PhD Theses

Unveiling copyright essentials: A foundation for informed use

Copyright law serves as a cornerstone of intellectual property protection, granting creators exclusive rights over their works. These rights empower creators to control the reproduction, distribution, adaptation, and public performance of their works. By understanding the scope of copyright protection, you can make informed decisions about the use of copyrighted materials in your PhD research.

You can find out more about copyright on our copyright basics section.

You can find all the information you need, in Keeping Your Thesis Legal booklet which you can download by pressing the button below. 

Copyright ownership: Understanding the rights of creators

Copyright ownership generally arises automatically upon creation, and no registration is required to obtain copyright protection. The copyright holder holds exclusive rights over their work, including:

• Reproduction: Creating copies of the work in any tangible form, such as print, digital, or audiovisual formats.
• Distribution: Making copies of the work available to the public, such as through sale, rental, or lending.
• Adaptation: Creating derivative works based on the original work, such as translations, arrangements, or modifications.
• Public Performance: Presenting the work to the public through live performances, screenings, or broadcasts.
• Communication to the Public: Making the work available to the public through digital means, such as through online platforms or streaming services.

Exceptions to copyright protection: Striking a balance

• Exceptions to copyright protection - Gov.uk

While copyright law safeguards the interests of creators, it also recognizes the need for fair dealing and other exceptions to ensure the dissemination of knowledge and creativity. These exceptions allow for the use of copyrighted materials without the express permission of the copyright holder under specific circumstances:

• Fair Dealing: Use of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, provided that the use is transformative and does not significantly impact the potential market for the original work
• Quotation: Limited use of copyrighted material to support an original work, provided that the quotation is properly attributed and does not exceed the scope of fair use
• Parody: Use of copyrighted material for humorous or transformative purposes, provided that the parody is sufficiently distinctive and does not undermine the reputation of the original work
• Text and data mining: use of automated analytical techniques to analyse text and data for patterns, trends and other such information. This technique usually requires the copying of the work to be analysed. The exception allows researchers to copy large amounts of copyright works that the researchers have lawful access to for the purpose of computational analysis. The exception applies in the following scenarios only:
  • The purpose is for non-commercial research only;
  • Sufficient acknowledgement has been done;
  • The copy has not been shared or changed in any way.

If you are using any substantial amount of copyright material and cannot claim any of the above exceptions, you will need to request permission.

As a doctoral researcher, you play a crucial role in ensuring ethical and compliant use of copyrighted materials in your research endeavours:

• Copyright ownership in research outputs: Generally, the copyright in research outputs, such as theses, dissertations, belongs to the author(s) of the work.
• Copyright considerations when sharing data and findings: When sharing research data or findings, be mindful of any copyright restrictions that may apply. If your thesis was funded, your funders might request you to share your data. Get in touch with the Open Research Manager for Data and Methods for more information.
• Ethical use of copyrighted materials in research: Always cite copyrighted materials appropriately and adhere to fair dealing guidelines when incorporating them into your research. If you use AI tolls, please follow the guidance for the use of Gen AI in assessments. 
• Copyright and open access: Explore and utilize open access publishing options to make your research outputs freely accessible to a wider audience. An introduction to open access by Jisc is a good guide to understanding why open access is important.

Support for research at the University can be found on the Research and Innovation website, information on research ethics and integrity holds information that researchers need with regards to the ethics process and application for ethics can be found at Loughborough University Ethics ONline (LEON).  

For finding useful resources for your thesis, you can explore our Sourcing material section.

PhD by alternative format: Copyright considerations for PhD by publication

Publishing a portion of your thesis prior to its submission is a common and well-established academic practice. However, you may need to carefully consider your rights to re-use your own work within your thesis at this point, if any rights have been gifted or otherwise assigned to a publisher.

Remember, you must clearly attribute any portion of your work that has appeared elsewhere, even previous assignments, prior to your thesis submission, simply to avoid charges of self-plagiarism by your examiners.

If any portion of your thesis has been already published, perhaps as a journal article, you must check the agreement that you signed with the publisher. Even if you assigned copyright to the publisher, the agreement may still allow you to use the material in your thesis, so look for any educational exemption clause. If it does not expressly note this or you are unable to find the agreement, then you must directly approach the publisher for permission.

On the other hand, you may wish to include a complete published version of an article written by you within the thesis. Normally when these articles are included, they appear in the appendices of the thesis examination version but are commonly removed from the e-thesis due to copyright restrictions. Ideally you should seek permission from the publisher to include them, as they will contain significant elements of third-party material such as your publisher’s typesetting, logo and branding. You can check journal and publisher requirements on the JISC Sherpa Services webpage. A sample copyright permission email PhD example is available to download and adapt in the resources section.

However, many publishers will be disinclined to grant permission for the version of record of an article to be made available on an institutional repository, and your time may be better spent elsewhere in your research. In this case you can upload two versions of your e-thesis to the repository. One that will be under permanent embargo and another one that is redacted (i.e. all third-party copyright material which has not received permission is removed) and can be made open access on the repository. Do make sure to name them accordingly. Please email the Library in advance at etheses@lboro.ac.uk so that they can advise you accordingly.

Any scholarly communications which have been published Open Access can be included without issue. If your thesis includes versions of articles which have an embargo period associated with them, before they can be made available in the University Research Repository please ensure the embargo period you choose for your thesis is after the last embargo period of these articles.

You can find more information about e-thesis submission and copyright guidance on the submission webpage.

Publishing your thesis as scholarly communications: A short introduction

If you think you might want to publish part of your thesis in its current form and you have a publisher in mind, you should check the publisher’s policy. If you think that your chances of publication will be harmed, or you have not yet identified a suitable publisher, request a thesis embargo. It should be noted that a number of recent studies have indicated that the risk of publisher rejection of a manuscript that has been previously shared as an e-thesis is negligible.

If you think you will be publishing it after significant revisions or changes, then this may not be an issue, but it is worth discussing it with your supervisor and the prospective publisher if possible.

While conducting your research you might be funded. Some funders will require you to publish your research Open Access. The University has a dedicated webpage on support for publishing Open Access.

If your research is funded by UKRI, there is a handy guide on publishing your research on the UKRI webpages on how to deal with third-party copyright. Jisc has also published useful guidelines on using Creative Commons licenses.

Workshops and training

The Copyright and Licensing Manager and Academic Librarians provide training on copyright for doctoral researchers as part of the Doctoral College’s set of online workshops. You can access the materials in the Remote Learning for Researchers Learn module and in the Library’s module called Research Central.

You can also use the self-guided training resources.

Copyright law plays a crucial role in safeguarding the rights of creators while fostering a vibrant intellectual ecosystem. As a doctoral researcher in Higher Education in the UK, you have a responsibility to uphold copyright principles, ensuring that your research endeavours are conducted ethically and responsibly. By understanding copyright fundamentals, navigating fair dealing exceptions, respecting the intellectual property of others, and protecting your own research outputs, you contribute to a culture of innovation, knowledge sharing, and academic integrity. Embark on your journey of copyright literacy and become a copyright-conscious doctoral researcher, empowering yourself to make meaningful contributions to the world of knowledge.