what is a thesis embargo

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] .  

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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Dissertations & Theses: Understanding Embargoes

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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 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 Digital Commons@Georgia Southern  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 Digital Commons@Georgia Southern . 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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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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Embargoing a thesis

Guidance on the appropriate circumstances where an embargo of a thesis may be necessary.

All research degree theses are expected to be made publicly available as soon as possible following the award of the degree, for anyone to read, download, print, copy and reuse. The University fully endorses the principles of open access and requires all researchers to make their research open access where possible to maximise research impact and to comply with funder policies where applicable.

Public funders recognise that factors such as commercial, collaborative or publication arrangements may necessitate a delay in the process of making a thesis openly accessible, and where this is the case, an embargo may be necessary. The maximum length of embargo permitted is usually 12 months, other than in exceptional circumstances. Universities are expected to have in place a process for considering where exceptions can be granted to the requirement for publication within 12 months.

Reasons for requesting an embargo

Students are permitted to embargo their thesis under certain conditions, e.g. where there are commercial sensitivities or where it is necessary to delay access to a thesis until after publication of results. Students should discuss with their supervisor whether they require an embargo and, if so, for how long. This discussion should take account of the need to ensure that research is made available as soon as possible and a consideration of the benefits that early publication can bring.

Some faculties have their own additional guidance regarding the maximum length of embargo that is permitted, and this should also be taken into consideration. Students should check with their supervisors whether such guidance exists.  Students are reminded that it is not good practice to delay the publication of their research without good cause.

Requests for embargoes that exceed 12 months require faculty approval and must be accompanied by a clear rationale as to why a longer period is required. A form is available to request an extended embargo. Extended embargoes beyond five years will not normally be approved unless there are very exceptional reasons. Examples of this may include where a contract has been signed requiring a longer embargo, or where there is a threat to personal security. Where relevant evidence is available to support a request for an extended embargo, e.g. a copy of the contract, this should be attached to the request form.  

If an embargo is required, this must be indicated on the Access to Thesis form, otherwise, the thesis may be made publicly available. Students are responsible for setting any embargo options at the point they upload their eThesis to White Rose eTheses Online  and for requesting extensions to embargoes, if required. Failure to set or extend an embargo will result in the eThesis being made publicly available.

Access to Thesis (Word, 39.6kb) Extended embargo request form (Word, 21KB)

Examples of exceptions for granting an extended embargo

Planned publication (details of publication plans should be included).

• There is often a long lead-time to get papers published in quality journals.
• Cross-disciplinary research may also take longer to publish.
• Where we are able to demonstrate that reaching the highest levels of academic excellence also has a long lead-time, and where the thesis contains data likely to be included in future research by the supervisor or collaborator.
• To account for plans to publish, however, the extension should be for a maximum of a further 12 months and it is expected an agreement has been reached with the publisher that this is acceptable.

Commercial confidentiality (a copy of the contract should be included)

• Where there are contractual restrictions imposed by a sponsor. This could include industrial sponsors, overseas governments, etc. The contract must specify the details of the required embargo period and it is recommended that, wherever possible, this should not exceed 5 years.
• Where the research might lead to a commercial application or patent and IP needs to be protected.
• Where commercial confidentiality is a consideration details should be provided as to how these issues were dealt with at other stages of the research, e.g. ethics review, examination.

Contains personal data

• The thesis contains personally identifiable or ethically sensitive data.  However, the implications of undertaking research involving identifiable participants should be considered at an early stage via the ethical approval process. Where possible, research participants should not be identifiable within the thesis.
• Material obtained in the thesis was obtained under a guarantee of confidentiality.

Third-party copyright

• Where third party copyright has not been obtained, students may submit an edited eThesis, as an alternative to requesting an embargo. They would also need to submit an unedited hard copy.

Could endanger health and safety

• The thesis contains sensitive material (political or otherwise) which could put at risk the authors or participants if made openly available. However, details should be provided as to the steps taken throughout the research to ensure data security, such as the storage of data and sharing of material, e.g. with supervisors and examiners.

Could prejudice national security

• The thesis contains sensitive material, which must not be made publicly available. However, details should be provided as to the steps taken throughout the research to ensure data security, such as the storage of data and sharing of material, e.g. with supervisors and examiners.

Related information

Contact the Research Degree Support Team

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.

Publishing Dissertations and Theses: Embargoes

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What is an embargo?

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.

Embargos in ProQuest

From ProQuest: "Authors have the ability to embargo their work indefinitely or for a certain period of time. ProQuest honors the author’s wishes and can accommodate as needed... Contact [email protected] to make a request."

The author of the embargoed work is responsible for contacting ProQuest and coordinating their embargo request.

Should you embargo your dissertation?

