Thesis and Dissertation Release and Embargo Options

A student may choose to restrict access to the dissertation or thesis to members of the University of Michigan community (those with a uniqname and a Kerberos password) for up to one year from the date of degree conferral. The title and abstract will be displayed in online listings of the University of Michigan Library, but the content of the dissertation or thesis will not be available to view or to download.

Embargo Limited Access Form

A student may seek permission from the Graduate Studies Office for an embargo that restricts all access to the dissertation or thesis for up to one year from the date of degree conferral. Permission will be granted only when:

• The student (or his or her collaborators) is applying for a patent on research contained in the dissertation or thesis and does not wish to make the contents public until the patent application has been filed; or
• The dissertation or thesis includes information that is covered for a limited period of time by a confidentiality agreement or contains third-party proprietary information.
   

A dissertation or thesis that is fully restricted is not included in the online listings of the University of Michigan Library and the title and abstract are not available to the public or the university community. A full restriction cannot be extended beyond one year. Unless the graduate requests and is granted permission for an additional year of University of Michigan only access, the dissertation or thesis will be fully released.

Embargo Full Restriction Form

At the end of the one year University of Michigan only or full restriction embargo period, graduates may ask the Office of Graduate Studies to postpone full public release for an additional year at the University of Michigan only access level. Full restriction cannot be renewed. Permission from the Office of Graduate Studies is required to renew an embargo.

Permission will be given only for specific reasons, such as the graduate’s intention to publish work from the dissertation or thesis in a journal or book with a publisher that restricts consideration of manuscripts derived from dissertation or thesis that have been made available online. (Please note that most publishers do not have restrictive pre-publication policies.) It is the graduate’s responsibility to request a renewal of the University of Michigan only dissertation or thesis embargo. Permission is not guaranteed. Graduates may ask for up to two annual renewals, for a total of three years of University of Michigan only access (or one year full restriction renewed into two years University of Michigan only access).

Embargo Renewal Form

Publishing With ProQuest - Students are encouraged to submit the final digital copy of their dissertation or thesis to ProQuest, the world's largest permanent archive of doctoral dissertation or thesis. Abstracts of dissertations submitted to ProQuest are listed with the Library of Congress collections and are published in Dissertation Abstracts International. 

Dissertation Abstracts International includes selected master’s theses, but the inclusion is limited.