Q. I am completing a thesis by prior publication. What do I need to know about copyright?

A thesis by prior publication, where your thesis incorporates articles you have already published or submitted for publication, involves the same copyright obligations as any thesis containing published work.

You need to manage copyright at two separate points: before you publish each article, and before you deposit your thesis.

Before you submit an article to a journal

This is the most important moment for protecting your thesis rights.

• Read the author agreement carefully before signing. Check specifically what rights you retain as an author and whether the agreement permits you to reproduce the work in a thesis.
• Check whether the journal explicitly allows thesis inclusion. Some agreements contain a thesis exception clause; others do not.
• Check whether you retain rights to the accepted manuscript under the journal's Green Open Access policy, and whether any embargo period applies.
• If the agreement does not include a thesis reuse clause, ask the publisher to add one before you sign. It is much harder to negotiate this retrospectively.

Before you deposit your thesis

• Check the publisher's policy for each article individually, policies vary between publishers and even between journals from the same publisher.
• Use only the version of each article that your agreement or the publisher's policy permits. 
• Ensure each article is accompanied by the required publication statement and, where applicable, a co-author attribution statement.
• Review any third-party copyright material within your articles, permission granted for journal publication does not automatically extend to your thesis. Each article may contain figures, tables, or images that require separate clearance for the thesis deposit.
• Compile all permissions, licences, and publisher agreements into a single PDF to upload with your thesis submission, together with a completed CDU Copyright Material Log.

If you did not retain thesis reuse rights at the time of publication, you may still be able to request retrospective permission from the publisher. Contact the CDU Library Copyright Officer for guidance before your deposit deadline.