LSE Theses Online-FAQs

Welcome to LSE Theses Online

LSE Theses Online is the institutional archive for London School of Economics and Political Science's PhD theses. It contains full text versions of theses accepted for the qualification of Doctorate at LSE. These full text versions can be freely downloaded.

What does LSE Theses Online contain?

LSE Theses Online contains full text, final versions of theses accepted for the qualification of Doctorate at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

What does LSE Theses Online exclude?

1. LSE theses yet to be examined: We require that all theses added to the service have been examined and accepted for the award of Doctorate at LSE. We check with LSE's PhD Academy to ensure this is the case.
2. Theses awarded by other institutions: LSE academics may wish to deposit a version of their thesis as awarded by another institution. These are eligible for inclusion in LSE Theses Online's sister service, LSE Research Online. Please contact the LSE Research Online team for further information.
3. Other LSE research: LSE Theses Online's sister service, LSE Research Online, is LSE's institutional repository for research outputs. It covers a wide variety of types of research output. Further information on the service can be found at LSE Research Online's FAQ pages.

What is the LSE Theses deposit agreement?

By depositing your work in LSE Theses Online, you (the author(s), copyright owner or assignee), grant a non-exclusive licence to the LSE on behalf of the British Library of Political and Economic Science for the duration of applicable copyright that warrants:

• You are the owner of the copyright in the whole Work(s) (including content and layout) or are duly authorised by the owner(s), or the holder(s) of these rights, and have the authority to make this agreement, and give LSE Theses Online the right to publish the Work(s) in its repository.
• That the Work(s) is/are original and does not, to the best of your knowledge, infringe copyright or the other rights of any other person or party, nor does it/do they contain libellous or defamatory material.
• That if the Work(s) has/have been commissioned, sponsored or supported by any organisation you represent, you have fulfilled any obligations required by such contract or agreement.

The Repository's Rights and Responsibilities - LSE Theses Online:

• May make copies of the Work(s) (including the abstract(s)) available worldwide, in electronic format via any medium for the lifetime of the repository, or as negotiated with the repository administrator, for the purpose of free access without charge.
• May electronically store, translate, copy, or re-arrange the Work(s) to ensure its/their future preservation and accessibility within the lifetime of the repository, that is, to ensure it can be read by computer system in the future, unless notified by the depositor that specific restrictions apply.
• May incorporate metadata or documentation into public access catalogues for the Work(s) and the Author(s), including, but not limited to, Wikidata, CORE, DART-Europe and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. A citation/citations to the Work(s) will always remain visible in the repository during its lifetime.
• Shall not be under any obligation to take legal action on behalf of the Depositor or other rights holders in the event of breach of intellectual property rights or any other right in the material deposited
• Shall not be under any obligation to reproduce, transmit, broadcast, or display the Work(s) in the same format or software as that in which it was/they were originally created.
• May share usage statistics giving details of numbers of downloads and other statistics with internal staff at LSE.

Software:

• Copyright in any additional data, software, user guides and documentation to assist users in using the Work(s) shall belong to LSE Theses Online on behalf of the British Library of Political and Economic Science and any other parties that LSE Theses Online may choose to enter in an agreement with to produce such materials.
• While every care will be taken to preserve the Work, LSE Theses Online is not liable for loss or damage to the Work(s) or associated data while it is stored within the repository.

How are theses added to LSE Theses Online?

We currently gain theses to add to the service in a number of ways:

1. From the 2011-2 session, once a successfully completed PhD is completed, students provide a final copy in electronic form to LSE Theses Online (previously a hard copy was stored in the Library).
2. By monitoring the British Library's EThOS service, which digitises theses on demand.
3. By individual authors sending them to us. We then check with LSE's PhD Academy that the thesis has been accepted, then catalogue and add it to the service.
4. As a result of digitisation work for theses done by the Library.

I am a current PhD student at LSE. Will my thesis be included in LSE Theses Online?

From the 2011-2 session once you have successfully completed your PhD, you will be asked to provide a final copy in electronic form (previously a hard copy was stored in the Library) to LSE Theses Online. Full instructions on how to submit your thesis to the repository will be provided to you by the PhD Academy on successful completion of your PhD.

How do I get permissions to include third party copyright material in my thesis?

You will need to contact the rights holder to request permissions to include material protected by copyright in your thesis. Publishers often include details of copyright permissions and contact details on their website. You may want to use our template for contacting copyright holders. Please note, if the copyright holder does not respond, this does not mean permission has been granted.

What should I do if I get permission to include copyright material in my thesis?

Please indicate at the appropriate point in the body of your thesis that you have received permission to include copyright protected material and save any correspondence with copyright holders.

What if I can’t get copyright clearance for copyright material included in my thesis?

If you have taken reasonable steps but cannot gain permission to include material protected by copyright in your thesis, you will need to submit two electronic versions to LSE Theses Online:

1. Final version of your thesis
2. Publicly available electronic version – an edited version with all uncleared third party copyright material removed. If you do remove material from your thesis, please indicate where material has been removed using the following message: This [delete where appropriate] image/photo/screenshot/map/graph, [insert title or short description], has been removed as the copyright is owned by another organisation. LSE Theses Online will preserve both copies of your thesis but only upload the publicly available version to LSE Theses Online.

Alternatively, if you have made reasonable efforts to contact the copyright owner, we can add your thesis to LSE Theses Online and make use of our take-down policy if contacted by copyright holders.

What is fair dealing and criticism and review and what does this cover?

When reviewing the inclusion of third party copyright content in your thesis, you may be protected by fair dealing or criticism and review. For more details see here.

Where can I get copyright advice?

We encourage you to seek advice on copyright issues throughout the process of writing your thesis. Understanding copyright issues is important preparation for future academic publishing.

For queries regarding copyright and submitting your electronic thesis, please contact LSEThesesOnline@lse.ac.uk.

I have downloaded a thesis held in LSE Theses Online. In what ways may I re-use it?

You are entitled to re-use material from a thesis in the same way you would from any other source, i.e. by providing a full citation to the thesis in question, and by not re-using material in a way that may breach copyright or other IPR rights (e.g. by quoting extensive sections of a thesis). If you feel your own copyright has been affected by content held in LSE Theses Online, please contact us immediately.

I wish to add my thesis to the service/ have a query about the service- how do I get in touch?

The LSE Theses Online team can be contacted with submissions and queries at: LSEThesesOnline@lse.ac.uk.