During the course of your thesis you may wish to get your research published. In the past, and for certain disciplines, this tended to occur once your thesis was almost, or finally, completed. Now, it is not uncommon for researchers to publish some of their research before submission of the thesis. This is usually in the form of a journal article. Certain chapters of the thesis may naturally lend themselves to being worked into separate journal articles. Or, perhaps, you wish to create a monograph (book) based on your entire thesis.
Based on your research, discipline, discussions with your supervisor, peers and other experts in your field, you will be well placed to make decisions regarding publication e.g. where to publish, what type of format etc. This can, however, be very daunting for researchers.
Do not fear making your thesis Open Access. Why not?
If necessary, you can apply an embargo to your e-thesis at any point
Consult with funder, potential publisher, supervisor etc to inform decision if an embargo is required or not
Once you upload your e-thesis to Pure, barring any embargoes, it will be can be viewed and accessed online via Queen's Research Portal. This is a good thing! As a result, people may be able to contact you about your research, ask you to speak on your topic or engage with it on social media or scholarly publications. You are likely to have greater visibility as a result of making your thesis open access.
Some researchers are, however, concerned that by making their e-thesis online this will scupper their chances for monograph publication. This may not actually be the case. For example, a thesis may only come to the attention of a publisher or a commissioning editor exactly because it has been made open access first! Also, it is important to remember that it is possible to make your thesis open access while you consider your publication options and then later to apply an embargo if this is required.
Whether or not you apply an embargo to your e-thesis or not, it is important to remember that a dissertation will probably have to be quite significantly revised before it will be published. Different publishers moreover have different policies regarding Open Access theses. Included is some of the policies regarding some of the more prominent publishers.
Some publishers accept proposals based on PhD dissertations and are not overly concerned about a thesis being available in an institutional repository. Other publishers may ask for an embargo period. Some may have a blanket policy of not publishing dissertations. The policy will vary from publisher to publisher. If in doubt it is always best to contact the publisher to ask what is their policy.
Recent research indicates that almost 50% of university press welcome manuscripts that are revisions of Open Access e-theses, with a further almost 50% willing to publish on the basis of substantial revision. Open Access is rapidly evolving and changing the scholarly publication landscape.
Can Openly Accessible E-Theses Be Published as Monographs?
Can't Find It, Can't Sign It: On Dissertation Embargoes. Harvard University Press
Electronic Theses & Dissertations: Publishing and policy based on fear
Open Access and the Graduate Author: A Dissertation Anxiety Manual
The Continuing Cautionary Tale of Creative Writing Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Open Access, Publishers and PhD Theses
PhD Theses - Drawing Attention to the Often Overlooked Articles in Open Access Repositories
| Publisher: | Policy: |
| Cambridge University Press | CUP will accept a thesis for publication after extensive revision therefore embargo of the thesis is not generally required |
| Edinburgh University Press |
EUP only consider monographs based on PhD theses where:
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| Elsevier |
Elsevier welcomes submissions from authors and will consider these for publication where work has not previously been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Elsevier does not view the following prior uses of a work as prior publication:
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| Manchester University Press |
MUP do not publish PhD theses. In a small number of cases, where the research is of exceptionally high quality and broad appeal, they can consider a book that takes thesis research as its starting point and expands upon it significantly, on the strict understanding that it must have been entirely rewritten and restructured for a wider audience https://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/resources/publishing-your-book-with-mup/ |
| Oxford University Press | Contact OUP directly for advice as there not a specific policy |
| Palgrave Macmillan |
Palgrave Macmillan accepts proposals based on PhD dissertations, even those that have been made available online. Prospective authors should bear in mind that every PhD thesis will need to undergo rigorous revision in order to be published as a monograph with our press https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book-authors/your-career/early-career-researcher-hub/revising-the-dissertation |
| Routledge | Contact Routledge directly for advice as there is not a specific policy |
| Sage |
Excerpts or material from your dissertation that have not been through peer review will generally be eligible for publication. However, if the excerpt from the dissertation included in your manuscript is the same or substantially the same as any previously published work, the editor may determine that it is not suitable for publication in the journal https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/prior-publication |
| Taylor & Francis | Necessary to contact Taylor & Francis as the policy varies from journal to journal |
| Wiley (incl. Blackwell) |
The following types of “prior publication” do not present cause for concerns about duplicate or redundant publication: • Dissertations and theses in university archives http://media.wiley.com/assets/7324/10/Best-Practice-Guidelines-on-Publishing-Ethics-2ed.pdf |