As an author, you retain copyright of your work. This means you have the right to:

• Make copies of your work
• Distribute your work in any form you want to anyone you want
• Create new works (such as articles or books) based on your research
• Perform or display your work publicly
• Grant any of these rights to anyone you choose

WesternU does not require you to transfer your copyright to us, but does ask you to grant us a non-exclusive right to archive your work and make it accessible to others. (Non-exclusive means that you can also grant this right to others. For example, you could post your work on a personal website or in a repository dedicated to your type of research.) We currently use CONTENTdm for this purpose, which is currently accessible to everyone at WesternU. We eventually plan to make this collection fully searchable on the open internet and accessible to everyone, but when we do, you will have a choice whether to make your work accessible to everyone or only the WesternU community.

If you need or wish to delay public viewing of your work, you can request an embargo for between one and three years.

What is an embargo?

An embargo is a delay in the release of the full text of your work. Only the abstract will be viewable.

Why might I want an embargo?

• You plan to rework your thesis or dissertation as an article for publication
• Your work involves innovative or proprietary ideas and you want to submit for a patent
• Your work is part of a larger project that is not yet ready to go public
• Your adviser recommends you choose an embargo

How long of an embargo period can I choose?

• You have a variety of embargo options in ProQuest. If you submit through ProQuest, you can also choose to delay the release of your work to CONTENTdm, where the library makes your work available to the WesternU community.

An explanation of the submission process can be found here. When you're ready to submit, you can go straight to the ProQuest submission page.

If you are submitting a DNP scholarly project or dissertation via ProQuest, you will be asked to accept the WesternU Publishing Agreement at that time. Your work will then also be added to CONTENTdm, where the library collects WesternU theses and dissertations.​

Ready to submit? For your convenience, use the submission checklist below to make sure everything is complete.

Since your thesis will be accessible online, please make sure that you do not include any personally identifiable information (such as signatures, date or city of birth, email address, etc.) about your or anyone else in your vita or appendices.