Most theses and dissertations are not embargoed, and are made publicly available following their formal defense as part of completing a masters or doctoral degree. As your dissertation is your introduction to a scholarly conversation in your field, the LTU Library discourages aribtrary embargoes of your work .

Some valid 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.
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Thesis Embargo Options

If you choose to delay the release of your work, access to the full text of your work will be delayed for the period of time that you specify based on  library polic y (refer to the Embargoes section) .

Reasons to request an embargo might include the author is pursuing a patent for the work; the research sponsor requires a specified 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. Academic departmental policy may govern the use and duration of embargoes and students should consult their department for this information.

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Submit and publish your thesis.

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Thesis Embargo

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The preservation and public dissemination of original dissertation research is a principle to which the University, as a publicly funded institute of higher education, is strongly committed. Unrestricted release of theses means permanent worldwide access through the Internet. Students retain copyright on the thesis as the thesis author. However, in exceptional cases, the author, in consultation with the thesis supervisor and with the approval of the chair of the graduate unit, shall have the right to postpone distribution and publication for a period up to two years from the date of acceptance of the thesis. Discuss placing an embargo on your thesis with your supervisor.

When you choose to embargo your thesis, you must still submit the thesis. On the ProQuest website, there is an option to choose an embargo of six months, one year or two years. The Chair of your graduate unit must also sign a form, which you will submit to the Program Completion offices at the SGS. Your thesis will be virtually held until the date of release.

Students must agree to the ProQuest and University agreements when submitting their theses, providing ProQuest and the university with a non-exclusive licence to publish your thesis on ProQuest and in TSpace, the universitys repository.

►►The SGS form to  restrict thesis release date  - needs to be dated and signed by your graduate unit chair.

For further  submission instructions  see the  Electronic Thesis Submission section of the SGS website .

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Thesis / dissertation formatting manual (2024).

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UC Open Access Policy

The UC Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertations requires that all doctoral dissertations and master's theses be made available for public access.

Electronic copies of all UCI theses and dissertations submitted to the ETD system will be routed to the UCI Libraries shortly after the formatting of your manuscript has been accepted. The Libraries will preserve and make accessible to the public all theses and dissertations submitted electronically, in accordance with the Libraries policies and best practices. This includes publishing theses and dissertations online through the University of California’s open access repository eScholarship. 

Providing such access increases the availability and dissemination of your work at no charge to you, a benefit ProQuest will provide only for a fee. If you do not wish for your work to be published immediately in eScholarship, you may request an embargo (see below).

All students who submit an ETD must complete and sign the “Open Access” agreement form, which can be found as part of the Ph.D. Form II/Signature Page and Master’s Thesis signature page listed Consent and Release. This is part of the final paperwork packet submitted via Docusign to the Graduate Division.

Embargoes: Delaying the Release of your Manuscript

If you plan to publish your work elsewhere, you can request that ProQuest or the UCI Libraries withhold your manuscript for a period of 6 months or 1-6 years. This is requesting an embargo, and it means that your manuscript will not be published online through eScholarship or ProQuest in their databases until after the embargo period concludes.

Upon extraordinary circumstances (such as high legal or safety risk to the graduate student), an extended embargo may be granted for as long as such extraordinary circumstances exist pursuant to Section IV of the  UC Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertations . To do so, the student must submit a memo explaining the request via email attachment to the Graduate Dean at [email protected], including "Extended Embargo Request" in the subject line.

You can request an embargo in Proquest under PQ Publishing Options

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Theses: Embargoes and making your thesis open

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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. 

We have also made a video guide entitled When to consider an embargo of your thesis held in this LibGude.   The list of eligible reasons for an embargo is also contained on the Thesis Deposit Form.

There could be certain circumstances in which a bespoke embargo could be required, in instance like this please contact Rebecca Clarke, 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  Thesis Deposit Form .

Please upload the  Thesis 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  Thesis Deposit Form . 

If you wish to discuss your embargo options, please contact Rebecca Clarke, 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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Answered By: Repository, digital pub, open scholarship, embargo *SCDPS Last Updated: Jun 02, 2023     Views: 6628

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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Guide to CaltechTHESIS

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Caltech Thesis Embargo Policy

Timeline questions and answers, embargo forms and types, length of an embargo, good reasons to embargo a thesis, *important* information expected by the thesis embargo review committee, "partial embargos" or how to embargo thesis chapters, embargo request is denied - next steps, who is on the thesis embargo review committee, text of caltech thesis embargo policy.

