Intellectual Property Issues and ETDs
One of the goals of the NDLTD is to help student authors and universities navigate legal and technological challenges related to the production of intellectual property in the form ETDs. Among these challenges are ongoing debates within academia about copyright and open access to scholarship. To aid research on these topics, links to a variety of resources are gathered on the Copyright and Open Access pages of the NDLTD website. Gathered below are a few General Resources about Intellectual Property and Academia, specific resources about the topics of ETDs and Future Publication and Using Copyrighted Materials in an ETD, and a small sampling of University Statements on ETDs that Include Tips on Publishing and Intellectual Property Issues.
General Resources about Intellectual Property and Academia
ETDs and Future Publication
Many authors of ETDs are concerned about whether “publication” of a thesis or dissertation as an ETD will hamper the acceptance of their work by a traditional publisher. The NDLTD supports open access, but viewpoints differ regarding whether this hinders prospects for publication. Below you will find a selection of websites, presentations, and articles on the topic. You will find additional resources in the NDLTD Document Archive and the ETD Bibilography. You may also find it helpful to search the archives of the NDLTD email list, where NDLTD members and non-members share information.
General interest materials
- NDLTD’s summary of publishers’ policies regarding acceptance of materials from an ETD. (link to come)
- SHERPA’s RoMEO service, which summarizes publishers' copyright and self-archiving policies
Articles and Presentations
- Foster, Andrea L. "Readers Not Wanted: Student Writers Fight to Keep Their Work Off the Web," Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 May, 2008.
- Suber, Peter. ""Open access to electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs)," SPARC Open Access Newsletter, July 2, 2006.
- Seamans, Nancy H. "Electronic Theses and Dissertations as Prior Publications: What the Editors Say." Library Hi Tech 21, no. 1 (2003): 56-61.
- Douglas, Kimberly. "To Restrict or Not to Restrict Access: The PhD Candidate's Intellectual Property Dilemma." (ETD 2003) Available via NDLTD Document Archive
- McMillan, Gail. "Do ETDs Deter Publishers?" (ETD 2001)
- Dalton, Joan Theresa. "Electronic Theses and Dissertations: A Survey of Editors and Publishers." (ETD 2000) Available via NDLTD Document Archive
- Garfield, Eugene. "Is Acknowledged Self-Archiving Prior Publication?" (ETD 2000) Available via NDLTD Document Archive
Using Copyrighted Materials in an ETD
Another common problem for authors is how to use copyrighted materials—including recordings, film, and photographs—within an ETD. A few sources of advice are:
- The British Academy’s Guidelines on Copyright and Academic Research, part of a larger report for researchers and publishers in the humanities and social sciences.
- Including Previously Copyrighted Materials in Your ETD (Emory University)
- Using Copyrighted Material (University of Michigan)
- U.S. Copyright Office: Fair Use
University Statements on ETDs that Include Tips on Publishing and Intellectual Property Issues
- ETD Publishing Concerns (Duke University)
- ETD FAQ (University of Pittsburgh)
- Publisher Issues (George Washington University)
- Publishing Your Thesis or Dissertation (University of Alabama at Birmingham)
- Electronic Thesis and Dissertation FAQ (Oregon State University)
- Notes on Intellectual Property (Emory University)
- Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Marquette University)