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All UBC graduate students are required to submit their thesis or dissertation to cIRcle, UBC Library’s openly available digital repository, which currently holds more than 51,000 UBC theses and dissertations dating back to 1919.
If you’re a graduate student ready to submit your thesis or dissertation, we’ve outlined key steps on cIRcle’s Theses and Dissertations page. In this blog post, we’re highlighting some essential tips for a smooth process.
Who can help if I have questions?
Though cIRcle is the repository for UBC theses and dissertations, your Graduate Studies website is the first place to go for any questions about deadlines, preparation (including delay of publication & formatting), and submission (including account activation).
If the website does not answer your questions, UBC Vancouver students may contact Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS, graduate.thesis@ubc.ca), while UBC Okanagan students may contact the College of Graduate Studies (CoGS, gradtheses.ok@ubc.ca).
Plan ahead
Thesis approval deadlines mean your thesis or dissertation must be approved in cIRcle by G+PS (UBC Vancouver) or CoGS (UBC Okanagan) before the deadline passes.
This means you need to complete post-defense finalizations, request any necessary permissions, complete formatting, submit, and complete any requested corrections before your thesis or dissertation can be approved. Any and all of these steps can take time!
Check permissions and consider embargo requirements
As the author, you are responsible for ensuring your thesis or dissertation complies with Canadian copyright law. In some cases, you may need time to request necessary permissions to include particular components that were not created by you. The Copyright at UBC Office has extensive information about your copyright and your thesis or dissertation, and can be contacted if you have specific questions.
During your submission to cIRcle, you’ll complete the cIRcle Non-Exclusive Distribution License. You’ll retain copyright, while providing UBC the rights necessary to distribute and preserve your thesis or dissertation. Your thesis or dissertation will be licensed for use under a Creative Commons (CC) license, which indicates how others can share, use, and/or adapt your work.
If you need more time to complete publications or patent applications based on your thesis or dissertation research, or there’s a significant reason your work should not be released immediately, you may need to consider application of an embargo period. You must do this after your defense, but before you proceed with submission to cIRcle. For more information, see G+PS’ How to Request a Delay in Publication (UBC Vancouver) or CoGS’ Post-Defence Submission (UBC Okanagan).
Review formatting requirements
Your thesis or dissertation must conform to the specifications of the university, in both structure and formatting.
For thesis or dissertation preparation and formatting, UBC Vancouver students should refer to G+PS’ Dissertation & Thesis Preparation and Formatting Requirements, while UBC Okanagan students should refer to CoGS’ Thesis and Dissertation Preparation.
Create a cIRcle account and request authorization
Before you can submit your thesis or dissertation, you must:
- Ensure your completed forms are submitted to G+PS/CoGS (as applicable).
- Create a cIRcle account.
- Send an e-mail with your name and cIRcle account e-mail to G+PS/CoGS (as applicable) in order to be authorized to submit to a thesis/dissertation collection.
You will be notified when your cIRcle account has been authorized, and you can proceed with submission. See G+PS’s Final Submission Instructions (UBC Vancouver) or CoGS’ Post-Defence Submission (UBC Okanagan) for necessary forms and more information.
Submit!
Once you are ready to submit your thesis or dissertation, cIRcle provides a step-by-step submission guide.
For Master of Fine Arts/Music students only, there is an option to submit to a campus wide login (CWL)-access collection in cIRcle. You can follow the associated step-by-step submission guide.
After you submit
Once submitted, G+PS (UBC Vancouver) or CoGS (UBC Okanagan) will review your thesis or dissertation, and notify you if you are required to complete any changes and re-submit (so keep a close eye on your e-mail). Once your thesis or dissertation has undergone approval by G+PS/CoGS, you will receive a confirmation e-mail, and cannot make further changes.
After approval by G+PS/CoGS, your thesis or dissertation will undergo final review by the Library, which takes 1-3 business days. Upon approval by the Library, you will receive an e-mail notification with the persistent URL for your thesis or dissertation. You’ll be able to view your thesis or dissertation online (unless you’ve requested an embargo) and it’ll be assigned a digital object identifier (DOI) that can be used to share and cite your work.
Congratulations! Your work can now be viewed around the world and will be preserved for future generations in the UBC Theses and Dissertations collection.