What is Thesis Thursday?
Thursday 25 October is upon us: Thesis Thursday! This is the date chosen from within the wider Open Access community to promote good practice, share stories and boost awareness around Open Access theses.
This was partially prompted by the phenomenal impact of the release of Stephen Hawking’s PhD thesis last year. On 23 October 2017 “Properties of expanding universes” (1975) was made freely available to the public by means of Cambridge’s Open Access repository, Apollo. The then unknown postgraduate would later go on to become one of the world’s most recognisable scientists.
The opportunity to read online or download his thesis generated such seismic interest that it caused Cambridge’s repository website to crash – a pleasing implosion for Cambridge and for OA the world over!
And so brings us to us this day. Various institutions throughout today will be posting under the hashtags #ThesisThursday and #OAThesis on social media. There are events and blog posts scheduled throughout today to share information and good news stories about OA theses.
This blog post is part of our celebrations for Thesis Thursday. In addition, the OA Team has provided a range of training sessions this week on Open Access requirement for PGRs and copyright implications of your thesis. Make sure also to check out our Twitter account today!
Copyright and e-thesis training provided by OA team on 24 October
Students currently undertaking theses
It’s an exciting time to be embarking upon a thesis. All Postgraduate Research (PGR) students registered at Queen’s from September 2016 are required to upload an electronic copy of their thesis to Pure. This means it becomes a published work and is fully available on the Research Portal. This means it will be accessible to anyone with an internet connection and will generate greater exposure for your work. It will also mean there are certain copyright implications that be considered for your e-thesis.
If you are feeling confused or worried, do not fret! We have lots of helpful information, pointers and tips available on our ethesis libguide. The OA Team are here to help with advice and training. Get in touch with any queries!
Searching theses in the Research Portal
Meanwhile, check out our our Portal and have a browse of some of the existing theses which are fully Open Access. Think frogs are only for Halloween? Think again! Fascinating research into anti-cancer properties of frog skin. Feeling rickety? Worried you’re not getting enough Vitamin D? Answers are here! Want to know more about the phenomenon of the Kaapse Klopse carnival in Cape Town, or are you keen to chew over data on Northern Irish fisheries?
It’s all here! Free to read. Free to download. Going live!
#ThesisThursday #OAThesis #OAWeek