Master's Theses

Master's theses created by Cal Poly students are submitted to Kennedy Library and become part of the library's collection for unrestricted use via DigitalCommons@CalPoly, Cal Poly's institutional repository. Electronic theses can be accessed at http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/

Questions?

Call Karen Beaton in Collection Development, Kennedy Library at (805) 756-2535 or email kbeaton@calpoly.edu

Overview of Thesis Submission Process

  1. Secure final approval of your thesis content from your academic department committee
  2. Pay the thesis preservation fee to University Cashier
  3. Secure final style and format approval of your thesis from the Office of Research and Graduate Programs
  4. Upload the approved thesis to DigitalCommons@CalPoly using the upload instructions (PDF download).
  5. Thesis is made public on the DigitalCommons@CalPoly site by the Office of Research and Graduate Programs

For more detailed information on the submission process, please visit the Research and Graduate Programs Office website.

Binding Options

An optional step is having a paper copy of your thesis bound for your own use. You can contact binding vendors, such as HF Group's online Thesis On Demand binding service, directly. Kennedy Library no longer requires deposit of bound copies.

Author Rights

As the author of the thesis, you retain all rights to the work, granting the university a non-exclusive license upon deposit in the DigitalCommons@CalPoly. The license confirms that you, as the creator and contributor of your work, grant the university permission to share your work in an open-access digital environment, which is intended for educational purposes. You and any co-authors retain all intellectual property rights to your work. If you submit material for which you do not own copyright, you certify that you have obtained permission from the copyright owner make your materials available online. You are giving the university permission to make your work available to all users and to migrate it to accessible formats as necessary. Requests for use of your work for purposes other than education will be referred back to you as copyright holder.

Our Services

Kennedy Library preserves, promotes, and provides intellectual access to these materials by:

  1. Aggregating master's theses and sharing them in an open-access environment
  2. Creating bibliographic records for master's theses, which are uploaded to international bibliographic utilities
  3. Determining the format in which theses are preserved for future use

Changes to master's theses are not permitted after the materials have been submitted to Kennedy Library. The library does not host web sites or retain three-dimensional theses in its collections.