Release and publication of your research results

At the time of your initial submission, you will be asked to grant Université Laval a non-exclusive license authorizing it to archive and publish your Master's or Doctoral thesis. This is done through the Université Laval Library and Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Master's and Doctoral theses are made available online within a few weeks.

The non-exclusive license granted to Université Laval does not alter the intellectual property of your work, and you remain the copyright owner of your Master's or Doctoral thesis.

Non-exclusive Master’s or Doctoral thesis license (DOC) (FESP-102)

When warranted by special circumstances, the release of a Master’s or Doctoral thesis may be postponed or suspended for the following reasons:

Release Postponed

A restriction of the release for the duration of one year following the final submission and renewable once, may be granted for the following reasons:

• Release conditional to a Declaration Regarding the Confidentiality of Work and the Results of an Essay, a Dissertation or a Thesis
• Patent application
• Publication of a book on the basis of a Master’s or Doctoral thesis

To have your thesis under embargo, complete and submit the Request for Release Restriction (PDF) at the time of initial submission, together with the appropriate justifications and relevant documents, including any agreement restricting the release of the Master's or Doctoral thesis.

Suspension of the publication of a Master's or a Doctoral thesis

In exceptional cases, a Master's or a Doctoral thesis may be withheld from open access for a longer period, where its release constitutes:

• a threat to the security of an individual
• a threat to national security
• major harm to a natural or legal person
• an important risk of another nature
• or could infringe a law or regulation.

To request that your Master's or Doctoral thesis be kept confidential, complete the Request for suspension of the application of article 2.45 of the Academic Regulations concerning free access to Master's theses and Doctoral theses form (PDF) (in French only), giving all the reasons which warrant the request and the length of time requested.

Following analysis of your request, the FESP will determine the duration of the suspension of open access release that it authorizes.

Any request to withdraw a Master's or a Doctoral thesis that has already been released must be addressed to the FESP. If the request is accepted, access to the document will be suspended, but the associated bibliographic record will remain accessible. A note specifying that the item has been withdrawn will be added to the record.

With the release of your Master's or Doctoral thesis comes the obligation to respect the copyrights and take into account assigned rights and licences for each protected document you have used. You must obtain written permission from all authors for uses beyond fair use (available in French only) if a chapter or appendix of your Master's or Doctoral thesis contains:

• One or more excerpts from a document that you have not written or have not exclusively written (published or unpublished paper, map, text, illustration, etc.)
• A paper or papers that you have produced in collaboration with one or more coauthors.

In addition, if a paper has been published or is subject to a publication agreement, permission from the publisher house may also be required for it to be used in the Master's or Doctoral thesis, unless such permission has already been provided for in the publication agreement.  The Bureau du droit d'auteur can help you.

Additionnally, once the publisher has granted permission for the the published paper to be included in the thesis, authorization from the co-authors is no longer required.

Publication of your research content is, of course, permitted and encouraged. In most cases, publications take the form of journal papers corresponding to chapters or parts of the thesis or dissertation, or a book containing the full text.

Publication during your studies (before evaluation)

You’ll only be required to publish during your studies if this is one of your program goals.

Published papers must mention:

• The name of the University and the context in which your research was conducted
• The name of your research supervisor

Papers that you first author, cofirst author or exceptionally co-author, may be included in your thesis or dissertation later. Make sure that your manuscript conforms to all specific requirements of the article-based thesis, and that the publisher has granted permission.The Bureau du droit d'auteur can help you.

Publication following evaluation

Before you graduate

Publication of all or part of a thesis or dissertation cannot be a requirement for awarding a degree.

But it is to your advantage to publish the results of your research as soon as possible. You will usually receive assistance and advice from your supervisor or someone who has collaborated on your research.

After you graduate

You don’t need your supervisor’s permission to publish your thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, after graduation. If you do, however, you are expected to:

• Indicate the context in which the research was conducted by mentioning:
  • The name of the University
  • The name of your research supervisor
  • The degree obtained

Respect copyright and not restrict the rights of Université Laval as set out in the Université Laval Intellectual Property Regulations (available in French only), in the Policy on Responsible Conduct of Research, Creation and Innovation at Université Laval (PDF available in French only) and in Non-exclusive Master’s or Doctoral thesis license (DOC) (FESP-102). The Bureau du droit d'auteur can help you.