Deposit your thesis in ResearchSpace

This page explains where and how to deposit your thesis. It also includes information about licensing permissions and copyright, and how to apply for an embargo.

If you are submitting for Examination see:

After your thesis has been examined and you have made any required minor corrections to the satisfaction of your supervisor, you may be required to deposit your thesis into ResearchSpace.

Please allow six to eight weeks before your thesis is processed and made available on ResearchSpace.

You should receive an email from ResearchSpace when this process is completed.

Before depositing your thesis

Do you need to deposit your thesis into ResearchSpace?

You must deposit your thesis if you are completing:

  • A PhD
  • A research masters with a thesis of at least 90 points

Taught masters, dissertations, research essays, research portfolios and research projects are not deposited in ResearchSpace.

Is your thesis ready to deposit?

  • Have you completed your examination?
  • Minor corrections? Please ensure you have completed any required minor
    corrections to your thesis to the satisfaction of your supervisor before
    you deposit it in ResearchSpace.
  • Do you need an embargo? Unless an embargo is approved by SGS, your thesis will be made openly available in ResearchSpace. An embargo may be applicable if your thesis contains sensitive or restricted information. For more information, refer to the embargoes section below. 
  • Have you removed the wording “for examination” from your title page? See the following title page examplar. 

Thesis deposit process

Access MyResearchSpace

  1. Go to ResearchSpace
  2. Click "Log in" at the top right
  3. Select "Log in with AucklandUni" and then log in with your SSO.
    If you get an "Access Restricted" message, email researchspace@auckland.ac.nz
  4. Read and agree to the end user agreement

Create a new deposit

Once logged in:

  1. Click the + in the menu on the left sidebar.
    If you do not see a + in the menu after logging in, try logging in with a different browser or using a private/incognito tab. If that doesn't work, email researchspace@auckland.ac.nz.
  2. Select "New".
  3. Select "Item".
  4. From the dropdown, select either:
    1. Thesis Deposit – Doctoral
    2. Thesis Deposit – Masters
  5. Complete and submit the deposit form. Please refer to the following instructions:

After you deposit your thesis

You will receive a deposit confirmation email to your University
email within a week. Forward this to your faculty (masters thesis deposit) or to the School of Graduate Studies (doctoral thesis deposit).

Te Kahu Tauira, Student and Scholarly Services, will process your thesis. Processing will take six to eight weeks, after which you will receive an email to your specified email that your thesis has been made available on ResearchSpace.

If you have a query about your deposit or need to make changes after depositing, email researchspace@auckland.ac.nz.

Thesis access and embargoes

Both doctoral and masters theses are made publicly available (open) on ResearchSpace.

You can apply for a temporary embargo if you have a reason to restrict access to your thesis or if your thesis contains sensitive information. Embargo periods are generally up to two years.

To apply for an embargo:

  1. Fill out the Application for embargo
  2. Send the form to the School of Graduate Studies for approval: sgs-exams@auckland.ac.nz

Please note, only the School of Graduate Studies can approve thesis embargoes.

For more information on embargoes, refer to:

Copyright and your thesis

The digital copy of your thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). Items in ResearchSpace, the University of Auckland research repository, are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Copyright belongs to you, the author. When you complete the permissions form (part of the deposit process), you grant a non-exclusive licence for the University to make the thesis available in ResearchSpace. The permissions form also provides you (the author) the opportunity to use Creative Commons to provide extra protection for your digital thesis.

For more information on copyright for your thesis, go to Copyright for theses and dissertations.

Third-party copyright

Third-party copyright applies when you have used copyrighted material that is not your own. For more detailed information on what third-party copyright is and how it is applied, refer to Third-party guidelines.

Thesis reuse and Creative Commons licensing

The digital copy of your thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Copyright belongs to you, the author. When you complete the permissions form (part of the deposit process), you grant a non-exclusive licence for the University of Auckland to make the thesis available in ResearchSpace.

The permissions form also provides you (the author) the opportunity to choose a Creative Commons licence to determine how others can reuse your digital thesis.

Supplementary materials and datasets permissions

Supplementary materials are published alongside your thesis file in ResearchSpace. The process for submitting supplementary materials is covered above in the deposit process sections.

If you wish to restrict download access to these files, please contact us about this option via Ask us, selecting Research support and theses as your question topic.

We also have the option to archive datasets created during the course of your research. Enquire as above via Ask us. An alternative location to archive data is the University's Institutional Figshare.

Getting your thesis printed

Te Kahu Tauira, Student and Scholarly Services and the School of Graduate Studies no longer accept print copies of theses into their collections.

If you wish to have a print copy of your thesis for your personal collection, you must contact a commercial printer directly.

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