Home » A–Z » University publications

Publish

University publications

Doctoral theses and postdoctoral theses

Publication

Have you successfully completed your defence or presentation? Congratulations!

In order to complete the process of obtaining a doctorate or habilitation at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the thesis must be published. Publication is effected by submitting statutory copies to the University Publications Office of the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt (ULB) and must, as a rule, take place within one year. Some faculties also grant longer deadlines or the option of an extension.

The text of your doctoral thesis or habilitation thesis must be published in the version defended. Subsequent corrections are not permitted, unless the relevant examination board has imposed conditions requiring amendments. Only the names of the examiners and the date of the defence must be added.

There are essentially three options for publication: you may submit either the electronic version (online publication), printed copies or copies published by a publisher. The relevant regulations regarding the options and the number of copies can be found in your faculty’s respective doctoral or postdoctoral regulations. The following minimum requirements apply to the Faculty of Medicine.

Electronic version (online publication)

The electronic version is published on Share_it, the open-access and research data repository of the university libraries in Saxony-Anhalt, which is hosted by the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt.

If you have decided to publish online, please submit the following copies and documents to us:

Deposit licence signed and sent as a scan in a single file by email;
PDF/A file of the electronic version by email;
1 Word file containing the following metadata relating to the content, in the language of the thesis (in the case of cumulative theses, in the language of the introductory text)
- an abstract of no more than 1,000 characters, including spaces,
- 10 keywords;
at least 1 bound copy; for specifications, see Printed copies.

Please do not upload your file(s) to Share_it yourself. The ULB will upload them to the repository.

"Share_It" repository"

Deposit licence

To enable us to publish the electronic version of your doctoral thesis or postdoctoral thesis online on our repository, please complete the „Deposit Licence for the Publication of an Electronic Doctoral Thesis/Postdoctoral Thesis via the Share_it Publication Server“. You will find the necessary specifications set out once again in the attached information sheet.

With the Deposit licence, you choose which Creative Commons licence your work should be published under. The default licence for our Share_it repository is CC BY 4.0 International. You can find an overview of the licences, further information and the licence texts at creativecommons.org (the site is in English, but the subpages for the individual licences can also be viewed in other languages).

Deposit licence

Creative Commons

PDF document

Your PDF file should meet the following specifications:

PDF/A (you can find instructions on how to create these files on the Share_it help pages);
no copy protection;
no password protection;
identical to the printed version.

Personal information subject to data protection regulations, such as date and place of birth, home address, telephone number, school grades or signature, must be removed from the electronic version. Some faculties also permit the complete removal of the CV upon written request. Please check with your relevant Dean’s Office regarding this matter. Please also note that the pagination of the publication must not be altered as a result of this removal.

Guidance on creating PDF/A files

Printed copies

If you are submitting printed copies, you must produce at least four of them in accordance with the following specifications:

bound as a hardback (we do not accept paperbacks, brochures or softcovers);
printed on age-resistant, wood-free and acid-free paper;
preferably printed on both sides;
in A4 or A5* format.

There are generally no specific requirements regarding the colour or design of the cover.

* Please note that when Regulations Governing the Habilitation in Agricultural Sciences (Faculty of Natural Sciences III) the requirement regarding A5 format in Section 11(1).

Publisher’s copies

Are you planning to publish your doctoral thesis or habilitation thesis with a publisher? In that case, the layout of the book edition will usually be based on the publisher’s guidelines regarding format, typography and the design of the title page. However, when the publisher is producing the book, please ensure that either the original title page is reproduced, or at the very least a so-called ‘university publication note’ is included, specifying the university (preferably the full, written-out name), the type of academic publication and the year of the defence, e.g. in the imprint. You must submit at least two copies of the final published edition to the ULB.

Statement of Rights

Material for which you do not hold the copyright or rights of use may not be (re)published without authorisation. This applies to all forms of material – texts, images/illustrations, graphics, etc. (including, for example, X-rays and questionnaires). Your academic thesis can therefore only be published once all rights have been clarified – regardless of whether you opt for online publication or submit printed copies only. Please submit all necessary authorisations to us of your own accord.

It is best to clarify reproduction rights, obtain consent from any individuals depicted and establish the permissible uses within the scope of the right to quote at the very moment you intend to use the material in your work. When using the material, please also ensure, where necessary, that it is anonymised or pseudonymised in accordance with data protection regulations.

In the case of publisher’s copies, please clarify these matters with the publisher.

Cumulative academic publications

Cumulative academic monographs are so-called publication-based works in which texts that have generally already been published by a publisher (mostly journal articles) are published together with a framing text. Here, too, you will need to clarify the rights. This applies regardless of whether a text has already been published by a publisher or is still unpublished, and whether your work is to be published online or in print. In all cases, please provide us with authorisation from the relevant publisher or, in the case of unpublished texts, the consent of the co-authors. If texts have been published under a Creative Commons licence, please check the licence to see what use is permitted.

Please note that some publishers require the published text to be phrased or quoted in a specific way. You will find the relevant conditions in the respective authorisations, licence agreements or similar documents.

It is also important to note that collective works cannot automatically be published under a Creative Commons licence. In the deposit licence, please therefore specify the most restrictive licence – in relation to the texts contained in the work.

Formatting

Before you submit your work to the ULB, here are a few tips on the layout.

Front cover

When designing your title page, please follow the guidelines set out in your faculty’s current doctoral or postdoctoral regulations or on the relevant website. In addition, the ULB requires details of the examiners and the date of the defence (this information is necessary for creating the catalogue entry).

Page count

To ensure that your work can be cited effectively, there are a few points you should bear in mind when formatting the page numbers:

do not repeat the page numbering format – for example: I–XI, 1–122, i–iii;
alternatively, continue with the existing numbering system – for example: I–XI, 1–122, XII–XIV;
Cumulative publications: count the pages containing printed articles as well;
Appendices: number them sequentially or use a different numbering format.

Please check that the page numbers are correct before submitting.

Images and graphics

Once you have decided to publish online, please check the quality of the images and graphics in the generated PDF/A file. Some methods of creating a PDF can result in reduced data quality. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make any changes after publication on our repository.

Procedure

If you have opted for the electronic version or printed copies, please start by sending us a PDF file of your work by email. We will check the file and let you know if any corrections are required. Making changes to submissions that have already been sent without prior review is always very time-consuming. Please refer to the previous section for information on formatting – we do not explicitly check the aspects listed there.

Please send us the electronic version by email. You can send the bound printed or publisher’s copies

in person at the Local library drop off (Address: August-Bebel-Str. 50, drop-off times: Mon–Thu 08:00–18:00, Fri 08:00–15:00)
send by post to the address below,
or pop it into the letterbox at August-Bebel-Str. 13, in the left-hand panel of the front door (not suitable for multiple items or very thick ones).

If you are undertaking a doctoral thesis or a habilitation at one of the Faculties of Philosophy I, II or III, please also provide us with a scan of the authorisation to print via email, or a hard copy as an insert with the printed copy.

As soon as we have received all the necessary copies and accompanying documents, the submission will be confirmed by the Theses Team at the relevant Faculty Office. You will then receive your certificate, at which point the process is complete – if you have any questions regarding this, please contact your relevant Faculty Office.