The Library: Research Support

From August 2021, in accordance with Academic Regulations and the University’s Intellectual Property (IP) Policy all final postgraduate research theses must be deposited in the University’s Open Access Repository through which theses are made publicly available to download. A thesis will only be accepted into the Leeds Beckett Repository when the degree of which it forms a part has been fully awarded. All works deposited are done so under the terms outlined in the University’s eThesis Policy.

Students ownership of the copyright in the work is outlined in the University’s IP Policy. Students must take responsibility for the clearance or redaction of any third party copyright or sensitive material where necessary.

In certain circumstances, it may be possible to request access to the eThesis is restricted for a period of time (an ‘embargo’). Embargoes may be granted by the University Research Degree Sub-Committee in accordance with the University’s eThesis Policy (Section 5.5 Embargoes and Access Restrictions). The maximum timeframe is 2 years.

The Thesis and Research Data Repository (Figshare) enables theses and archived data to be made Open Access. 

It manages text (Word/PDF) and data (e.g. CSV) files uploaded from Symplectic and protects them under a CC licence. 

Theses and research data are then available to download from the Repository, which can be found through search engines and accessed by anyone, increasing the views and potential impact of the research. Each record has a DOI enabling easy sharing and download statistics are also available.

There are benefits for both the University and the researcher/thesis author, including:

• Raising the visibility and reusability of research: an eThesis is more available, searchable and visible worldwide, including via the British Library’s publicly available Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) which harvests eTheses from University Repositories. See FAQ How do I deposit my thesis in EThOS?
• Creating a permanent digital archive of the research: this aligns with the principles of the University’s Open Research Policy

Deposit Checklist and Deposit Agreement

It is important to familiarise yourself with the copyright and licensing information provided as some additional work may be required before depositing your thesis.

To assist you with this process, please ensure that you follow our Deposit Checklist and search the FAQs for further information.

Please use these instructions to deposit your eThesis into Symplectic. All current Postgraduate students have a Symplectic account which is accessed using your standard user name (e.g. smith04) and password. If you have issues logging into Symplectic, please email: theses@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Leeds Beckett University eThesis Policy sets out our commitment to making electronic copies of research theses (eTheses) publicly available.