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Author Services and Thesis Librarian

Library Staff

• Caltech Thesis Dissemination Policy The Policy describes the parameters under which thesis files may or may not be restricted to campus or fully embargoed. Please read it thoroughly to understand your options and limitations. Do note that even if the file(s) is/are restricted, the CaltechTHESIS record will be released to public access. The latest updated Thesis Dissemination Policy on Embargoes was approved by the Faculty on 6 December 2021. Scroll down to see the Full Text of Caltech Thesis Embargo Policy
• You should submit your request roughly at the same time, and preferably slightly earlier, as you deposit the final version of your thesis, after your defense.
• It usually takes a while to get a decision from the Thesis Embargo Review Committee, and we always honor the request until the decision has been made, regardless.
• Accept the decision and the Library will step down the thesis access to the lowest level of embargo if possible until the end of the embargo period. Any further extension requests will not be approved.
• Decide to appeal the decision. During the appeal process, we will continue to honor the embargo request. If the appeal is denied, the Library will step down the thesis access to the lowest level of embargo if possible until the end of the embargo period. Any further extension requests will not be approved.

Embargo Forms

Any Caltech student depositing a dissertation or thesis into CaltechTHESIS may use this form to make it easier to track their embargo request. The restrictions outlined in the  Caltech Doctoral Thesis Dissemination Policy apply exclusively to Caltech doctoral students - the stated reasons for wanting an embargo should fall within the Thesis Dissemination Policy's accepted parameters.

Carefully consider your reasons for wanting an embargo. Students and their advisors should have a discussion and mutually agree on its need before submitting an embargo request:   Good Reasons to Embargo a Thesis . 

• Request for Thesis Restriction to Campus-Only Access .  Use this form if you need to restrict thesis files to campus-access only for 6 months .  Readers logged into the Caltech IP range will have access to the files. First-time requests are automatically granted, but extension requests are sent to the Thesis Embargo Review Committee for approval.
• Request for Thesis Full Embargo . Use this form if you need to fully restrict access to your thesis files, even from campus.  All fully embargoed files are completely hidden from everyone except database administrators. Full embargo request are sent to the Thesis Embargo Review Committee for approval.
• Request for Thesis Partial Embargo . Use this form if you need to partially restrict access to your thesis files, even from campus. You must upload a redacted PDF copy of your thesis that can exclude the portions that you wish to embargo.  The redacted copy will become publicly available, and will be swapped with the full thesis once the embargo period has expired.   Any fully embargoed files are completely hidden from everyone except database administrators. Partial embargo requests are sent to the Thesis Embargo Review Committee for approval.
• Request for Thesis Embargo Extension . Use this form if you need to extend the current 6-month embargo for another 6 months, even if you are requesting a step-down from the current embargo status. Submit the extension request about 1 month before the expiration of the current embargo. Extension requests are sent to the Thesis Embargo Review Committee for approval.
• Appeal of Denial of Thesis Embargo Request . **Submit the Appeal within 1-2 weeks of the notification that the Embargo Request was denied.** Use this form if your embargo request has been denied and you wish to appeal the decision. You should include more detailed and complete information in the Appeal, which will be reviewed by the Thesis Embargo Review Committee.

The Library will honor your embargo request while awaiting the decision of the Thesis Embargo Review Committee, as well as the resolution of any appeals.

Detailed Reasons Required

Please provide detailed information in your Reasons for any embargo requests in order to speed up the processing of your request. The Thesis Embargo Review Committee requires much more detailed information to make an informed decision, and missing information will cause unnecessary delays. Here is the kind information that the Committee is generally looking for:  *Important* Information Expected by the Thesis Embargo Review Committee

Different Embargo Types

• Public : No embargo.  File is available worldwide as soon as CaltechTHESIS record is fully released.
• Restricted to Campus Access Only : Only readers logged into the Caltech IP range will have access to the thesis file(s)' contents.
• Partial Embargo: You may request an embargo for only certain portions of your thesis , rather than the full thesis.  You must upload a redacted PDF copy of your thesis in addition to the full thesis. Add pertinent information to the relevant embargo form.
• Full Embargo : Thesis files are completely hidden and unavailable to either the public or the Caltech community.
• A thesis may be embargoed for a maximum of two years with extension requests made every six months.  That is equivalent to the first six months plus three more 6-month extensions).
• In rare circumstances, particular chapters may be embargoed for more than two years, but no more than five years with an annual review after the first two years.
• If you anticipate needing to extend your accepted embargo, we highly recommend that you upload both a full thesis file as well as separate chapter files, into your CaltechTHESIS record.  This will make it easier to release portions of the thesis that no longer need to be embargoed during the extension period.
• If your thesis files were fully embargoed, you and your advisor(s) will receive an email notification approximately one month before your thesis' access is scheduled to become unrestricted.

The requestor must certify in the Embargo Request that both the student and the advisor(s) have discussed and mutually agree on the need for the embargo.

Pending Patents or License Agreements:

• You should already be in contact with OTTCP if you have any potentially patentable or licensable subject matter included in your thesis
• Either the full thesis and/or a particular chapter of the thesis can be fully embargoed.
• Your patent application or licensing agreement may be far enough along in the process to obviate the need for any access restrictions for your thesis. Double-check with OTTCP on the status

Ongoing Research or Fear of "Being Scooped":

• In exceptional cases, a full embargo may be considered when ongoing research in the thesis advisor's group would be severely affected by open access of the thesis.

