Masters dissertations

Please read this information carefully. It provides a brief summary of the main issues surrounding digital dissertations of which PG masters students should be aware.

Oxford digital theses & dissertations

The University of Oxford is committed to the dissemination of its research ‘for the benefit of society and the economy’ (University Strategic Plan 2008-13, para 70) and in support of this commitment provides ORA (Oxford University Research Archive).

 

ORA is an online archive of research materials, including digital copies of PG masters dissertations produced as part of a University of Oxford postgraduate masters award.

 

Inclusion of your masters dissertation in ORA

Your Department or Faculty might choose to provide online access to all or a selection of masters dissertations produced by its students. Making your dissertation available in this way increases its visibility and makes Oxford research available for the benefit of society.

 

Dissertations are submitted to ORA by a member of the Department/Faculty staff. PG masters students are not eligible to deposit dissertations in ORA.

 

M.Phil. and M.Sc.(by research)

Students following M.Phil. or M.Sc. (by research) programmes should refer to the separate ‘The digital copy of your thesis’ guidance available at http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ora/oxford_etheses

 

Before you start writing

There are a few things that it is helpful to think about before you start writing your dissertation if there is any possibility that it will be made freely available on the Internet. See the sections below on third party copyright, intellectual property rights and fonts.

 

Access to your dissertation in ORA

Digital copies held in ORA will be made freely available via the Internet. This is called ‘open access.’ This practice of making academic research freely available is becoming increasingly common.

 

The copyright in the dissertation

The copyright in the dissertation usually remains with the author. In a tiny minority of cases, copyright might rest with a sponsor or other body. Please speak to your tutor if you are unsure.

 

Third party copyright

If you have incorporated material within the dissertation where copyright is held by an individual or group that is not the author (third party copyright) you will need permission to make such material freely available on the Internet. It is best to obtain permission when sourcing the material. You may need to provide proof of permission (eg email or letter) for your department/faculty.

 

Intellectual property rights

Please ensure your tutor is aware if your dissertation contains confidential or sensitive material (such as personal details or commercially sensitive information) as making this type of material available via the Internet could contravene agreements or have other serious implications.

 

Fonts

Please use Unicode fonts. Be particularly careful that non-Roman characters and diacritics are created using Unicode. Common applications (eg MSWord Arial font) are usually Unicode compliant

 

File format

Your department/faculty will deposit a PDF copy of your thesis in ORA.

 

Further information

For further information please contact your tutor

 

Last updated 27 Jan 2010