university of birmingham phd theses

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How to submit the final version of your PhD thesis

At the end of the examination process all successful PhD and MPhil candidates are required to submit the final version of their thesis to the appropriate College Postgraduate Office.

COVID-19 Update

The requirement for one hard copy thesis to be submitted has been waived during the current circumstances which require remote working for most staff/students. Submission of PhD theses will be electronic only.  A signed declaration is not required in the final version when the submission is deposited in Pure.  This concession from the regulations about physical thesis submission will continue for the foreseeable future, and will be reviewed by Academic Services once the pandemic is over. 

Before you submit your thesis

The University has an expectation that a PhD thesis is a document available for public consultation. As such, unless a legitimate reason for restricting access to the thesis exists, all PhD theses will be made publicly available on the internet via the Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA).

It is highly recommended that you discuss with your primary supervisor the implications of publishing your thesis online in ERA . If your thesis contains confidential or sensitive data it may not be appropriate to make the full text freely available online. Similarly if there is the intention to publish the whole, or extracts from, your thesis you may want to restrict access to the electronic version.

Submitting the PDF version

• Go to Pure and log in with your EASE account
• Click on the green ‘Add new’ button on the top right and select ‘Doctoral Thesis’, or alternatively click on ‘Student theses’ on the left-hand-side navigation bar followed by ‘Doctoral Thesis’
• The record should be auto-populated with most of your thesis award information. Please check for completeness, and add in the title of your thesis in the appropriate box.
• Upload your electronic thesis files by clicking on the ‘Add document’ button. If you require an embargo for the PDF add the date and reason in the appropriate boxes. The initial embargo length is one year from date of graduation. The date will be checked by Library staff and changed if a different value is added without permission.
• Please remove any signatures, personal postal and email addresses from the PDF version.
• Upload your Access to Thesis form alongside your thesis files.
• Supplementary data can be added alongside the thesis text. Change the ‘Type’ to ‘Supplementary materials’ and upload the files as described above. The record Visibility needs to be set to ' Backend - Restricted to Pure users ' 
• To finish, set the status to ' Entry in progress ', click the blue ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the screen and the submission is ready for validation by college office staff.

Submitting the final hardbound version is not required

Submission of PhD theses is now electronic only - see the steps above.

Data preservation and sharing

If your thesis has supplementary data (for example images, videos, source code or analytical data) we would like to store a copy of this data alongside the thesis text. We do this to try and preserve the fullest record of the work as possible. Datasets should be supported by good accompanying documentation which is appropriate to your subject discipline. The UK Data  Service offers some specialist advice in this area. We do not routinely allow public access to this data; however, if you wish to share your data with others we recommend the Edinburgh DataShare service.

Edinburgh Datashare

If you have a lot of supplementary files - for example lots of images, data in multiple spreadsheets or video formats - we don't recommend depositing them in PURE. Instead, contact the Scholarly Communications Team and we can advise the best way to send them to us.

Redacting material from your thesis

If you wish to make your thesis available to the public to consult, but there are  problematic elements that cannot be openly shared then it is possible to submit a redacted version. We typically recommend partial thesis redactions are suitable for the following scenarios:

Third-party copyright

Where third party copyright has not been obtained, students may submit an edited thesis, as an alternative to requesting an embargo. 

Sensitive material 

If the thesis contains confidential or sensitive information, e.g. transcripts of interviews, which cannot be shared or anonymised.

Photographs

If your thesis contains photographs of people and you do not have their permission to publish their image online.

It is possible to design your thesis in a way which means the problematic material is easy to remove. For example, if you are planning to use a large number of photographs, you could layout your thesis with the photographs in a separate appendix which can be  easily removed.

Students who have chosen to submit a redacted version of their thesis would also need to submit a full unedited copy which will be securely kept stored by the Library. This is important to preserve the integrity of the academic record of the University. Both versions of the files should be uploaded to the Thesis Module in Pure with the files clearly named to differentiate between the two. We recommend the following file naming convention:

<Last name><First initial>_<Year>_COMPLETE    

<Last name><First initial>_<Year>_REDACTED

e.g. SmithJ_2023_COMPLETE.pdf  

Reasons for requesting an embargo period

If the redaction option is not possible then students are permitted to embargo their thesis under certain conditions described below:

Planned publication

Normally a longer embargo period may be granted when there are firm publication plans in place, e.g. where a manuscript has been submitted to a publisher and is in a formal stage of publication (submitted, accepted, in press). Vague plans for publication are not normally accepted.

Commercial confidentiality

There may be contractual restrictions imposed by a sponsor, which could include industrial sponsors or governmental agencies.

Patent application

Patent applications can be rejected by the premature publication of research. Where the research might lead to a commercial application or patent then we recommend that the Intellectual Property needs to be protected.

Contains personal data

Where a thesis contains personally identifiable or ethically sensitive data or where material obtained in the thesis was obtained under a guarantee of confidentiality we would consider placing an embargo. These issues should have been addressed at an early stage of the research project.

Where third party copyright has not been obtained, students may submit an edited thesis, as an alternative to requesting an embargo. They would also need to submit an unedited hard copy which will be secured kept.

Publication could endanger health and safety or prejudice national security

The thesis contains sensitive material (political or otherwise) which could put at risk the authors or participants if made openly available. These issues should have been addressed at an early stage of the research project.

How to request a Thesis Restriction

How to request a 12 month embargo.

