Spanish national regulations of doctoral studies (Royal Decree 99/2011, 28 January), establishes that the defence of the thesis must be held in a public session, and also that once the thesis is defended, it must be published in open access in the university’s institutional repository (Article 14 points 4 and 5).
In our university, theses are published in open access through RIUNET, the institutional repository managed by the Library.
On the other hand, the same regulation also establishes that exceptional situations must be considered in cases such as the existence of confidentiality agreements with companies or the possibility of generating patents (Article 14 point 6).
At the UPV, we consider three cases:
1. The existence of confidentiality agreements with companies/institutions that requires that part of the thesis is NOT published in open access (NON-DISCLOSURE)
When should the NON-DISCLOSURE of sensitive content be requested?
At the time of submitting version 1 of the thesis, this situation must be confirmed, providing the appropriate evidence (e.g. a letter from the company/institution confirming the existence of this agreement together with the approval of the participants in the thesis).
If the confidentiality agreement has an expiration date, it should be indicated. Otherwise, it is assumed that there is none.
How to submit the request:
From the Thesis Management platform, menu “Evaluation phase // Version 1 thesis”.
What effects does it have?
The application is studied and resolved by the Standing Committee of the Doctoral School, which may request a report from the corresponding Academic Committee of the corresponding program.
If this request is approved, the following mechanisms will be enabled:
- The external reviewers who review the thesis and the members of the examining board who participate in the defense must accept the NON-DISCLOSURE of the information they receive about the respective versions 1 and 2 of the thesis in question. Both versions 1 and 2 will be complete versions of the thesis.
- After the deposit, and during the period of public exhibition, in the event that consultation of the thesis is requested, it will be ensured that the doctors who consult the thesis also accept the NON-DISCLOSURE of the information consulted.
- Part of the defense will be authorized to be conducted behind closed doors.
- After the defense, the student will be asked to submit a version 3 of the dissertation, in which the information requiring protection will be eliminated. This version will be the version to be published through the institutional repository, until the collected end date.
After the expiration date, the protected thesis document will be replaced by the last full version uploaded to the Thesis Management platform.
2. A patent application procedure related to the content of the thesis has been initiated which requires a temporary EMBARGO on the publication of the thesis.
When should the EMBARGO be requested?
At the time of uploading version 2 of the thesis (after external evaluation), an embargo for a period of 6 or 12 months may be requested.
From where is it requested?
From the Thesis Management platform, menu “Evaluation phase // Version 2 thesis / Report on changes”.
What are its effects?
The request will be studied and resolved by the Academic Committee of the program.
If the request is approved, open access to the thesis from the institutional repository is restricted for the requested period (temporary EMBARGO).
Upon completion of the embargo, the thesis will be automatically published in full.
In cases where the situation that has motivated the embargo is expected to extend beyond the approved period, the thesis supervisor(s) may request an extension of the embargo before its completion by contacting the Doctoral School. This must be done before the end of the period.
3. There are contributions derived from the thesis that are pending publication (articles, books, etc…) that require a temporary EMBARGO of the thesis publication.
When should the EMBARGO be requested?
At the time of uploading version 2 of the thesis (after external evaluation), an embargo may be requested for a period of 6 or 12 months.
From where is it requested?
From the Thesis Management platform, menu “Evaluation phase // Version 2 thesis / Report on changes”.
What are its effects?
The request will be studied and resolved by the Academic Committee of the program.
If the request is approved, open access to the thesis from the institutional repository is restricted for the requested period (temporary EMBARGO).
Upon completion of the embargo, the thesis will be automatically published in full.
In cases where the situation that has motivated the embargo is expected to extend beyond the approved period, the thesis directors may request an extension of the embargo before its completion by contacting the Doctoral School. This must be done before the end of the period.