Submitting an Electronic Thesis to ProQuest

ProQuest offers students two publishing options for theses, Traditional Publishing or Open Access Publishing PLUS.

Traditional Publishing

There is no cost for this option. Your thesis will only be made available by ProQuest through their ProQuest Dissertations and Theses subscription database and for sale through their Dissertations Express service. Authors are entitled to royalties for these sales as set out on the full Traditional Publishing Agreement.

• The thesis will not be freely available in PQDT Open. 
• There is no fee charged.
• The author is eligible to receive royalties.
• The thesis will be available for purchase through ProQuest.
• The thesis will appear in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, a subscription database.
• A record for the thesis (may include citation, abstract, preview, etc.) will appear in other ProQuest resources, in library catalogs and in indexes such as ABI, Art Bibliographies Modern. Ebsco and others.

Open Access PLUS

Theses are made available through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses subscription database and through the PQDT Open platform that allows anyone with Internet access to access and download the thesis for free. 

• The thesis will be freely available in PQDT Open.
• The author waives rights to receive royalties.
• The thesis will be available for purchase through ProQuest. 
• The thesis will appear in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, a subscription database, and in PQDT Open 
• A record of the thesis (may include citation, abstract, preview, etc.) will appear in other ProQuest resources, in library catalogs and in indexes such as ABI, Art Bibliographies Modern. Ebsco and others.

Comparison of the two options

As part of the ProQuest thesis submission process you will have the option to pay for ProQuest to register your thesis for US Copyright on your behalf and deposit the necessary copies for you with the Copyright Office. The cost is $55.
Registration offers certain legal benefits if someone infringes on your copyright and you wish to bring suit. 

More information is available in the "Optional Copyright Registration" section of this page:http://www.proquest.com/products-services/dissertations/submitting-dissertation-proquest.html

• How do I get copyright for my thesis/dissertation?
  
  As the author of a thesis or dissertation, you own the copyright to your work.  Under U.S. Copyright law, a creator of an "original work" created in a "fixed tangible medium" is immediately and automatically the copyright owner of the work, and your work is protected. 

• Do I need to register my work with the U.S. Copyright Office?
  
  As stated above, your thesis or dissertation is automatically protected under copyright.  However, there are some important practical and legal benefits to registering your copyright, particularly the right to collect "statutory damages" in a successful infringement lawsuit.  Essentially, if at some point you might want to take legal action in order to protect your work, you should register it with the U.S. Copyright Office. 

• How do I register my work?
  
  In the course of this submission, you can request that ProQuest/UMI file for copyright with the U.S. Copyright on your behalf.  ProQuest charges a $55 fee for this service.You can also do the filing yourself directly through U.S. Copyright Office at copyright.gov.  You will be charged a $35 registration fee.

• When do I need to get permission to use copyrighted materials in my ETD?
  
  For help understanding fair use, please see the Fair Use section on the following guides:
  • Finding and Using Images: Fair Use
  • Citation and Copyright: Fair Use

The information in this section is adapted and expanded from "Submitting Electronic Theses and Dissertations to ProQuest" from the Regent University Library.