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Honors Thesis Guide

Submitting to the Digital Conservancy

The University Digital Conservancy provides permanent online access to academic works produced at the University. Benefits of placing your thesis in the conservancy include:

  • Free, public accessibility
  • Long-term storage and preservation
  • Improved rankings in search engine results
  • A direct, public URL for reference in resumes, applications, CVs, etc.

Submission Process

To have your honors thesis placed in the Digital Conservancy, you must submit the following forms to the honors office:

  1. a signed copy of the Digital Conservancy Deposit Agreement
  2. a Digital Conservancy Agreement Addendum signed by your faculty thesis advisor. At the discretion of your thesis advisor, signatures of additional readers or research contributors may be required.

After receiving these forms, the honors program will submit your thesis to the Digital Conservancy within a few months. Upon submission, you will receive instructions on how to access the digital copy of your thesis.

Further Submission Considerations

You may not want to submit your honors thesis to the conservancy if it:

  • Contains sensitive data or information about potentially patentable inventions
  • Is something you may want to commercially publish
  • Involved other authors, collaborators, or advisors who have not granted their permission for you to submit.

Visit the Digital Conservancy website for more details.

Frequently-Asked Questions

Will my honors thesis be available in the University Libraries?

The Digital Conservancy version of your thesis will serve as the University’s official and permanent copy. There will not be a physical copy available in the University Libraries.

What if I choose not to submit my thesis in the Digital Conservancy?

The University Honors Program will keep an electronic copy of your thesis for a limited time. It will not be available publicly or on the Internet.

Will choosing not to submit affect the approval and/or grade of my thesis?

No. Submitting your thesis to the conservancy is completely optional and has no bearing on grades, the acceptance of your thesis, or your graduation.

Will submitting my thesis affect my ability to publish it elsewhere?

It might. Some academic journals have policies against publishing previously printed or archived work. Consult your thesis advsior or the honors office if you have questions about this.

Who holds the copyright to my thesis?

Your work will be protected by U.S. copyright law to the same extent it would be if it were on a shelf in the library or University archives. The deposit agreement gives University Libraries rights to store, preserve, and make your work available to the public, but you still hold the rights to publish and distribute it as you see fit.

What if my thesis includes images, videos, or other non-PDF materials?

Materials in formats other than PDF may be submitted to the Digital Conservancy; however, the level of preservation support provided for such works varies. To learn more, view the conservancy’s preservation policy.

Can my thesis be removed from the Digital Conservancy if I change my mind later?

No. If you are in doubt, you may want to consider not submitting your thesis to the conservancy.


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