Submitted Publications:

• Publishers are currently highly unlikely to require that a thesis chapter be restricted or embargoed either before or after publication in a journal.
• Publishers Thesis Policies Libguide . The overwhelming majority of publishers no longer require submitted papers to be embargoed. Many also treat CaltechTHESIS as the equivalent to many of the preprint servers now available, such as ArXiv.
• Sherpa Romeo . Sherpa Romeo is an online resource that provides summaries on embargo policies by publication status for individual articles on a journal-by-journal basis.

In all cases, add the need information to the Rationale  section of your embargo request form.

Publications:

• Provide a plan for publication. Include specific journal titles to which you are submitting the paper(s), what their submission embargo policies are, and the length of time you think you will need.
• Indicate if the journal is considered a high-profile journal in your field.
• Provide a list of tasks that need to be completed before the paper(s) can be published.
• Provide a projected timeline for bringing the embargo to an end.
• Include identifying patent or licensing agreement information provided to you by OTTCP.

Ongoing Research:

• A detailed explanation of why the research should be embargoed.
• A projected timeline for bringing the embargo to an end.
• Thesis advisor must document which current members in the research group would be affected, and how.

Embargo Extensions

• The requestor must provide a detailed background of the circumstances, and specific plans for moving forward.
• The thesis advisor must document which current members in the research group would be affected, and how.

Yes! You may embargo either your full thesis file, and/or separate thesis chapter files.

• If you are interested in restricting access to your thesis, ask yourself if you only need to embargo certain portions of your thesis. You may not need to embargo the whole thesis.
• The redacted thesis file can have the relevant material omitted.  On the page in the thesis where the omitted content would normally be, insert a blank page and add a statement to the reader saying something like "[This chapter is temporarily embargoed.]" or "[Intentionally redacted.]". Leave the Table of Contents as is, with the redacted sections still listed.
• Embargo levels for attached files in a CaltechTHESIS record do not need to match: each file can be either public, restricted to campus, or fully embargoed. For example, ch.1 could be publicly available, ch.2-3 could be restricted to campus, and ch.4 could be fully embargoed.
• The full thesis file's embargo status will always match that of the most restrictive embargo status of any of the other chapter files at any given time over the lifetime of the embargo.
• The full thesis will not become publicly available until the last of the restricted chapter files have been publicly released.

Notify the Thesis Embargo Review Committee of your Intentions:

• If a partial embargo will do, upload both your full thesis file AND a redacted thesis file.
• Be sure to tell the Thesis Embargo Review Committee of your interest in a partial embargo in the Reasons section of your  Embargo Form . You'll want include why and which portions of the thesis you want to be embargoed.
• The Thesis Embargo Review Committee does tend to look more favorably on partial embargos, especially when you are asking for an extension.
• If your embargo request is denied by the Embargo Review Committee, you may appeal the decision.  You must send your appeal request in writing, and it will be forwarded to the Committee for consideration.  It is highly recommended that any new and additional information that could boost your case be provided in the Reasons field.
•  If your initial full embargo request is not approved and an appeal has not been submitted, your thesis file(s)’ access status will be changed to Restricted to Campus-Only for the same 6-months length of time.  You and your advisor(s) will be notified of the change.
• If your request for an embargo extension is not approved and an appeal has not been submitted, your thesis' embargo status will be moved down to the next level, whichever is appropriate: from Full Embargo to Campus-Access-Only, or from Campus-Access-Only to Public Access. You and your advisor(s) will be notified of the change.
• If an appeal has been submitted, the thesis' current embargo status will remain unchanged while the appeal is under review.  You will be notified when the decision has been made by the Embargo Review Committee.
•  Both the student and the advisor must agree on the need for the appeal.

The Thesis Embargo Review Committee includes the University Librarian, the director of the Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships (OTTCP) as needed, the student's Division Chair, the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Vice-Provost.  Unanimous approval from the Committee is needed for requests for a full embargo, an extension of a current embargo, or an appeal of a denied request.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Doctoral Thesis Dissemination Policy David Chan, Dean of Graduate Studies Kaushik Bhattacharya, Vice Provost Update effective on December 6, 2021*

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy is conferred by the Institute primarily in recognition of breadth of scholarship, depth of research, and the power to investigate problems independently and efficiently. The work for the degree must consist of systematic studies of an advanced character, of research, and the preparation of a thesis describing these. A thesis is to be a substantial new contribution to the field that would be released into the stream of scholarship.

Dissemination of the thesis

1. The dissemination of a thesis is guided by the Caltech open access policy that states, "The Faculty of the California Institute of Technology is committed to disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible."

