UBC Policy LR2 Research Policy states: "A core function of UBC is the pursuit and dissemination of discovery and knowledge through research and enquiry" and “1.1 This Policy applies to all UBC Persons who conduct, supervise or otherwise participate in Research”.
Because of this policy, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies must be informed about reasons for requests for delays in publication of dissertations and theses. If there is strong justification, the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies may agree to delay publication of a thesis/dissertation (known as an "embargo") for twelve months. Under special circumstances, and with substantive rationale, the delay in publication may be extended to a normal maximum of two years.
Note: If you want to request a delay in publication of your thesis, you must do this before you submit the final version of your thesis to cIRcle. See How to Request a Delay in Publication for instructions.
You may request that publication be delayed if any of the following circumstances applies:
- Time is required for completion and submission of a significant manuscript or patent application for a device or idea that might emerge from the thesis research.
- The thesis describes something of considerable monetary potential which could, if you were given an opportunity to develop it, benefit you or the University.
- Funding for the research was provided by a commercial company which has requested a delay in publication.
- The thesis deals with a potentially dangerous product or process, or potential cure for a disease, for which you need more testing time before public release of the information.
The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will approve the request only when there is a full and convincing justification for delaying publication of the thesis in the Library’s online repository.
If an embargo is approved, ALL files will be embargoed. An embargo cannot apply only to specific files in your dissertation submission.
Requesting an Extension to an Embargo
On the day that the embargo expires, your thesis will be automatically released and will be available online. If you wish an extension to the embargo period, it is your responsibility to contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than two months before the release date. You may not receive a reminder, so please be sure to note the release date of your thesis.
Please use the form "Request to Extend Delay in Publication (Embargo) of a Thesis/Dissertation" in order to request an extension. You must attach a document to the form that provides justification for requesting an extension. Please be very specific: for example, if you are requesting additional time to submit to journals, please list the journals you plan to submit to and what parts of the thesis you are planning to submit.
NOTE: Embargoes are normally extended in six-month increments, with a maximum of one year of extension at a time. As long as you can demonstrate that publication is still a viable option, or that the conditions that necessitated the embargo still exist, further extensions are possible. You must contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies annually to request a further extension and provide justification.
Please send the form and attached document to graduate.thesis@ubc.ca, or submit it to the Grad Studies office.
Submitting Parts or Revisions of your Thesis to Journals
If you plan to submit a revised version of your thesis (or a part of the thesis) to a journal and are concerned that putting your thesis online will damage your chances of publication:
- Please check the journal's policies before requesting a delay in publication.
- There is often a statement on a journal's website or in their author’s agreement describing their publication terms.
- If the journal will not publish material that is already available online, please print out this information and attach it to the Request for Delay in Publication of Thesis form.
Planning to submit chapters of your thesis for journal publication is not, by itself, grounds for delaying publication, unless you can show that the journal will not consider material that has been published in a thesis.
How to Request a Delay in Publication
UBC theses and dissertations are normally published electronically through cIRcle one or two days after final submission. Any request to delay publication must be well-justified and made before you submit your thesis to cIRcle. However, please do not make the request until you have defended your thesis and are preparing for final submission.
Please use the Request for Delay in Publication of Thesis/Dissertation form available on this website and submit the form to Graduate Studies. This form must be signed by the following people:
- Student
- Student's Supervisor
- Graduate Advisor/Department Head
Please submit the request form and wait for approval prior to submitting your thesis online. If the request is approved you and your supervisor will be notified by email that publication of your thesis will be delayed.
When your embargo has been approved and you submit your thesis to the Library’s online repository, cIRcle, please do the following:
- Type "EMBARGO" in front of your thesis title when you type the title into cIRcle. This will alert reviewers to your request for publication delay. The "EMBARGO" will be removed from the title when the thesis is approved. Do not put "EMBARGO" on the title page of your thesis.
- Enter your full abstract in the "Abstract" field in cIRcle. Abstracts for embargoed theses are now automatically hidden from public view. Instead, the following boilerplate abstract text appears in the abstract record: “The full abstract for this thesis is available in the body of the thesis, and will be available when the embargo expires.”
- On the page where you upload your thesis file, go to "File Availability".
- Choose "Embargo" and enter the date when your thesis will become publicly available.
Note: Unless you have submitted the Request for Delay in Publication of Thesis/Dissertation form and your request has been approved, your embargo date will be removed.
When your thesis is accepted, the title and boilerplate abstract text will appear in cIRcle, but the thesis itself and the actual abstract will not be available to anyone.
During the embargo period, if someone wants to view the thesis, they can request access through cIRcle. The request will go to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and will be relayed to you using the email address you have in Workday. You can then grant temporary access to your thesis or not, as you choose.
On the day that the embargo expires, your thesis will be automatically released and will be available online. If you wish an extension to the embargo period, it is your responsibility to contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than two months before the release date. You will not receive a reminder, so please be sure to note the release date of your thesis.