paid an additional fee to ProQuest for open access release. Through a partnership between UC Davis Graduate Studies, the UC Davis Library, and the California Digital Library , theses and dissertations filed for the Spring 2021 degree list and forward will be available for open access through eScholarship (UC’s open access repository and publishing platform), aligning UC Davis with the practices of the other UC campuses and with many institutions world-wide. This means more publishers, researchers, and potential collaborators may freely access your thesis or dissertation.

The UC Davis Library offers an excellent list of resources to encourage and support Open Access publishing.

More information about open access is available on the UC Office of Scholarly Communication website.

Immediate Release & Embargo

On the Thesis/Dissertation Release Agreement portion of the GradSphere process, you are asked whether you would like your thesis or dissertation released to the public immediately after your degree is awarded or after a period of delay called an embargo. Depending on your field, past or future publication considerations, and the content of your paper, you may or may not wish to delay open access.

Important Note: When submitting your ProQuest ETD upload, select the 'traditional' . Do NOT opt for the Open Access Plus publishing option available . This option requires payment of a fee for a service that is provided to UC Davis students automatically and at no cost through UC eScholarship .

• Immediate release - your thesis or dissertation will be delivered to ProQuest for release and separately open access released through eScholarship , shortly after your degree has been officially awarded. See the ‘Process for Open Access’ FAQ below for timing info.
• 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 unviewable for a period of time. Embargoes of the UC Davis thesis or dissertation are permitted for a minimum of six months and up to six years with approval of the major professor.

Here are some articles that may be helpful in deciding whether or not to embargo your thesis or dissertation:

• The Great Embargo Debate
• To Embargo Your Dissertation, or Not?
• You've Spent Years on Your Ph.D.: Should You Publish It Online for Free?
• Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Social Sciences and Humanities?
• Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Sciences?

Embargo and Open Access Frequently Asked Questions

• Why Not to Embargo?
• • You want to publish your work, but don’t yet have an agreement - The more accessible your thesis or dissertation is, the more likely it is to be seen and cited.
  • To build collegiality - Making your thesis or dissertation accessible allows it to be reviewed and scrutinized by others in your field, potentially expanding your own network of collaborators and benefitting scholars in your field.
  • You do not intend to pursue a tenure-track position.
  • You are concerned about being plagiarized:
  • If you are worried about copyright infringement and/or plagiarism, then it may be beneficial to release your work as soon as possible. That way, you have proof that the ideas 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 with the U.S. Copyright Office. See more about copyright registration below.

Copyright and Copyright Registration

The information in this section is intended for informational purposes, and should not be construed as legal advice.

Copyright, per Title 17 of the US Code, is a legal protection that provides you exclusive rights to make certain uses of your work for a limited period of time (currently, the life of the author plus 70 years). Exclusive rights include the rights to: reproduce the work, make derivatives of the original work, distribute the work, perform the work publicly, and display the work publicly

The UC Copyright Ownership Policy confirms that graduate students are the copyright owners of their thesis or dissertation. Other links for information about copyright and copyright registration include:

• UC Copyright website
  • UC Revised Copyright Ownership Policy - 2/1/21
  • You can also view the the recorded Copyright Workshop from 1/21/21.

  Copyright Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is my Thesis or Dissertation Copyright Protected?
  • Your thesis or dissertation is automatically protected by copyright when it is written (put in a "fixed form"). Release through ProQuest and eScholarship provides an independently verified date of record for your copyright. You are the holder of the copyright for your work unless you transfer it, e.g. publishing in a journal often requires transfer of the copyright to the publisher.
  • Can I use Copyrighted Material in my Paper?
  • If you are using copyrighted materials in your thesis or dissertation, beyond brief excerpts, you must obtain the written permission from the copyright owner. Normally publishers hold the copyright for all materials they publish, so even if you are the sole or one of several authors of material in a published book or journal, you must obtain written permission from the copyright holder if you . Use of reproductions or excerpts of other media, such as music, graphic images, or computer software may also require permissions.

  Your letter or email to the copyright holder needs to make clear that you are requesting written permission (an email confirmation is sufficient) to preserve and openly publish your thesis or dissertation, in print and digital form, through ProQuest, eScholarship, and the UC Davis Library. ProQuest may also sell, for scholarly purposes, single copies of your work that include the copyright holder's material.

  If including a notice, it should be on an unnumbered page following your title page and should include at least ‘copyright’ and/or the copyright symbol, the year, and your name - typically located at the center or ⅔ down the page.

  If the work is registered within three months of its publication date or before a particular copyright infringement occurs, the copyright holder can recover statutory damages (monetary awards not necessarily connected to actual harm suffered by the copyright holder) and attorney fees if they are successful in the infringement suit.

  Publishing Option & Copyright Advising Resources

  Ask your faculty - Your first step in considering your publishing and copyright options should be to consult with your major professor, committee members, program chair, and other faculty mentors and colleagues who have published work in your field.

  Michael Ladisch ( mladisch@ucdavis.edu ) is the Scholarly Communications Officer at the UC Davis Shields Library and available to discuss publishing options and copyright questions with graduate students. You can email him for an appointment or attend a Copyright Workshop hosted by Graduate Pathways Institute.

  View Michael’s recorded Copyright Workshop from 1/21/21.

  Senior Academic Advisors in Graduate Studies are available to support you during the filing process, and may be able to answer questions about publishing options and copyright, or help you to locate an appropriate resource. Email your SAA.