2. Standard practice is to make a thesis openly available through CaltechTHESIS upon submission.

3. Graduate students and their advisors (either can make the request but both must agree) may request that either the entire thesis or a particular chapter of the thesis be embargoed for a period up to six months, during which time access will be limited to campus, in order to pursue publications and/or patents. The request must be made to the library in writing and must be approved by the University Librarian. The metadata associated with every thesis will be available worldwide upon submission. The embargo automatically expires after six months.

4. Exceptions, i.e., extending the embargo to include the campus or beyond six months, must be requested in writing. Either the graduate student or advisor can request, but the requesting party is expected to get the consent of the other, unless contact information is unknown. The request should provide a detailed background of the circumstances, specific plans for moving forward and a target date when the embargo can be lifted. The exception will require the consent of the University Librarian, the Division Chair, the Vice Provost, and the Dean of Graduate Studies. Examples of situations where an extension of the embargo may be granted:

• (i) Portions of the thesis are included in a publication under review in a journal whose policy explicitly requires embargo. The written request must include documentation, and an additional six-month extension of the embargo may be granted.
• (ii) A patent application or licensing agreement is under negotiation and the Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnership advises continued embargo. The written request must include documentation, and an additional six-month extension of the embargo may be granted.
• (iii) In exceptional cases, an extension may be considered when ongoing research in the thesis advisor’s group would be severely affected by open access of the thesis. In such cases, the thesis advisor must document which members in the research group would be affected, and how.

5. The total period of the embargo is limited as follows:

• a. A thesis may be embargoed for a maximum of two years with the request made every six months
• b. In rare circumstances, particular chapters may be embargoed for more than two years, but no more than five years with an annual review after the first two years.

6. If the embargo extends to the campus, then a copy is made available on request to the Dean of Graduate Studies who can then make the copy available to others at his or her discretion.

*This document replaces the previous policy that was in effect since 1 March 2017

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Submitting your thesis to ORA: Embargo

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This page explains the embargoes that depositors can place on their thesis files when they submit to ORA.

On deposit you have a choice of selecting immediate release for your thesis via ORA, or a choice of a 1 year or 3 year embargo period (starting from the date you were granted leave to supplicate), enabling you to pursue publishing all or part of your research as a printed monograph or journal article(s) should you wish. If you want to extend the embargo on all or parts of your thesis beyond a 3 year period you will need to apply for dispensation from consultation. You may change access to your thesis to open access at any time during the embargo period, but may wish to consult with your supervisor before doing this.

If you are in receipt of funding the length of the embargo to be applied may be determined by the terms of your funding grant. If your are in receipt of RCUK funding please see the Funder/sponsor requirements section of this LibGuide.

ORA staff will send confirmation of which embargo period you have selected and the date that this embargo period expires to you upon creation of your thesis record page in ORA. 

Your thesis will be made available at the end of the applied embargo period unless you have opted for immediate Open Access or been granted dispensation from consultation. 

Dispensation from consultation

• Guidance on dispensation Dispensation from consultation offers you the means to a) extend the embargo applied to your work b) embargo specific content in your thesis from public release. more... less... If the embargo period does not meet the needs of restriction on consultation of your thesis, dispensation should be applied for.

Oxford Research Archive (ORA)

ORA (Oxford University Research Archive)   is the institutional repository for the University of Oxford and is home to the scholarly output of its research members. 

Contact us at:  [email protected] , or via our contact form .

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Embargo — withholding a thesis

In keeping with worldwide academic practice, the University of Waikato endorses the principle that research theses are, by their very nature, available for public inspection. In so doing, it helps to ensure that intellectual developments can be appraised, used, and built upon by all interested parties. It is usually possible to write a thesis that can be made public based on research and data that may be confidential. Candidates and their supervisors should design their research to that end.

However, the University also recognises that in unusual situations, theses contain material that, for commercial or security reasons, should be withheld from the public for a period after the thesis has been completed.

The withholding of a thesis is an injunction against the release of the thesis for public consultation in the University Library and Research Commons which is an open access digital repository.

The request to withhold a thesis may be submitted by the student (with endorsement from the Chief Supervisor) or the Chief Supervisor. The request must clearly demonstrate that the thesis contains material of such a confidential or sensitive nature that its release to the public would do one of the following:

• breach prior contractual arrangements with, or seriously damage the interests of outside organisations connected with the candidate's research, or
• endanger the confidentiality of material that might be the subject of an application for a patent, licence or registration by the candidate, the University, or other interested parties, or
• contravene legislation or threaten national security.

Approval will not normally be granted for any other reasons. Material that the candidate would not wish to be available to the public on grounds other than those above should not be included in thesis.

Application to withhold a thesis

Once the need to withhold a thesis has been identified the appropriate university staff at the School of Graduate Research and/or  Research & Enterprise Office should be contacted so that all options can be explored to minimise the extent of the restrictions on the thesis.