You can restrict access to the electronic version of your thesis for one year without any special permissions. If an embargo is required, this must be indicated on the Access to Thesis form, otherwise, the thesis may be made publicly available. This form should be deposited in Pure alongside the full text of the thesis.

At the end of the embargo period, the University is under no obligation to contact you about extending the period of restriction. If towards the end of your embargo period you have any concerns that the forthcoming public availability of your thesis would be problematic please contact the Library ( [email protected] ) and the Scholarly Communications Team will be able to help.

Embargo requests longer than 12 months

Requests for embargoes that exceed 12 months starting from the date the work is added to the Library’s collection require Head of School approval and must be accompanied by a clear rationale as to why a longer period is required. Complete Section 2 of the Access to a Thesis form to request an extended embargo. Extended embargoes beyond five years will not normally be approved unless there are very exceptional reasons. Normally any relevant evidence to support a request for an extended embargo should be attached to the request, e.g. publishing contract or correspondence from industrial sponsors.

Click here to download the  ACCESS TO THESIS & PUBLICATION OF ABSTRACT FORM  , or visit the general  Doctoral Thesis Submission webpages for more information.

Further help and information

Scholarly Communications Team

Contact details.

• Email: [email protected]

Information Services Floor F East, Argyle House 3 Lady Lawson Street

Availability

You can book a one-to one video consultation with an expert from our team. If you want to find out more about open access (journals, funding, policies etc ), Copyright & Intellectual Property, General publishing activities (request an ISBN or DOI), or research metrics (using Web Of Science or Scopus) please contact our team via email to book a session at a time that suits you.

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Submitting your thesis

How to submit examination copies of your thesis.

You are not required to submit printed copies of your thesis as the examination will be conducted using an electronic copy of your thesis obtained from the copy you submit for the plagiarism check via Canvas. For details on how to submit via Canvas, please contact the PGR administrator in your School.

On submission of your thesis for the plagiarism check, please send an email to  [email protected]  with “ELECTRONIC THESIS SUBMISSION” and your ID number in the subject field.  In the email you should confirm the date that you submitted your thesis for the plagiarism check (attaching a receipt if you have one) and attach the documents detailed in the 'Forms for submission' section below'.

If you have any concerns about the quality of the copy you have submitted for the plagiarism check please advise Research Student Administration. If the examiners specifically request a printed copy, Research Student Administration will contact you and you will then be required to submit a printed copy.

On submitting your thesis for examination you are required to complete a declaration form confirming the word length of your thesis. You should therefore be aware of the maximum word length for your thesis. See  Regulation 7.4.2 (d).

The stated maximum number of words excludes tables, diagrams (including associated legends), appendices, list of references, footnotes and endnotes, the bibliography and any bound published material. For information on referencing styles see the  iCite – referencing at the University of Birmingham  webpages.

A thesis that exceeds the maximum number of words will not be accepted for examination unless permission to exceed the stated word count has been granted by the Research Progress & Awards Sub Panel. Permission to exceed the stated word count is only granted in exceptional circumstances. If you consider that you will not be able to meet the stated word limited, you are advised to discuss this with your supervisor at an early stage.

Plagiarism check

Before you are ready to submit your thesis for examination you are advised to contact your College/School PGR administrator for information on the process to be followed for submitting the examination copy of your thesis for the plagiarism check.

The date you submit your thesis for the plagiarism check will be recorded as your actual thesis submission date. Unless you have been granted early submission, this must be after the end of your minimum period of registration and on or before the end of your maximum period of registration.

If you find that you are unable to submit by the end of your maximum period of study you must apply for an extension .

Forms needed for submission

Please ensure that you submit a Notice of Intention to Submit form (Word - 40KB) at least three months before you plan on submitting your thesis. Details of the intention to submit process can be found on the notice of intention to submit webpage.

On submission of your thesis for the plagiarism check, please send an email to [email protected] with “ELECTRONIC THESIS SUBMISSION” and your ID number in the subject field.  In the email you should confirm the date that you submitted your thesis for the plagiarism check (attaching a receipt if you have one) and attach the following documents:

• Declarations form (Word - 31KB) To declare that the work you are submitting is your own to confirm the word length of your thesis, that the examination copy is an exact copy of the copy submitted to Turnitin and to declare whether you have used a third party editor. Please see thesis word limits.

The University holds degree congregations in July and December each year. The degree congregation choice form advises us of your choice for conferrment of your degree and whether you wish to:

attend the degree congregation and have your degree conferred in person; or

have your degree conferred in absence and your certificate posted to you after the degree congregations have been held; or

defer graduation until the next set of degree congregations

For futher information and  Terms and Conditions , please see the  Confirming your Graduation preference  web page.

• Third party declaration form (Word - 21KB)  (if applicable). Please see the statement on editorial help for postgraduate research theses (Word - 36KB)  for further information.

If you cannot submit by the deadline

You may apply to the Research Progress & Awards Sub Panel for an extension to your maximum period of study.

Further information and an extension request form and guidance notes can be found at on the  extensions web page .

Length of time taken to examine thesis

Your thesis will be sent to the examiners once Research Student Administration have received confirmation that the thesis is fit for examination (outcome of the plagiarism check) and the nominated examiners have been approved. The Research Student Administration team will formally notify you by email when your thesis has been sent to the examiners and this will include the names of the examiners and the chairperson for the viva.

It is normally expected that the examination process will take approximately two months. However, it should be stressed that this is dependent on individual examiners and their availability, and therefore it may not always be possible for the examination to be concluded within this timeframe.

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