Public Access to Thesis and Dissertations

Memorandum No. FRN 15-038

Permission Marking on Title Page

All theses and dissertations will be classified as only one of the following:

1. I: has patentable or registrable invention or creation
2. P: author wishes to publish the work personally
3. C: confidential information of a third-party is embedded
4. F: a regular work, i.e., it has no patentable invention or creation, the author does not wish for personal publication, there is no confidential information.

The Title Page of a thesis or dissertation will include the above classification. Please refer to this example.

Policy on Public Access

1. All theses and dissertations classified as I, P, or C are automatically closed to the general public for one (1) year. Access to theses and dissertations classified as such shall be withheld from the general public by the respective college/unit library. The restricted thesis or dissertation shall be removed from the common areas.
2. Before the lapse of the one-year period, the author or the adviser may request extension of his/her right to withhold public access to the thesis/dissertation for a period of one (1) year, renewable every year, upon request. It shall be the responsibility of the author or the adviser to submit such requests to the College/Unit where the thesis/dissertation was submitted as a requirement.
3. Immediately after the lapse of the one-year period in Section 1 above, or the one-year extension in Section 2 above, the Libraries may then allow public access to the theses and dissertations by making the theses and dissertations available in their viewing areas, and the University may then exercise its right under the royalty-free, non-exclusive license granted pursuant to the Revised 2011 IPR Policy of UP to publish theses and dissertations.
4. For cases classified as “C”, the third-party will be asked to redact parts of the thesis/dissertation relating to their confidential information. Once the information has been redacted, the thesis/dissertation can be removed from observing the one year restriction on public access. It is the responsibility of the author and/or thesis adviser to ensure redaction of third-party confidential information.
5. All other theses and dissertations (F) are accessible to the public, subject to the University Library’s Policy on Access and Duplication.

Policy on access during restricted period

A restricted thesis/dissertation may still be accessed provided that the following conditions are met:

1. If the requesting party is a student, staff, researcher, or faculty of the University, a signed Conforme shall be submitted to the Library or College/Unit where access to the thesis/dissertation is being requested.
2. If the requesting party is not any of the abovementioned persons, i.e. not connected to the University, the following documents shall be submitted to the Library or the College/Unit where access to the thesis/dissertation is being requested:
   • A Non-Disclosure Undertaking signed and notarized by the requesting party, provided that one of the witnesses shall be from the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Unit (IPTTU) of the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD); and
   • A written permission from the author or the adviser. If neither can be contacted or reached, a written permission from the IPTTU of the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD).

The Library or College/Unit where access is being requested shall receive the required documents and transmit a copy to the IPTTU of OVCRD.

Guidelines on Restricted Theses and Dissertations

The college/unit library shall create a compilation of all theses and dissertations abstracts classified as “I”. The college/unit library shall submit the compilation to the IPTTU of the OVCRD every end of semester.

University Permission Page

The University Permission Page, immediately following the Title page, shall contain the following statement:

“I hereby grant the University of the Philippines a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and publicly distribute copies of this thesis or dissertation in whatever form subject to the provisions of applicable laws, the provisions of the UP IPR policy and any contractual obligations, as well as more specific permission marking on the Title Page.”

“Specifically I grant the following rights to the University:

1. To upload a copy of the work in the theses database of the college/school/institute/department and in any other databases available on the public internet
2. To publish the work in the college/school/institute/department journal, both in print and electronic or digital format and online; and
3. To give open access to above-mentioned work, thus allowing “fair use” of the work in accordance with the provision of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 8293), especially for teaching, scholarly and research purposes.”