4.5 Theses Mandates

When compared to research publications populating repositories with theses found consensus without insurmountable issues of copyright and IPR. The audience for the thesis mandate comprises of graduate students within a college or institute or university setting. Usually the mandate states that the researcher must deposit a copy of the thesis from research work in the institutional repository giving non-exclusive rights to the university to disseminate its contents. Almost all of the mandates are very short, specifying only the kind of items to be deposited (including Master’s theses, PhD dissertations, or both).

Thesis mandates of US Universities:

  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 
  • Georgia State University 
  • Brandeis University 
  • San Jose State University 
  • Oregon State University 
  • Kansas State University 
  • University of Tennessee 
  • UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston 
  • California Institute of Technology 
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
  • University of Tennessee 
  • University of Florida

Thesis mandates of UK Universities:

  • University of Southampton 
  • Loughborough University 
  • University of Nottingham 
  • University of Sussex 
  • Brunel University 
  • University of Glasgow

4.5.1 Shodhganga: A Reservoir of Indian Theses

The UGC Notification (Minimum Standards & Procedure for Award of M.Phil. / Ph.D Degree, Regulation, 2009) dated 1st June 2009 mandates submission of electronic version of theses and dissertations by the researchers in universities with an aim to facilitate open access to Indian theses and dissertations to the academic community world-wide. Online availability of electronic theses through centrally-maintained digital repositories, not only ensure easy access and archiving of Indian doctoral theses but will also help in raising the standard and quality of research. As per the Regulation, the responsibility of hosting, maintaining and making the digital repository of Indian Electronic Theses and Dissertation (called "Shodhganga"37), accessible to all institutions and universities, is assigned to the INFLIBNET Centre.

Last modified: Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 12:17 PM