Candidates who wish to apply for an embargo should complete the Embargo Application form . All applications are forwarded by the School of Graduate Research to the Research & Enterprise Office for approval.

An application for withholding a thesis should normally be made when the candidate applies for registration as a higher degree student of the University. If a candidate is receiving support from a commercial or governmental establishment for whom he/she is carrying out the thesis research, then it will usually be clear at the time of registration that conditions (a) or (b) for an embargo are likely to be fulfilled when the thesis is completed.

However, there are circumstances when the confidential/sensitive nature of the thesis research does not become clear until that research is near completion. For that reason, requests for an embargo may be made up to the time of submission of the thesis for examination. Applications will not normally be accepted after the thesis has been submitted.

Length of withholding period

The normal maximum period that a thesis is withheld is two years from the date on which the hardbound thesis has been submitted for final acceptance and confirmation of the student's grade.

A one-year extension to this limit will be granted only in the most exceptional circumstances, and where the lack of an extension would cause significant hardship to the author.

Related documents

To apply for an embargo, or restriction of access to your thesis, please complete the Embargo Application form , and return to Research & Enterprise Office.

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Dissertations and Theses

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Dissertation Research Librarian

A Note about Databases and Embargoes

Dissertations go into two databases: the ProQuest Digital Dissertations and Theses database and CUNY's open access institutional repository, CUNY Academic Works . Master's theses and all capstone projects are deposited only in CUNY Academic Works.

You can embargo (temporarily block public online access) to your dissertation, capstone project, or thesis in neither , either , or both databases — it’s up to you. If you embargo in both databases, you can select the same embargo length for both or choose different embargo lengths. For both databases, your initial embargo options are:

• six-month embargo
• one-year embargo
• two-year embargo

Limitations of Embargoes: Public access to a dissertation/thesis is a condition of the degree.  Embargoed dissertations and theses are not completely invisible or inaccessible.  

• Print copies: Print copies (if applicable) of embargoed works are available in the Graduate Center Library. (Note: The library stopped collecting print dissertations in 2016.)
• Microfilm copies:  Microfilm copies (if applicable) of embargoed works are also available in the library and may be lent through interlibrary loan. (Note: The library stopped collecting microfilm dissertations in 2014.)
• Electronic copies: Electronic copies of embargoed works remain accessible to individual researchers through interlibrary loan and to members of the Graduate Center community.
• Metadata:  Author, title, abstracts, and metadata are available even if an author chooses to embargo.

Changing Your Embargo

If you want to change your embargo settings after you've deposited or graduated, you must contact ProQuest and the Graduate Center Library separately.

• ProQuest: Contact ProQuest’s Author and School Relations group at  [email protected]  or 1-800-521-0600 x77020 to change your embargo settings at no cost. Provide your name, your dissertation/thesis title, your school, and, if possible, the publication number assigned by ProQuest to your dissertation/thesis. (You should have received this by email.)  
• Graduate Center Library: Email [email protected]  to change your embargo settings in  CUNY Academic Works , CUNY's institutional repository. Again, your options are no embargo, a six-month embargo, a one-year embargo, or a two-year embargo. As your embargo nears expiration, you can contact the library again to extend your embargo, if you wish. Options for renewal are the same as the initial embargo options: six-month renewal, one-year renewal, or two-year renewal.

To Embargo or Not to Embargo?

Open Access and the Graduate Author: A Dissertation Anxiety Manual by Jill Cirasella and Polly Thistlethwaite. This chapter was originally published in: Smith, K. L., & Dickson, K. A. (Eds.). (2017). Open access and the future of scholarly communication: Implementation . Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Hear and read  some key thoughts from the GC event “Share It Now or Save It For Later: Making Choices about Dissertations and Publishing,” featuring the MLA's Director of Scholarly Communications, two university press editors, and two recent alumni.

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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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In this section

• Graduate Program-Specific Contacts
• Doctoral Dissertation Guidelines and Procedures
• Dissertation Release and Embargo Procedures
• Guide to Enrolling in Master's Thesis

Thesis Release and Embargo Procedures

• Graduate Studies Forms
• Three Minute Thesis Competition
• Graduate Student Appreciation Week

Release and Embargo Options

The thesis is submitted as public evidence of your scholarly research and accomplishment. It has always been the university's expectation that every master’s thesis and abstract will be released upon conferral of the degree. Only in specific circumstances may release of a thesis be deferred, and then only for a limited period of time. 

Master’s theses and abstracts are normally made publicly available upon degree conferral when they are deposited electronically in Deep Blue. If a student wishes to postpone public release of the final thesis, also called an embargo, the student should discuss this option with his or her faculty advisor. The student is responsible for requesting an embargo of the thesis.

