Theses FAQ

Q. Is it compulsory for me to submit a digital copy of my thesis to Massey Research Online?
A. According to the Massey University Assessment and Examinations Regulations 17(c) and Library Regulations 28, any thesis with a points value of 90 or more credits and that is not embargoed will be made publicly accessible through the University’s institutional repository. This applies only if you enrolled for the programme after 1 January 2007.

Q. What are the advantages of having my thesis publicly accessible?
A. Having your thesis available online will give your work greater exposure to other academics and researchers and will increase the chance that it will be cited in other publications. MRO is indexed by NZ Research on DigitalNZ and Google Scholar. Google Scholar ranks content from institutional repositories higher than other sites as repositories are considered a ‘trusted site’.

Q. If I do not wish my thesis to be publicly accessible how do I apply for an embargo?
A. You and your supervisor should apply to the Dean, Research using this form.

Q. Under what circumstances would I want to apply for an embargo?
A. If your thesis contains sensitive or private material, you should be aware that it will be made available to anyone online unless it is embargoed. If you (or your funder) wish to make commercial use of the thesis, or of the information it contains, you may need to place a limited term embargo on it. If you have authored a thesis with publications, and these are published in journals that are not open access, you should apply for an embargo sufficient to cover the embargo period required by the journals.

Q. If my thesis is embargoed will it simply not appear in the institutional repository?
A. The Library Regulations 29 state that, in the case of an embargo, details of the author, title, abstract and metadata will be made available through the institutional repository.

Q. How do I submit my thesis to the institutional repository?
A. You submit the definitive digital copy via the MRO Doctoral Thesis Upload page. The Library will archive it as the ‘version of record’, catalogue it, and process it for upload to the institutional repository .

Q. The regulations require a declaration signed by the student confirming the content of the digital copy. How can I ensure that this is the case?
A. When you submit the definitive digital copy, you confirm the content using this form.

Q. I have included reprints of published articles in my thesis that I wrote during my research. Why are they not allowed in the digital copy?
A. Usually reprints of published articles are subject to copyright restrictions and cannot be made available online. Any reprints of copyrighted articles will be removed from the version in MRO and a note added to the record. However, open access reprints with a Creative Commons license may be included in your thesis.