The University of California (“University”) is committed to disseminating research and scholarship conducted at the University as widely as possible. Such commitment encompasses the scholarship generated by the University’s graduate students. The University affirms the long-standing tradition that theses and dissertations, which represent significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge and the scholarly record, should be shared with scholars in all disciplines and the general public. To that end, this policy extends the principles of the University’s existing open access policies – including the Academic Senate’s policy dated July 24, 2013 and the systemwide Presidential policy dated October 23, 2015, and local open access policies already adopted at some University campuses – to theses and dissertations prepared by the University’s graduate students at all University locations.

Policy Requirements

This policy requires theses or dissertations prepared at the University to be:

1. deposited into an open access repository, and
2. freely and openly available to the public, subject to a requested delay of access (“embargo”) obtained by the student.

The policy does not affect students’ copyright ownership rights in their theses or dissertations.

For more information please download the policy outline.