A student may independently choose among several levels of embargo for the copy of the thesis that is deposited electronically with ProQuest.

Embargo requests must be submitted before the final thesis submission deadline with which the student is working.  

Two embargo options are available:

University of Michigan Only Access

A student may choose to restrict access to the thesis to members of the University of Michigan community (those with a uniqname and a Kerberos password) for up to one year from the date of degree conferral. The title and abstract will be displayed in online listings of the University of Michigan Library, but the content of the thesis will not be available to view or to download.

Thesis Embargo Limited Access Request Form

Full Restriction

A student may seek permission from the Graduate Studies Office for an embargo that restricts all access to the thesis for up to one year from the date of degree conferral. Permission will be granted only when:

• The student (or his or her collaborators) is applying for a patent on research contained in the thesis and does not wish to make the contents public until the patent application has been filed;  or
• The thesis includes information that is covered for a limited period of time by a confidentiality agreement or contains third-party proprietary information.  

Theses that are fully restricted are not included in the online listings of the University of Michigan Library and the title and abstract are not available to the public or the university community. A full restriction cannot be extended beyond one year. Unless the graduate requests and is granted permission for an additional year of University of Michigan only access, the thesis will be fully released.

Thesis Embargo Full Restriction Request Form

Restriction Renewal Request

At the end of the one year University of Michigan only or full restriction embargo period, graduates may ask the Office of Graduate Studies to postpone full public release for an additional year at the University of Michigan only access level. Full restriction cannot be renewed. Permission from the Office of Graduate Studies is required to renew an embargo.

Permission will be given only for specific reasons, such as the graduate’s intention to publish work from the thesis in a journal or book with a publisher that restricts consideration of manuscripts derived from theses that have been made available online. (Please note that most publishers do not have restrictive pre-publication policies.) It is the graduate’s responsibility to request a renewal of the University of Michigan only thesis embargo. Permission is not guaranteed. Graduates may ask for up to two annual renewals, for a total of three years of University of Michigan only access (or one year full restriction renewed into two years University of Michigan only access).

Thesis Embargo Restriction Renewal Request Form

Related Resources

Office of graduate studies.

• Graduate Catalog
• Mardigian Library
• Academic Calendar

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• Preparing your thesis

Requesting an embargo

Requesting an embargo on a phd thesis.

In some cases it may be necessary to delay the release of a thesis to the public by applying for an embargo.

If you decide that your thesis should have an embargo, discuss this with your supervisor and select the required option in the Thesis Declaration tile within your Thesis Submission milestone in Postgradulate Research Milestones .

Reasons for requesting an embargo include:‌

• You plan to publish your thesis
• To avoid invalidating a potential patent application, see Intellectual Property policy.
• It contains commercially sensitive research or research with confidentiality obligations
• It contains information collected under the promise of confidentiality and anonymity e.g. patient information
• It shows evidence of animal experimentation and release to the public would pose a significant risk to the researchers involved or to Imperial staff and students
• It contains information of significance for national security

For further information please contact the  Assessment Records team

Extending an embargo period

Requests for an extension of the original embargo period can be made to the Assessment Records . Please ensure that your request is made 6-8 weeks before the end of your embargo.

Extensions due to impending publication

The following information must be included with your request:

• Stage of publication process i.e. submitted, accepted, in proof, in press
• Journal name
• Evidence e.g. copy of e-mail or journal policy

Details can then be forwarded to Assessment Records team  or the  open access team for consideration.

Extensions due to a commercial or patent application

A statement from your supervisor or PI (Primary Investigator) must be included with your request.

Rapid take down policy

If you are asked to remove your thesis from Spiral, please refer the requestor to the rapid take down policy .

Freedom of Information Act

Theses can be requested under the ' Freedom of Information Act 2000', for exemptions see Freedom of Information.

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Thank you. payment completed., you will receive an email from us to confirm your registration, please click the link in the email to activate your account., there was error during payment, orcid profile found in public registry, download history, understanding the embargo period and dealing with it as an author and a reader.

• Charlesworth Author Services
• 18 May, 2022

An embargo in the context of academic publishing typically means a temporary stop or ban on disclosing information contained in a research paper . The embargo may affect authors or, after the publication of the research paper in question, may affect readers by preventing them from accessing it.

History of the embargo period

Before the Internet gave us widespread and instant access to information, embargo referred to a condition imposed on the mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio and TV channels, etc.) to stop them, for a specified (but usually short) period, from publishing some information given to them that was simultaneously under consideration for publication in a (usually peer-reviewed) academic journal.

The purpose of this injunction was in fact to facilitate speedy publication and dissemination of information once it was officially published in a journal that had accepted the paper for publication. After all, it was the journal that had worked on the initial submission in manuscript form by having it reviewed, revised as required, refined, and edited for style and language . The journal thus had every right to publish it first, before it was shared with the general public via mass media.

