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Scholarly Communication

A guide to scholarly communication resources available through the FGCU Library.

Copyright and Your Thesis

Congratulations on completing your thesis or dissertation! This is an important part of your scholarly record. We want to ensure you maintain your rights as an author and help preserve your research in DigitalFGCU.

Copyright 101

1. You own what you create.

2. Copyright is automatic. You don’t have to register for it.

3. Copyright is actually a bundle of rights.

  • Reproduce copies
  • Make derivative works
  • Distribute copies
  • Perform publicly
  • Display publicly

Be careful when signing any publishing agreement, including when submitting your thesis to ProQuest. Publishers only legally need a license to publish and not a full transfer of copyright. Negotiate your publishing agreements if you publish your thesis or chapters of your dissertation.

Top Tip: Use Altmetrics

You'll receive a digital object identifier (DOI) when your thesis or dissertation is archived in DigitalFGCU. You can use the DOI to track the attention your research receives with altmetrics. Learn more about altmetrics.