Doctoral candidates at The University of Western Ontario have a new option for submitting theses and dissertations for examination that will make their research available to scholars around the world.
Beginning August 1, the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Project will allow Western’s PhD candidates to submit their work electronically through Scholarship@Western, Western’s digital library repository.
A joint project of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Western Libraries, this initiative will give Western ETDs priority in many search engines, enabling scholars worldwide to access the research. Previously, theses and dissertations were submitted in hard copy, a process that was time consuming and didn’t guarantee the information would be available electronically.
“This marks a real advance for graduate studies at Western,” said Michael Milde, Associate Vice-Provost (Academic Program Review) in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. “Our scholars will benefit from both the simplified process for submitting their work and the expanded exposure that results from electronic publication.”
According to Library and Archives Canada, the increase in citation impact that results from electronic publishing ranges from 50-250 percent and leads to increased rewards from universities and granting agencies. Additionally, it helps raise the profile of research institutions and brings research to market almost immediately.
“With electronic publishing, research becomes as widely disseminated as possible, as soon as possible,” said Cary Daniel, Associate Knowledge Management Librarian at D.B Weldon Library. “This enables the research to be studies and appreciated as it is accessed around the world.”
A full overview of the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Project can be found here.