Evolution of the embargo period

Two developments changed the meaning of the term embargo, namely the Internet and the rise of open access (OA) publishing . The Internet made it possible for authors to disseminate their findings quickly, widely and cheaply, especially among their peers, usurping some of the functions of the journal. Authors began posting their articles as preprints , a practice that flourishes today. The journals responded, initially by declining to consider manuscripts if the contents had already been ‘published’ elsewhere in some form, and then by imposing some restrictions (embargoes) on subsequent publication through alternative channels.

Embargo period currently

At present, the most widely shared meaning of embargo is intentionally delayed access to papers published in journals to favour subscriber s (who have paid to access the contents and enjoy instant access immediately upon publication) over non-subscribers who may be offered access to the same publication after a fixed period, usually ranging from three months to two years , depending on the journal.

How to deal with embargo periods as an author

As an author, you may chafe at not being allowed to publicise your research as soon as it is published. However, in most cases, the embargo applies to the contents of your research paper, not to its facts of publication.

We recommend : Read the small print carefully to see what is allowed. 

Below are some options open to you as an author to promote your publications while they are embargoed.

Note : In each case, remember to send only the bibliographic details and the date the embargo ends — do not send the paper itself .

• Email cited researchers . Mail some of the researchers whom you have cited often in your paper. Not only will they be pleased to know that they have been cited, but they will also spread the word among their networks.
• Announce on social media . On social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn, post that your research paper is going to be published soon and offer to send copies as soon as it is possible to do so. (To learn about other ways to share your research on social media, read: How to effectively Share your research on Social Media )
• Inform your institution’s communications professionals . Talk to the office or person responsible for publicity and public relations in the institution in which you work and alert them about your forthcoming paper. If your paper is potentially of general interest, these professionals will help you to contact the media and prepare a press release, to be sent out as soon as the embargo period ends. (To learn about other ways to work with the media to communicate your research, read: Working with the Media to Disseminate your research )

How to deal with embargo periods as a reader

Typically, you will have read the abstract and, because the article looked promising, will be keen to read the full paper – only to find that it is embargoed. Here are some options open to you.

• Look for a paid library subscription. Since embargoes do not affect paid subscribers, see if any library that serves you has taken out a subscription to the journal in question and request them for a copy. If the library has not subscribed, explore the option of interlibrary loans .
• Try the Unpaywall browser extension. The access that the Unpaywall extension provides to browsers provides is fast, quick and legal.
• Email the corresponding author. Request the corresponding author of the paper for a copy for personal use.
• Wait. If all else fails, wait patiently for the embargo period to end!

There are two sides to the embargo coin. As a reader, you may be frustrated by embargoes. However, as an author, you may be a little more sympathetic to embargoes, now that you understand why publishers use them.

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File(s) under embargo

until file(s) become available

BROADBAND AND MULTI-SCALE ELECTROMAGNETIC SOLVER USING POTENTIAL-BASED FORMULATIONS WITH DISCRETE EXTERIOR CALCULUS AND ITS APPLICATIONS

A novel computational electromagnetic (CEM) solver using potential-based formulations and discrete exterior calculus (DEC) is proposed. The proposed solver consists of two parts: the DEC A-Phi solver and the DEC F-Psi solver. A and Phi are the magnetic vector potential and electric scalar potential of the electromagnetic (EM) field, respectively; F and Psi are the electric vector potential and magnetic scalar potential, respectively. The two solvers are dual to each other, and most research is carried out with respect to the DEC A-Phi solver.

Systematical approach for constructing the DEC A-Phi matrix equations is provided in this thesis, including the construction of incidence matrices, Hodge star operators and different boundary conditions. The DEC A-Phi solver is proved to be broadband stable from DC to optics, while classical CEM solvers suffer from stability issues at low frequencies (also known as the low-frequency breakdown). The proposed solver is ideal for broadband and multi-scale analysis, which is of great importance in modern industry.

To empower the proposed solver with the ability to solve industry problems with large number of unknowns, iterative solvers are preferred. The error-minimization mechanism buried in iterative solvers allows user to control the effect of numerical error accumulation to the solution vector. Proper preconditioners are almost always needed to accelerate the convergence of iterative solvers in large scale problems. In this thesis, preconditioning schemes for the proposed solver are studied.

In the DEC A-Phi solver, current sources can be applied easily, but it is difficult to implement voltage sources. To incorporate voltage sources in the potential-based solver, the DEC F-Psi solver is proposed. The DEC A-Phi and F- Psi solvers are dual formulations to each other, and the construction of the F-Psi solver can be generalized from the A-Phi solver straightforward.

Degree Type

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Electrical and Computer Engineering

Campus location

• West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Additional committee member 2, additional committee member 3, additional committee member 4, usage metrics.

• Engineering electromagnetics