Publication of Dissertation and Academic Data

After the granting of the doctorate, the university will preserve the dissertation in an electronic archive. The dissertation, therefore, must be prepared with the same care as if it were to appear in printed form. As the abstract that must accompany the dissertation will be published in Dissertation Abstracts, it also must be ready for publication when it is submitted to the dean.

UMI ProQuest of Ann Arbor, Michigan, will also preserve the dissertation and publish the abstract. Information concerning the preparation of the dissertation and abstract and the agreement with ProQuest that the candidate must sign are available in the Office of the Graduate School. The fee for microfilming the dissertation and publishing the abstract is $55. Registration of copyright also is available for a fee of $65.

The dissertation is a record of scholarly or scientific accomplishment and represents a contribution to knowledge for public use. A centuries-long tradition of public defense of theses and dissertations continues to be understood as a manifestation of the public character of work done in the academy in general and in degree work in particular. This is an aspect of the general assumption that scientific and scholarly work, at least in the academy, is devoted to the search for new knowledge for the benefit of all and must be widely disseminated. 

For this reason, the dissertations are treated, both de facto and de jure, as publications and are expected to be disseminated upon completion. There are, sometimes, reasons to delay publication, usually because patentable discoveries must await the filing of applications before being disclosed publicly, but also because in some fields there is typically a long hiatus between the submission of the dissertation and the publication of its revision as a book. The Graduate School-New Brunswick allows students to defer publication for six months, one year, or two years upon request. Publication deferrals for more than two years will not be allowed at the time of submission of the dissertation. Subsequent requests for extension of the initial deferral will be considered ad hoc by the dean's office.