Guide for Writers of Theses & Dissertations

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We recommend that you include an ORCID (Open Researcher & Contributor ID) when you submit your thesis or dissertation to ProQuest. The ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers. ORCIDs distinguish individuals with common names, and are not affected by name changes, cultural differences in name order, inconsistent abbreviations, or the use of different alphabets.Graduate students and those who anticipate pursuing publication in their future careers should consider getting an ORCID now and using it often. Sign up, here

A graduate student’s final work is a significant contribution to their field of study. A chief purpose of disseminating theses and dissertations is to share the benefits of research among scholars. However, in some cases an embargo may be necessary. Students may request an embargo on a thesis or dissertation restricting its availability by following the procedures described below.

[Availability of Submission]
Theses/dissertations will be available from two sources: ProQuest (PQ), the official Library of Congress archive of U.S. theses and dissertations, and OpenBU, the University’s digital open access institutional repository (IR). The full work will not be accessible from either source until the embargo expires. Descriptive information, including citation and abstract, will be publicly available in OpenBU and in search engines. If you have any questions about this, please contact the Libraries at open-help@bu.edu. During the embargo period any requests to read the work will require the author’s written permission. Requests to read the manuscript will be forwarded to the author at their BU email address. It is the author’s responsibility to respond to such requests.

[Length of Initial Embargo]
Embargo length is indicated in two locations in the ETD Administrator: PQ publishing options and IR publishing options. The ETD Administrator default options for the initial embargo are six months, one year, or two years. Students who are recommended to request a longer embargo (e.g., by the American Historical Association) should first select the two-year option in the ETD Administrator. The embargo request letter (see section "Embargo request letter required") should then specify the longer term required. The initial embargo may extend for up to seven years. However long the embargo requested, if you want to renew it before it expires, then you must contact the Mugar thesis/dissertation coordinator. You may renew for up to five more years. If you do not contact the coordinator, your embargo will lapse. Students from Theology or the Goldman School of Dental Medicine do not contact the coordinator to renew their embargoes. They contact the responsible person in either the Theology or Alumni Medical libraries.

[Embargo request letter required]
When an embargo is needed, an embargo request letter must be submitted via the ETD Administrator along with the manuscript. The letter must include:

• your name,
• the title of the thesis or dissertation,
• the reason for the delay,
• the embargo length requested,
• contact information, and
• signatures of both the student and the major advisor/first reader,
• and, if necessary, any other required signature.

Individual schools or colleges may require additional review of embargo request letters. Please check with your school or college. As of December, 2018:

• GMS embargo request letters must also include the signed permission of the Associate Provost, Graduate Medical Sciences.
• GRS embargo request letters must also include the signed permission of the Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

The embargo request letter is uploaded by the thesis/dissertation coordinator to the Administrative Documents section of your ProQuest online form later in the submission process. The embargo/restriction starts the day the Thesis/Dissertation Coordinator delivers the submitted thesis or dissertation PDF to ProQuest.

[Reasons for an embargo]
Embargoes may be requested for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to:

• sensitive material that cannot be published safely or appropriately at the time;
• plans to publish with a publisher who will not consider openly accessible works for publication;
• material under a third party’s copyright for which permissions have not been obtained, and which cannot be easily included in a supplemental file submitted with the main work;
• patentable material.

You may choose to register your copyright. You can authorize ProQuest to register copyright with the United States Copyright Office on your behalf for a $75.00 fee. Alternatively, you may register copyright on your own with the Unites States Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/. The direct copyright registration fee at this site is $45.00.