Delay public access to your dissertation (thesis)

• Your thesis is protected by copyright and reuse of your work requires attribution. Commercial or derivative use is not permitted under a CC BY-NC-ND license without further permission.
• Public access to your thesis gives visibility to your research, making it easier for other researchers to find and cite your work, and for increasing readership outside of academia, for example with practitioners, industry partners, and government.
• Scholarly publishers do not normally consider a publicly available thesis in an institutional repository to be a ‘prior publication’, and you are still able to adapt your thesis for publication as an article(s), book chapter(s) or monograph.
• You will likely rework material from your thesis to be suitable for scholarly publication. But if a publisher uses anti-plagiarism software, this may initially flag the public version of your thesis. You should include in your cover letter an acknowledgment that your proposed publication contains material adapted or re-used (e.g. figures) from your thesis. It may be appropriate to include a brief description of how you’ve adapted the material for the proposed journal or publisher.

If you make minor redactions, you must deposit both the unredacted version and the redacted version in Pure. The redacted version will be made available without an deferral (embargo) and the unredacted version will not be made publicly available.

Minor redactions do not normally require University approval.

Minor redactions may be appropriate for:

• Personal data: Your student number, an individual’s name, signature or email address. These are always considered personal data. You must redact this data from your thesis.  
• Third-party copyrighted material: Your thesis may contain third party material which is subject to copyright (photographs, figures, film stills, etc.). If permission to reproduce the material in a public version has not been obtained and a quotation exception does not apply, it may be possible to simply redact such material.

See the content which cannot be published webpage for specific instructions on applying redactions. 

You should consider requesting a longer deferral or substantial redactions if:  

• Your thesis contains significant amounts of personal data or third-party copyrighted material which is so intrinsic to the thesis, or so widely dispersed within it, that it is impossible or unreasonable to remove or redact it.  
• Your thesis contains information that could prejudice the interests of an individual or whose disclosure would constitute an actionable breach of confidence (e.g. patient data). 

If you choose to apply a 12-month deferral, you must still deposit your thesis to Pure within 28 calendar days of being notified of your award or, if you have outstanding minor errors, within 28 calendar days of being notified that your corrections are satisfactory. The thesis will be made available after the expiry of the deferral.

A 12-month deferral does not require University approval.

A 12-month deferral may be appropriate for:

• Commercial interests or intellectual property protection: Your thesis may contain sensitive information that would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of an individual or organisation, or intellectual property (IP) that may be the subject of commercial exploitation (e.g. initial filing of a patent application). The University has an online commercialisation guidance for staff researchers, including information about IP protection. You may find this information useful.
• Contractual obligations: Your research may have been sponsored or conducted in collaboration with a partner(s) who requires restrictions on the public availability of your thesis. You should verify any contractual obligations and discuss whether a 12-month embargo would be suitable with your supervisor and/or the sponsor or collaborators.

Consider requesting a longer deferral or substantial redactions if:

• Your sponsor and/or collaborator(s) requires substantial redactions or a longer deferral (embargo). Approval by the University is required for a longer deferral or for substantial redactions, even where contractual obligations apply.
• The nature (type) of intellectual property (e.g. creative work) means substantial redactions or a longer deferral might be appropriate.

In exceptional circumstances, a longer deferral or substantial redactions may be necessary. You must still deposit your thesis to Pure within 28 calendar days of being notified of your award or, if you have outstanding minor errors, within 28 calendar days of being notified that your corrections are satisfactory. If deposit via a secure University Server has been approved, you will be directed on how to do this.

Approval by the University is required for a longer deferral and for substantial redactions, even where contractual obligations apply.

You should submit your request in good time, to ensure a decision can be made before the deposit deadline.

You will be asked to provide justification for the longer deferral and for substantial redactions and you may need to verify any contractual obligations (e.g. if the research was sponsored by a third party) or discuss what longer deferral or redactions are appropriate with your supervisor and/or the sponsor or collaborators.

A longer deferral or substantial redactions may be appropriate for: 

• Research security: Your thesis may contain material whose disclosure would be likely to adversely affect international relations, defence, or national security.
• Public and/or personal safety: Your thesis may contain material whose disclosure would be likely to adversely affect public safety or the personal safety of yourself and/or other individuals.

In some cases, a ‘closed’ deposit (indefinite embargo) may be necessary. Closed deposits are made in the Research Data Storage Facility (RDSF). If this is approved, you will receive specific instructions on how to complete the deposit to RDSF. 

Where significant redactions are approved, you must deposit the unredacted version and the redacted version. The redacted version will be made available immediately and the unredacted version will be made publicly available after the expiry of the permitted period. In the case of a ‘closed deposit’ of the unredacted version, it will not be made publicly available. 

Complete the Request to defer access to a research degree dissertation form (Office document, 79kB) to request a longer deferral or for substantial redactions. Include any relevant comments or evidence to support the request.

You may need to verify any contractual obligations (e.g. if the research was sponsored by a third party) or discuss appropriate deferral or redaction periods with your supervisor and/or the sponsor or collaborators in advance of completing the form.

Complete the Request to extend a deferral period form (Office document, 55kB) to request an extension to an existing deferral or redaction period. This may be to extend an initial 12-month deferral or to extend a previously approved period. Include any relevant comments or evidence to support the request. 

You may need to verify any contractual obligations (e.g. if the research was sponsored by a third party) or discuss appropriate deferral or redaction periods your supervisor and/or the sponsor or collaborators in advance of completing the form. 

You may request an extension if you are the: 

• (former) student
• main supervisor, or
• sponsor.

If your thesis is publicly available and circumstances change, you may request a longer deferral or substantial redactions, or an extension if a deferral or redaction had been previously in place. You must take immediate action in the interim until a decision is made.

1. Send a Takedown Request Email to Research Support (Library Services) at lib-research-support@bristol.ac.uk and PGR Exams at pgr-exams@bristol.ac.uk. Explain the circumstances and confirm you are aware this is an interim solution until a formal decision can be made. They will action the request promptly.
2. Complete the appropriate request form. You may need to discuss what deferral would be appropriate with your supervisor and/or the sponsor or collaborators in advance of completing the form. Request forms:

• • Request to defer access to a research degree dissertation form (Office document, 79kB)
  • Request to extend a deferral period form (Office document, 55kB)