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 the SSC. 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.