I graduated this past May with my master's in a physical science. Since then, my thesis has been uploaded online by my university, with my copyright on the thesis. I was interested in publishing the results from my thesis in a scientific journal, but with this copyright, is that even possible now? What are the rules when it comes to this sort of thing?
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just because you write "copyright me" on a document, doesn't mean you actually get it. Whether or not you own the copyright will depend on the university's rules. So what do you mean "with my copyright on the thesis"? And are you asking whether the uploading by your university constitutes prior publication?– 410 goneCommented Sep 16, 2015 at 6:36
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@EnergyNumbers: Actually, you have the copyright for something you created even without writing “© me”.– Wrzlprmft ♦Commented Sep 16, 2015 at 7:49
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Voting to close as unclear what you are asking. Without knowing what is written in the copy right page of your thesis, it is hard to give precise answers to your question.– enthuCommented Sep 16, 2015 at 7:50
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@Wrzlprmft yes, and in some courses, the copyright gets transferred to the university. Either way, the question isn't very clear.– 410 goneCommented Sep 16, 2015 at 7:51
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@EnergyNumbers Yes, that is what I am asking.– StratixCommented Sep 25, 2015 at 20:57
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2 Answers
Generally, the agreement that you sign with a journal publisher is not just to allow publication, but rather to transfer ownership of the copyright to the publisher. After that point you don't own the copyright and can't publish the material your self except under the terms of the copyright transfer agreement. Some agreements are quite liberal while others are more strict.
However, most journal publishers specifically allow for the publication of papers that are substantially similar to parts of "published" MS theses and PhD dissertations- under this system you can still make copies of your thesis or dissertation freely available online. Furthermore many publishers are OK with theses or dissertations that basically consist of chapters that were previously published as papers in their journals. A few publishers (for example I believe that this was an issue with the American Chemical Society although they've updated their policy) have not allowed these practices.
In short, copyright is most likely not going to be an issue in publishing research papers based on your thesis.
Another issue that you didn't discuss in your question is rewriting the thesis material to fit into the short form of a journal article. Thesis chapters usually need to be significantly shortened for journal publication.
answered Sep 16, 2015 at 4:37
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This makes sense. And yes, I would have to trim down my thesis to make a journal, possibly two.– StratixCommented Sep 25, 2015 at 21:00
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If you transfer the copyright to them, ensure that you can use it for personal reference and other non-commercial reasons (e.g. attach to a resume). Also ensure that publication by your university is permitted so you don't get them in trouble for having posted it already.– MikePCommented Aug 23, 2016 at 17:57
The rules are: These days, in most countries, everything is copyrighted from the moment you write it; you don't need to explicitly "claim" copyright (though making it formal puts you in a better position to protest if someone uses it without permission). So you're in exactly the same position as anyone else who is considering publishing.
The publisher will either have you sign something giving them permission to publish, or will have some such agreement as part of the submission process. Read that carefully to make sure you're happy with it. If it claims more than you want to relinquish, try to negotiate changes before proceeding; if you can't, you'll have to decide whether to go looking for another publication venue.
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It's quite common to require the author to transfer ownership of the copyright to the publisher rather than simply giving permission to publish with the author retaining ownership of the copyright. Commented Sep 16, 2015 at 4:39
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It used to be more common to simply sell the copyright, throughout the publishing industry. It's becoming less so, and more negotiable.– keshlamCommented Sep 16, 2015 at 5:16