Rights to Dissertation/Thesis Data and Publication Authorship
In recent years, there has been a growing number of disputes on university campuses between faculty advisors and graduate
students involving ownership of data used in theses and dissertations and the authorship of publications resulting from
student/faculty efforts. Such conflicts generally arise because some students and faculty are not aware of academic traditions
in such matters, which vary from discipline to discipline. Further, there is confusion between ownership of data
(which may reside with the faculty) and use of such data in the thesis/dissertation, (the text of which normally resides
with the student). Support of the student and the research on a project where the major professor is also the project director,
and where the student is an employee doing "work for hire", may also abridge the rights of a student.
In order to
avoid possible disagreements on these matters, the Graduate Council now requires that the student and the faculty chair of the
student's thesis or dissertation committee discuss and arrive at a mutual agreement on a number of issues (written agreement
sample below). These are issues that involve: (a) possible copyright of the thesis/dissertation, (b) ownership of data to be
utilized by the student, and (c) publication rights and order of authorship on co-authored publications. The essential question
to be asked in formulating such agreements is whether the faculty member, acting as a major professor/thesis/dissertation
chair, is functioning mainly as an adviser to the student. In this case the origin of the research and design primarily comes
from student concepts and ideas. Contrast this situation to one where the student is gaining experience in the conduct of
research by working on a project primarily conceived by the faculty, and often supported by faculty efforts, freely
acknowledging the valuable contribution and original ideas coming from such student participation.
Such discussions
and agreements must be accomplished before the formal establishment of the student's thesis or dissertation committee and must
be attested to by the appropriate signatures. The Graduate Council recommends that any understanding or agreement that results
from such a meeting be committed in writing with copies going to the student, thesis or dissertation chair, and the appropriate
graduate program adviser. Therefore, the Appointment of Thesis/Project Committee Form has a second page dedicated for this
purpose (see the sample <
In general, it should be noted that the author of the thesis/dissertation holds the copyright to the manuscript, but that right
does not automatically extend to the data used in developing the manuscript. In many instances, an individual faculty member
may retain the primary interest in the data and appropriately claim senior co-authorship to any publication(s). This is
particularly true where students are working in laboratories established by efforts of the faculty and on projects which
are essentially faculty initiated, and where the student is closely supervised by a faculty member. Further, students may
surrender even their copyright interest by undertaking the research as "work for hire." Copyright laws are complex and
the parties involved may seek advice from the Graduate Division at 594-5139 in order to help reach equitable agreements.
For more information, see
Copyright of Dissertations and Theses.
