Graduate Submission of Thesis, Project or Major Paper Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this Policy is to outline the requirements for the use of copyright materials in a graduate student's work, the submission of a student’s thesis, project or major paper and outline the requirements for a graduate student to withhold thesis from publication.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Policy the following definitions apply:

“Faculty Advisor” means a member of the graduate student’s home faculty with a Graduate Faculty Appointment that provides mentoring and advising to the student in all aspects of their Program.

“Program” means a complete set and sequence of Courses, combination of Courses, and/or other units of study, research and practice, the successful completion of which qualifies the candidate for a formal credential (degree with or without major; diploma), provided all other academic and financial requirements are met.

“Research Supervisor” means a faculty member with a Graduate Faculty Appointment that oversees a graduate student’s research and academic progress towards successful completion of the student’s Program.

Scope and authority

This Policy applies to graduate students in a master’s or doctoral Program with a thesis, project or major paper.

The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, or successor thereof, is the Policy Owner and is responsible for overseeing the implementation, administration and interpretation of this Policy.

Policy

Use of Copyright Material in Student Work

1. When preparing a thesis, project, major paper or other Program work, students may include some copyright material, typically in the form of excerpts from books or articles, charts, diagrams or similar previously published materials.
2. It is the student's responsibility to acknowledge properly any copyright materials used, strictly following the citation guidelines and rules of the faculty and/or Program.
3. Students who use extensive selections of copyright work may need to seek advance written permission from the author and must append the letter to their work.
4. Students should contact the copyright holder well in advance of their deadline as obtaining permission to use copyright materials may take considerable time.
5. Students may be required to pay a fee to obtain such permission.
6. Questions regarding the use of copyright materials should be discussed with the Faculty Advisor or Research Supervisor, as appropriate.
7. Students may be required to submit their work to a plagiarism detection system.

Submission of Thesis

Once a student's thesis has been approved by the examining committee, the student must formally submit the post‐defence thesis package. The following conditions apply:

1. All written work must be in English using correct, concise and scholarly language.
2. One electronic copy of the original thesis becomes property of the University.
3. The student grants the University a royalty‐free, non‐exclusive license to make copies of the work for academic purposes at the University and upon request from other universities or bona fide institutions.
4. The international copyright symbol (©) is displayed prominently on the title page of the thesis or displayed with similar prominence on other types of work.
5. The site licence, signed by the student at the start of the Program, takes effect; the site licence permits the University library to circulate as part of its collection and/or copy the work for academic purposes only (the University's copyright notice is placed on all copies made under the authority of the licence).
6. While the site licence excludes the sale of authorized copies for profit, the University may recover duplication costs through a fee.
7. Every copy made available under the licence clearly states that the copy is being made available in this form with full consent of the copyright owner and only for the purposes of private study or research.
8. The University may submit the work to the National Library of Canada, which is permitted to reproduce and lend copies for educational or research use only.

Submission of Project or Major Paper

Once a student’s project or major paper has been approved by their supervisor and second reader(s), the student may be required to submit their work formally. The following conditions apply:

1. All written work must be in English using correct, concise and scholarly language.
2. One electronic copy of the original project or major paper become property of the University.
3. The international copyright symbol (©) is displayed prominently on the project or on the title page of the major paper or displayed with similar prominence on other types of work.
4. The site licence, signed by the student at the start of the Program, takes effect; the site licence permits the University library to circulate as part of its collection and/or copy the work for academic purposes only (the University's copyright notice is placed on all copies made under the authority of the licence).
5. While the site licence excludes the sale of authorized copies for profit, the University may recover duplication costs through a fee.
6. Every copy made available under the licence clearly states that the copy is being made available in this form with full consent of the copyright owner and only for the purposes of private study or research.

Permission to Withhold Thesis, Project or Major Paper from a Public Domain

1. At the time of submitting their thesis, project or major paper, the student may apply in writing to the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requesting that the thesis, project, or major paper be withheld from the public domain for a period of up to 12 months from the date of successful defence for the following reasons:
   • to protect any rights to immediate commercial publication; or,
   • to obtain a patent which may arise from their research, or,
   • to keep their thesis, project, or major paper out of circulation for other reasons.
2. The student must submit any request for extension of the restriction of circulation one month prior to the termination of the previous period.
3. The student and their supervisor are required to justify the extension of the restriction.
4. Subsequent requests must follow the same procedure.
5. This request must be made when the thesis, project, or major paper is first submitted to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Monitoring and review

This Policy will be reviewed as necessary and at least every three years. The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, or successor thereof, is responsible to monitor and review this Policy.

 

Relevant legislation

This section intentionally left blank.

Related policies, procedures & documents

Graduate Academic Calendar
Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures
Responsibilities of Graduate Program Directors, Faculty Advisors, Research
Supervisors and Graduate Students Policy
Thesis Oral Examination for Master’s and Doctoral Candidates Policy