Online Publication of Doctoral Dissertations

For Those About to Submit a Doctoral Dissertation

Due to the revision of the Degree Regulations (MEXT Ordinance No. 5 of FY2013), doctoral dissertations are, in principle, required to be published online in full within one year after the degree is awarded, to promote digitization and open access of academic achievements.
Accordingly, doctoral dissertations submitted to graduate schools at Hokkaido University will be archived and made publicly available in HUSCAP as PDF files.

Contact Information

Regarding the Submission Procedure for Doctoral Dissertations

Please inquire with your respective graduate school or faculty.

Regarding Online Publication in HUSCAP

Please contact the hotline below.

Doctoral Dissertation Online Publication Consultation Hotline

If you have any concerns regarding copyright or publication, such as submissions to academic journals that prohibit duplicate publication, please contact us using the information below.
[Contact] Open Science Section, Scholarly Communication Division, Hokkaido University Library
Email: huscap [at] lib.hokudai.ac.jp

Information to Provide When Inquiring

• Name of your graduate school/faculty and department
• Concerns regarding publication (e.g., name of journal you plan to submit to, copyright issues)
• Copy of publishing contract or submission guidelines (if available)

Frequently Asked Questions About Online Publication

What should I do if I cannot publish my dissertation online?

If there is a valid reason, you may apply to your graduate school or faculty for approval to publish a summary in place of the full text and postpone full publication. Please consult your school for more details.

What qualifies as a “valid reason”?

Examples include:

• Inclusion of three-dimensional content or formats that are difficult to digitize
• Need to protect copyright or personal information
• Plans to publish in a journal that prohibits duplicate publication, pending patent applications, etc.

I plan to submit my dissertation content to an academic journal. What should I do?

Please check the submission guidelines of the target journal to confirm whether it counts as duplicate submission. If publishing the full text online may hinder publication, it may qualify as a valid reason for deferral. If the publisher or journal prohibits repository publication, or if you are planning to submit but have not decided on a journal yet, please consider applying to defer the online publication.

My dissertation includes an article already published in an academic journal. Is it okay to publish it online?

In many cases, the copyright of published articles belongs to the publisher or academic society. Therefore, you must check each publisher’s copyright policy regarding reuse and publication. If there are co-authors, you must also obtain consent from all of them for inclusion in and publication of the dissertation.

How can I check the copyright policy?

You can check it on the publisher’s website or through the submission contract (e.g., Copyright Transfer Agreement, License Agreement).
Phrases such as “Authors can use...” or “Rights retained by authors” may indicate that publication in institutional repositories like HUSCAP is allowed. The same applies to open access articles. If uncertain, please contact the publisher directly.

How should I contact the publisher?

Contact the address listed in the contract or the assigned editor, and clearly explain the following:

• Whether you can use the article in your dissertation (describe how it will be used)
• Whether you can publish the dissertation, including the article, online (in an institutional repository)

I included third-party charts or figures in my dissertation. Is it okay to publish it online?

If the use does not meet the requirements for fair use or citation, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. For details on citation, please refer to the following site from the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan):
Agency for Cultural Affairs Copyright Q&A

[Contact] Open Science Section, Scholarly Communication Division, Hokkaido University Library (huscap [at] lib.hokudai.ac.jp)