Theses and Dissertations Policy

• The University Libraries collect electronic versions of theses and dissertations (ETDs) via the Vireo platform. A copy is made available in the Research and Scholarship Institutional Repository and duplicated for long-term distributed digital preservation in Chronopolis. This preservation copy serves as the official record in compliance with the university's Records Retention Schedule (records series SAP340).
• Master's theses and doctoral dissertations submitted to the University Libraries will be made openly accessible online to the public immediately following the graduating semester term or after the selected embargo period.
• During the embargo period, metadata concerning the thesis or dissertation, including title, author, and an abstract of the work, will be available online.
• NOTE: Exceptions include ETDs with Inventions, Discoveries, or Patents (IDPs) or if work described in the thesis or dissertation is restricted by a non-disclosure agreement with a funder or government entity. Authors may select the IDP Embargo option and may contact us for more information: copyrightoffice@txstate.edu

• Texas State University requires dissertations to be submitted to ProQuest/University Microfilms International (UMI). Dissertations will be electronically archived by ProQuest/UMI and made available in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses and subject specific databases.
• The author may choose to have the full text of the dissertation embargoed in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database for up to two years. Until the embargo period has ceased, only the abstract and bibliographic data will be available. 
• The University Libraries sends a digital copy of dissertations to ProQuest/UMI periodically. We encourage students to use also utilize inclusion in the Research an Scholarship Institutional Repository for access.
• Students requesting extensions for dissertations in ProQuest must contact the company directly: disspub@proquest.com
• Master's theses are not submitted to ProQuest/UMI at this time.

• The Graduate School and University Libraries require that all TXST theses and dissertations be submitted electronically for management efficiency, cost control, ease of dissemination, and long-term preservation reasons. In addition, your electronic theses or dissertation must eventually be made available openly on the web and hosted in the Research & Scholarship Institutional Repository. 
• Most students choose to make their work available immediately, but you can choose to limit access temporarily before making it available openly. Students may restrict access to their thesis or dissertation for reasons such as:
  • While seeking to publish journal articles or books based on them
  • To protect intellectual property during the patent application process
  • To prevent disclosure of sensitive or classified information
• With the exception of IDP and Creative Writing embargoes, all other theses and dissertations will have metadata available online during the embargo period. The metadata includes title, author, date, and abstract. Full online access to the theses and dissertation (i.e., PDF full-text) will not be available until after the embargo period has passed.
• Dissertations under a 5-year embargo will not be sent to ProQuest for inclusion in their database.
• When students submit their theses or dissertation electronically through the Vireo submission system, you will be presented with the following embargo options: 

• Embargo periods for ETDs deposited to the Research and Scholarship Institutional Repository may be extended upon request by the student author and must be submitted before the embargo period expires. Upon expiration, the work is automatically made public.
• An embargo extension may be for up to two years, with no more than two total extensions.
• Requests for an embargo extension may be completed by filling out this form at least 30 days and no more than 6 months before the embargo expires:
  • EMBARGO EXTENSION FORM

The University Libraries staff will deposit the electronic theses or dissertations from Vireo into the Research and Scholarship Institutional Repository each semester. 

Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) will be cataloged after deposit in the Institutional Repository once processed. Basic metadata information will be made available, but the full-text of the ETD will be restricted until after the embargo period.

• Print copies of theses and dissertations in the circulating collection include submissions prior to August 2021 and MFA Creative Writing theses. These can be sent out via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).  

• If an open access digital version is available (excluding Creative Writing), the requesting institution will be provided with a URL rather than a hard copy, in order to minimize possible loss of our print copy.

In accordance with Texas State University’s efforts to make educational content available to everyone, it is important to ensure that your electronic theses or dissertation (ETD) is accessible. An accessible document in any digital format means that it will be usable by assistive technologies and will widen the scope of who can access your ETD. Understanding digital accessibility also means understanding the various areas that are affected by digital accessibility issues and this is vital knowledge as part of your education at Texas State and as you move forward in your career.

User guides, tools, and resources to ensure accessibility of all digital content for your ETD are available in the Information Technology Accessibility User Guides.

Plagiarism is using words, ideas, diagrams, and other content from publicly available work without appropriately acknowledging the sources of these materials. This definition constitutes plagiarism whether it is intentional or unintentional and whether it is the work of another or your own, previously published work. 

Plagiarism is a very serious offense that Texas State University does not tolerate. Evidence of plagiarism may prevent the granting of or result in the revoking of your degree.

• Just because you are a student at an educational institution does not mean that you can take and share anything you find while creating your own work. For example, background music, photographs, graphics, videos, multimedia, etc. 

• Crediting sources isn't a cure to copyright infringement. When necessary, obtain permissions and purchasing licenses to use resources is a legal requirement. For assistance, contact the Copyright Office: copyright@txstate.edu

• Students own the copyright in their thesis or dissertation. If a student wishes to register the copyright, they can do so at: https://copyright.gov/  

• If a student wishes to publish based on their thesis or dissertation, they should disclose that fact to any publication at the time of submission. Additionally, students should cite their thesis or dissertation in any future publication based on that work.  

• If a student suspects that someone has infringed their copyright on the internet, they can contact the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) agent at the website and request a take-down. For more information on takedowns and other copyright topics, see the  TXST Copyright Office website or contact Stephanie Towery, Copyright Officer, if you have any questions: copyrightoffice@txstate.edu

If you would like a personal or departmental print copy of an electronic theses or dissertation, there are many companies that offer this service. The University Libraries do not recommend specific binderies or services, but offer the following suggestions for your convenience.

• Alkek Print Shop (plastic comb binding)
• PhD Book Binding (hard cover, softcover)
• Thesis on Demand (hard cover)
• Local office supply and copy shops often offer comb binding.
• Local print shops often offer comb and softcover binding.
• Many cities have small binderies that you can find by searching for “bindery near me” or “bindery in cityname.”

Once the University Libraries submit dissertations to ProQuest, they will be available for purchase from Dissertation Express. 

Keep in mind that you can also access the electronic theses and dissertation version in the Texas State University Research and Scholarship Institutional Repository. 

All requests for copies of Texas State University Master's theses should be forwarded to the Copyright Officer (copyrightoffice@txstate.edu), who will determine whether the author has authorized the library to reproduce and distribute the thesis.