Delay of Publication of your Thesis (Embargo)

UBC theses and dissertations are normally published electronically through cIRcle one or two days after final submission. Any request to delay publication must be made before you submit your thesis to cIRcle. However, please do not make the request until you have defended your thesis and are preparing for final submission.

To request an embargo before submitting your thesis to cIRcle:

• Discuss the need for an embargo with your supervisor and obtain their approval.
• Complete the “Request to Delay Publication” form.
• Check box(es) to state the reason(s) for requesting an embargo.
• Choose the length of the embargo, either 12 months (1 year) or 24 months (2 years) by checking the appropriate box. If no box is checked, the default embargo period is 12 months.
• Complete the rest of the form and obtain the signatures of your supervisor and graduate advisor. If the graduate advisor is not available, the head of department may sign.

Please submit the request form and wait for approval prior to submitting your thesis online. If the request is approved you and your supervisor will be notified by email that publication of your thesis will be delayed and will be given the date of expiry of the embargo.

When your embargo has been approved and you submit your thesis to the Library’s online repository, cIRcle, please do the following:

• Type "EMBARGO" in front of your thesis title when you type the title into cIRcle. This will alert reviewers to your request for publication delay. The "EMBARGO" will be removed from the title when the thesis is approved. Do not put "EMBARGO" on the title page of your thesis or in the file name.
• Enter your full abstract in the "Abstract" field in cIRcle. Abstracts for embargoed theses are automatically hidden from public view. Instead, the following boilerplate abstract text appears in the abstract record: “The full abstract for this thesis is available in the body of the thesis, and will be available when the embargo expires.”
• On the page where you upload your thesis file, go to "File Availability".
• Choose "Embargo" and enter the date when your embargo will expire.

Note: Unless you have submitted the Request to Delay Publication of Thesis/Dissertation form and your request has been approved, your embargo date will be removed.

When your thesis is accepted into cIRcle, the thesis and the abstract will not be accessible to anyone. The thesis title, author, and other metadata will appear in cIRcle.

During the embargo period, if someone wants to view the thesis, they can request access through cIRcle. The request will go to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and will be relayed to you using the email address you have in Workday. You can then grant temporary access to your thesis or not, as you choose. If you do not respond, your thesis will not be made available to the requestor.

On the day that the embargo expires, your thesis will be automatically released and will be available online. If you wish an extension to the embargo period, it is your responsibility to contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than two months before the release date. You may not receive a reminder, so please be sure to note the release date of your thesis.

On the day that the embargo expires, your thesis will be automatically released and will be available online. If you wish an extension to the embargo period, it is your responsibility to contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than two months before the release date. You may not receive a reminder, so please be sure to note the release date of your thesis.

• Discuss the need for an embargo with your supervisor and obtain their approval.
• Complete the “Request to Extend Delay in Publication (Embargo) of a Thesis/Dissertation” form.
• Enter the date your thesis was submitted to cIRcle.
• Enter the expiry date of the current embargo.
• Choose the length of the embargo extension, either 6 months or 12 months (1 year) by checking the appropriate box. If no box is checked, the default embargo extension period is 6 months.
• If your thesis was submitted to cIRcle LESS than three years ago as of your embargo expiry date, use the check box(es) to state the reason(s) for requesting an extension to the embargo.
• If your thesis was submitted to cIRcle MORE than three years ago as of your embargo expiry date, attach a document providing justification for an extension to the embargo.
• Complete the rest of the form and obtain the signatures of your supervisor and graduate advisor. If the graduate advisor is not available, the head of department may sign.

If your thesis was submitted to cIRcle more than three years ago, please be very specific in the document you attach. For example, if you are requesting additional time to submit to journals, please list the journals you plan to submit to and what parts of the thesis you are planning to submit. If you are developing your thesis into a book, please provide names of potential publishers or information about revision and acceptance timelines.

NOTE: Embargoes are normally extended in six-month increments, with a maximum of one year of extension at a time. As long as you can demonstrate that the conditions that necessitated the embargo still exist, further extensions are possible. You must contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies annually to request a further extension and provide justification.

Please send the completed form and attached document (for embargoes of more than three years) to graduate.thesis@ubc.ca.