Theses collection: the process explained

The following points outline the basic process of theses submission to the Library collection:

• HDR students are required to submit a copy of their thesis to the library. Students undertaking research projects as part of Masters by coursework or Honours are not required to do this. The library has occasionally received Masters by coursework and Honours theses, but this is extremely rare.
• Theses (print or electronic) cannot be submitted directly to the library. All theses have to be submitted with the appropriate paperwork to the HDRO. This includes alumni wishing to submit electronic copies of their thesis several years after completion.
• From 2011 HDR students have been required to submit both a print and digital copy of their thesis to the library. Prior to 2011 submission of the digital copy was optional.
• Theses are submitted to the Higher Degree Research Office (HRDO) along with the appropriate paperwork. The digital thesis submission form can be found online at http://www.mq.edu.au/on_campus/library/forms/
• The HDRO collects submitted theses and checks the appropriate forms are completed and that the degree has been conferred. Theses are sent to the library as a batch every 3-6 months. Print and electronic theses are usually sent separately.
• Once received by the library print thesis are managed by the Collection Development teams, digital thesis are managed by the Research & Scholarly Information team. Queries should be forwarded to the appropriate team.
• Once an electronic thesis is received by the R&SI team processing it into ResearchOnline can take several months depending on what copyright/permission checks are required and also current team workload and priorities. R&SI can prioritise processing of a specific thesis if requested to do so.

Information from Josephine Morton, 8/7/13 & 2/09/13.

Request to copy pages from a thesis and post them to the client

The answer depends on the status of the client.


If they are a Macquarie distance education student or staff member they could have the copy posted to them. They would need to make a distance education request, pre-pay for the copying and sign the necessary forms. The cost is 15c per page. There is no postal charge. The turnaround time for the photocopying is 24 hours, but a number of days would have to be added for organizing payment and the filling in of forms.


If they are a Macquarie non-distance student or staff member, they could collect the copy from the Library so we would not post it to them.


If they are not a Macquarie student or staff member we could post the copy to another library but not direct to them. They would need to make a request to the interlibrary loans section of another library for a copy of the thesis. The cost is $110 including postage. The turnaround time is approximately two weeks (the theses have to be sent away for a master copy to be made).


Information supplied by Document Supply/Distance Education via email 13/1/2012

Access to Digital Theses

There is a growing trend to digitise theses, so when students request information about our physical collection of theses (all located in the ARC), let them know about other theses services.

Go to the Library homepage.
Click Databases.
Under Browse Databases by Subject, you will find the heading 'theses' in the alphabetical list.
Click it.

This is a range of accessible theses collections that may be of use to postgraduates wanting formatting examples, and all students interested in possible references for assignments. Check the summaries of each databases to confirm if they contain full-text digital theses or only abstracts, and the year full-text commenced.

NB: There are restrictions on the use and copying of theses. Refer to other posts in this Blog for more information - write the word thesis in the Search this Blog search bar on the top left of the MQ Library Knowledge Base homepage.

Trove and Australasian Digital Theses (ADT)

The Australasian Digital Theses site closed in 2011. All access is now through Trove.

Trove is located at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ and you can access it through the library Database page via Browse Databases by Name - select T and scroll to Trove.

To search specifically for theses in Trove:
1. Selected Advanced Search (located under Search button)
2. Limit your results to - Format - Thesis
3. Enter thesis title or author/title combination or keywords in search bars

More specific information about the closure of ADT and ways to find theses are available at: http://www.caul.edu.au/caul-programs/australasian-digital-theses/finding-theses

Thesis by Publication or Thesis by Papers

Postgraduates may come the Information Desk asking for a 'thesis by papers'. We call them 'thesis by publication', and this phrase is found on the full record in the Notes field.

The term Thesis by Publication means that the student has used a series of published articles (published by self or self/supervisor), with additional bridging material, to write the thesis.

On the Quick Search page of the Catalogue:
Limit by Thesis in Quick Limit box
Do a Keyword (Boolean) search: thesis and publication and (your subject eg linguistics)

On the Advanced Search page of the Catalogue:
Enter thesis by publication as a phrase (ie change the first down arrow box to "as a phrase") and leave the second box on Keywords.
Click Search.
All thesis in this category (in all subjects) will come up. (As of this date there were 113 theses).
Use the second search box, should you wish, to limit by subject.

NB: This is a less common way of undertaking a thesis, so the selection in any subject area may be low.

Thesis Supervisor

Should a client ask about identifying a Thesis Supervisor, you can do so on the catalogue for 2008 + theses.

The information is located on the full record of the thesis, so use the Advance Search screen.
Enter the Supervisor name and then click the down arrow on the Ketword search bar. The last option is 'Thesis Supervisor'.

There are no plans to update older thesis records on the catalogue.

Location of Physical Theses

All physical theses held by the Library are located in the Arc.

Thesis and Closed Access copying requests - clarification of what we can do

What can be copied and into what format when dealing with Thesis and Closed Access material depends on the criteria under which the request is made: eg: by Library staff or clients, under which set of copyright laws, and considering the format of the material (electronic or physical).

Please be very careful to ensure that you select the correct option according to the specific query. We cannot waive legal requirements if asked to do so.


1. Requests from Library staff to copy Theses for Library purposes, e.g. Document Supply or Research & Scholarly Information
If any request is received from these teams, theses can be copied in full, and saved onto a Library shared drive.
These requests are made under relevant provisions of the Copyright Act and the staff should only place requests where they know these are covered.

2. Requests from clients to copy Theses for research and study purposes
If any request is received from a client, the thesis can be copied in full but the client must only receive a print copy of the thesis.
Copying onto a USB or supplying the copy to the student in electronic form is not allowed. This is designated as ‘format shifting’ and is not covered by the private research and study provisions of the Copyright Act.
If an electronic copy is made to provide the print copy, the electronic copy can be given to the Research & Scholarly Information team who will try and get permission to make the copy available electronically through ResearchOnline.

3. Requests from Library staff to copy Closed Access material
If any request is received from the Research & Scholarly Information team to copy such an item in full is allowed. These requests would be made under the provisions we have for ERA purposes.
If any request is received from the Document Supply team to copy such an item in full this should also be allowed. They will be copying it under one of the relevant Document Supply provisions.

4. Requests from clients to copy Closed Access material
Copies for clients can only be made under the private research and study rule which means normally only 10% or 1 chapter can be copied. The copy has to be supplied in print form. The copy can not be provided on a USB or other electronic form.
If the item is out-of-print, copy of the whole publication might be allowed. However you have to have proof of this out-of-print status and you can not just rely on the client’s information.

Information provided by Fiona Burton and Maxine Brodie.