Restricting access
Publication embargoes explained
There may be a valid reason why you need to restrict access to your thesis. This is often referred to as an embargo on publication. If you wish to request an embargo, you must complete the “Embargo Request” section on the E-Thesis Access Declaration and Deposit Agreement form (accessible via eDoc, if you do not have access, please contact PGR Examinations). An embargo is usually granted for a limited period of time (normally 12 months) but can be considered for renewal on request. Please see the Doctoral Academy Policy and Procedures for Depositing e-Theses.
Reasons to restrict access
You may need to restrict access for one of the following reasons:
Commercially sponsored theses
If your thesis has been commercially sponsored, you may have signed an agreement with your sponsor that does not permit you to make it publicly available, whether for a limited period of time or in perpetuity.
If you are in this position, you should indicate this on the E-Thesis Access Declaration and Deposit Agreement form (accessible via eDoc, if you do not have access, please contact PGR Examinations). You will still be required to supply an electronic copy of your thesis, but LJMU will not to make it publicly available online in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
Copyright permission
If you have been unable to obtain copyright permission for all, or some of the third party material in your thesis, you must deposit two electronic versions of your thesis:
- the full version, with all third party copyright material retained (even if you have not been able to obtain third party copyright permission)
- an edited version, with any copyright material for which permission has not been granted or sought removed
The edited electronic version only will be made publicly available - the full version will not.
Other potential reasons to restrict access
Other than the above conditions, there are a range of reasons why it may be necessary to restrict access to your thesis. The reasons usually refer to one of the exemptions to public access to information provided by the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004, the most common of which are:
- Your thesis contains commercially sensitive information, the release of which might prejudice the commercial interests of any person including the author, the University or an external company
- Your thesis includes material that was obtained under a promise of confidentiality
- The release of your thesis might endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual
- Publication would cause you or third parties mentioned in the text to be open to legal challenge or racial, ethnic, political or other persecution
- Your thesis is due for publication, either as a series of articles or as a monograph and the publisher does not allow prior publication of the thesis. Authors may check with journals in question whether a thesis in the repository would be counted as published
- Your thesis may contain the personal information of third parties which is restricted under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
You should talk to your Director of Studies when establishing if there is a need to restrict access to your thesis. Your Director of Studies is required to sign the E-Thesis Access Declaration and Deposit Agreement form (accessible via eDoc, if you do not have access, please contact PGR Examinations) to confirm that they agree with your decision on restricting access to your thesis.
Contact us
If you need further help with interpreting the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 legislation, please contact the LJMU E-Theses Service.
