Thesis editing, copyright, and embargoes

The University of Waterloo expects that graduate theses, regardless of subject area, will meet appropriate standards of clarity and coherence in written English (or in some cases, French or German). The student is primarily responsible for ensuring that the thesis is written in clear and correct language; the student’s supervisor and advisory committee (if applicable) also bear a weight of responsibility for providing guidance consistent with normal practice for the discipline.

It is expected that students, with input from their advisory committee, will be in charge of editing their own theses. In some circumstances, however, it may be determined that a professional editor should be employed.  “Professional editing” in this usage includes editing services by an outside party regardless of whether or not such services are paid for. Having a relative or friend edit one’s thesis, for example, even if no money changes hands, may constitute professional editing if the individual concerned has in the past received payment from other people for editing work. A supervisor may recommend that a student have their thesis edited, but may not require the student to do so.  Conversely, a supervisor can choose not to permit the use of a professional editor.

The following are the regulations and guidelines for the ethical use of a professional editor.

1. If the thesis is to be edited by a professional editor, written permission from the student’s supervisor must be obtained. In order to avoid subsequent challenges or accusations of academic misconduct, it is highly recommended that the student, supervisor, and editor make use of the contract template provided by the Editors’ Association of Canada. It is important for the student to be aware that unauthorized use of editing services at any stage of the thesis production constitutes an academic offence.
2. Under no circumstances is the level of editing to exceed the guidelines set out by the Editors’ Association of Canada in its Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Theses/Dissertations. In many instances it will be advisable for supervisors to impose a more restrictive level of editing. Ideally, the editing should take place in such a way that it constitutes a learning experience for the student.
3. In all cases where an editor (professional or otherwise) has been used, specific acknowledgement must be made in the completed thesis. This acknowledgement must include the name of the editor and a brief description of the type of editing services provided (this description should be provided by the editor) and should be included in the "Acknowledgements" section fo the from matter.
4. Individual Faculties/departments/supervisors may require the student to submit a marked-up copy (hard copy or electronic tracked-changes copy) of the thesis along with the final version in order to demonstrate the degree of editing that has taken place.
5. It is highly recommended that the editor employed be a member of the Editors’ Association of Canada.

Copyright ownership

Students own copyright in their thesis, subject to the following conditions:

1. The physical document (thesis, research paper, work term report, examination answer paper and such) submitted to the University by a student becomes the property of the University.
2. The University receives a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty free licence to:

• circulate the work as part of the University Library collection, including but not limited to within the University’s institutional repository, UWSpace;   
• make copies or representations of the work for academic purposes within the University;
• make copies of a thesis deposited in the University Library at the request of other universities or bona fide institutions;
• submit the work to Library and Archives Canada;
• publish the abstract of any work which is a student thesis.

3. Deposit in the UWSpace requires the student to agree to the Non-Exclusive Distribution License for Electronic Theses and Dissertations.

Computer programs written or partially written by a student in support of a project, thesis or other original work, may have potential value as a marketable intellectual property. The University acknowledges the student's ownership of all rights with respect to such software except as follows:

1. Students may be required to sign a waiver of rights to software by the academic department for which a supervised project or thesis is to be undertaken, or by the faculty supervisor of the project or thesis.
2. The University assumes a non-exclusive, paid-up, royalty-free licence to use, for the University's administration, education and research activities, all software written using University facilities or written in support of academic work at the University. This licence does not include the right to use the software for commercial purposes or to distribute the software to others.
3. Students acquire no rights to software written under supervision in the course of employment by the University.

Use of copyrighted material

It is common for theses and dissertations to contain content created by third parties. Even if you are reusing content that you authored and have published elsewhere, your publishing contract may have required you to transfer copyright to the publisher. It is your responsibility to ensure that all content in your thesis is used in accordance with the Copyright Act. If your thesis contains content where copyright is owned by a third party, read the Third party content use page of the UWSpace submission guide.

More information

Policy 73 -  Contains more information about the ownership of copyright and other intellectual property (patent, trademark) at Waterloo.

Copyright at Waterloo Frequently Asked Questions – Contains answers to commonly asked copyright questions.

Help

Email copyright@uwaterloo.ca for help with copyright questions related to your thesis.

The University of Waterloo is a publicly funded institution and therefore has a mandate to disseminate research. Occasionally, a student may wish or require that their thesis' circulation be restricted for a period of time, as required by a publisher or due to a patent submission.

The University will not consent to any restrictions being placed upon the circulation or availability of a thesis following its deposit to UWSpace, unless a student's interests (e.g., patent rights) would be jeopardized by publication.

In the case where a student’s interests would be jeopardized by publication:

• The publication of the thesis within UWSpace can be delayed for a period of four months, one year, or two years from the date of UWSpace approval. These restrictions should be discussed and agreed upon between the student and supervisor(s) at the time of defence. The student must select the appropriate restriction option from the drop-down list located under the "Restriction Terms" title on the "Describe Item" page in the UWSpace submission interface. The restriction start date is always the date the thesis is archived to UWSpace.
• Any request for extension to an approved restriction must be submitted using the Request to restrict circulation of thesis form (Graduate Studies forms website), and must be received in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs at least two months before the date of release. If no further extension is requested or approved, the thesis will be released in UWSpace.