DOCTORAL DEGREE PROGRAMME

Publishing the thesis

Academic theses must always be published (Section 86 (1) Universities Act, “duty to publish”). The main reason for this is that an academic thesis should also be subject to discussion within the scientific community and, moreover, the duty to publish is intended to prevent other forms of misconduct. This statutory obligation to publish cannot be overridden by an agreement with a company, institution, or third party.

Temporary bar on access to an academic thesis

On the occasion of submitting the positively assessed academic or artistic thesis, the author is entitled to request a temporary bar on access to the copies submitted to the library for a maximum of five years from the date of submission (Section 86 (4) Universities Act). This request must be granted by the Rector of Studies if the student can credibly demonstrate that important legal or economic interests of the student (and not those of a company, institution, or third party) are at risk. A temporary bar on access must be requested online via the campus system within two weeks of notification of the positive assessment. Applications submitted at a later date cannot be considered. Both the temporary bar on access and the period requested must be properly justified.

The “protection of personal data” (“privacy”) is not a valid argument for justifying the temporary bar on access to an academic thesis, because the obligation to protect personal data is generally for an indefinite period. Section 46 of the Data Protection Act sets out special provisions for the use of personal data in scientific or statistical research. In particular, any direct personal reference must be encrypted immediately if it is possible to make do with data that is only indirectly personal or anonymous during individual stages of the academic thesis or statistical work. See Section 7 of the Data Protection Act.

The mere reference to a confidentiality agreement with third parties (NDA) is not deemed sufficient to obtain a temporary bar on access to an academic thesis, because such confidentiality obligations are usually agreed for an indefinite period. In contrast, however, the academic thesis is publicly accessible after five years at the latest.

In the case of a doctoral thesis, the reasons stated in Section 86 (4) Universities Act for requesting the bar on access also include publication by a publishing house. If this is plausibly justified, the bar on access may be granted for a maximum of three years in this case.

A “Restriction Notice” may only be attached to an academic thesis by the Office of Academic and Examination Affairs and only with the Rector of Studies’ approval of the temporary bar on access.

Contact

Mag. Ulrike Eder-Jele
Office of Academic Affairs
+43 463 2700 1006
Ulrike [dot] Eder [at] aau [dot] at