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Thesis and Dissertation Guide

Where do you start with your thesis/dissertation? Here's a reference point.

ESU Thesis Submission

Thesis Submission Process:

1.  All ESU theses must be submitted to and approved by the Graduate College. 

  • Do not submit it directly to the ESU Institutional Repository.   
  • Please email theses@esu.edu if you have any questions about the thesis approval process. 

 

2.   After your thesis is officially approved, the Graduate College will provide you with the Rights and Permission Form for Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Submission. Complete and submit the form to the Graduate College. 

  • The Rights and Permission Form grants ESU's Kemp Library the ability to archive an electronic version of your thesis in the library's digital collections.
  • If you select the Immediate Full Text Open Access option on the Rights and Permission Form, then a full text PDF copy of your thesis will be available in the ESU Institutional Repository (IR). 
  • If you choose an embargo (i.e. delay the full text access), a record will be created in the ESU IR, however, the full text PDF copy of your thesis will be available after the embargo period expires. 

 

3.  The Graduate College will provide Kemp Library with (1) the official approved PDF of your thesis and (2) your completed Rights and Permission Form. 

 

4.  Kemp Library will create a record for your thesis in the ESU Institutional Repository (IR). 

  • Kemp Library's online version will not have your signed Signature Page. Instead, the library will replace it with a placeholder page. The complete version with the signed Signature Page is on file with the Graduate College. 
  • If you elect for the Immediate Full Text Open Access option on the Rights and Permission Form, then a full text PDF copy of your thesis will be available in the IR.  

You already own copyright for your thesis:

U.S. copyright law automatically protects an "original" work in a "fixed" medium. This means students already own copyright of their thesis. See the Copyright Basics circular from the U.S. Copyright Office for more information.

After completing the Kemp Library's Rights and Permissions Form, students are still the copyright owner of their thesis.  

 

Register your copyright:

 

ESU does not file copyright on your behalf with the U.S. Copyright Office. 

 

While original works are already protected by copyright law, officially registering the copyright is necessary if an author pursues infringement litigation. Students may choose to register the copyright themselves online for $45 (fees in effect as of March 20, 2020) at www.copyright.gov.  

 

 

 

If you want to use a copyrighted work:

 

Researchers must seek permission before reproducing or otherwise using copyrighted works beyond fair use.  

 

  • If a thesis contains other copyrighted works that fall outside of fair use, students should ask for permission from the copyright owner.  Fair use depends on a reasoned and balanced application of four factors: the purpose of the use; the nature of the work used; the amount used; and the effect of the use on the market for the original.

 

 

  • If ESU is contacted about copyright usage permission for theses, individuals will be referred to contact the author directly.

 

Questions?

 

If you have questions about submitting your ESU thesis, then email Theses@esu.edu.  

 

If you have questions about the Rights and Permission Form and Kemp Library's ESU Institutional Repository, contact the Scholarly Communications & Research Librarian Michelle Donlin, mdonlin@esu.edu.