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Deposit your thesis

Congratulations on completing your thesis! Before graduating, you must deposit the final version of your thesis in the Library.

To be eligible to graduate, you are required to deposit your thesis at the Library. This page will give you information and guidance on how to complete the deposit process.

As every thesis is unique, you may have questions or concerns that aren’t addressed here. Please read through the information below and get in touch with the Library Systems and Integration Team if you have any further questions about the deposit process.

You may have other upcoming deadlines that require the deposit process to be completed. If you have any questions or concerns about deadlines, your degree, or graduation, please contact your faculty.

Check before you deposit

Before depositing the electronic version of your thesis:

  1. Ensure your thesis version includes all the corrections/amendments required (if applicable) and has been approved by the appropriate person.
  2. Ensure your thesis meets the necessary formatting requirements
    The formatting requirements are set out in the thesis formatting guide. The standard accepted format for a thesis is a single PDF file. A physical copy is no longer required. If the format of your thesis falls outside of these requirements, including the case where your work takes the form of a physical object or a digital object other than a single PDF file, you may include written approval from your head of school pdf for a non-standard format (more information is given in the formatting guide).
  3. Confirm you have permission to use any third-party content
    If your thesis contains any third-party content, for example, any images, maps, tables, or charts that you did not create yourself, we strongly urge you to read through this page on third-party content before you deposit your thesis. Once your thesis is online, it will be publicly available worldwide and will therefore have to abide by New Zealand copyright law for digitally published works.
  4. Redact any personal details
    Personal contact details and signatures (in any part of the thesis; even in ethics approval letters) or other information or content that could be considered sensitive or confidential must be redacted. This is because personal signatures could be easily copied and used for fraudulent purposes and personal contact details could be used to contact individuals without their consent. A guide to preparing a redacted copy of your thesis for depositing is available. pdf

Depositing your thesis

If your thesis is being withheld (including those completed at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML)), refer to the withheld theses section below for instructions on depositing your thesis.

Deposit your electronic thesis through the Library’s thesis self-deposit service.

Thesis Self-Deposit

A student (preferably) or staff username and password is required to access the service. Help and a walk-through guide for the service are available. Please consult the Research Codes section in the guide for information regarding the ‘Type of Research Activity’ and ‘Fields of Research’ sections.

Once you have successfully completed the self-deposit process, you will receive a thesis deposit receipt. You will need to forward the receipt to your school and your supervisor(s).

Where will my thesis be kept?

Your thesis will be held in the University’s Open Access Institutional Repository. The Repository is open to the public, and anyone who is interested may access, read, and download material. The contents of the Repository are regularly harvested and indexed by NZResearch, Google Scholar, and Digital New Zealand, among other services. The Faculty of Graduate Research also has information about the availability of your thesis and intellectual property.

If you do not want your thesis to be publically accessible, you may apply for it to be withheld: see below.

Withheld theses

Theses can be withheld for a specified period (up to two years). Withheld theses will not be available in the Open Access Institutional Repository until the witholding period ends.

If you wish to have your thesis withheld, you must apply for permission from the Faculty of Graduate Research. Note that you do not need to apply for permission for theses for study at the IIML; IIML theses are permanently withheld.

Theses to be withheld can be deposited using our thesis self-deposit service. You must also include the withholding approval letter.

Once your thesis has been received, you will receive a thesis deposit receipt. The receipt will also go to the Faculty of Graduate Research and your supervisor(s).

For alumni

If you completed a thesis at VUW in the past and are willing to allow us to digitise it and make it available to the public through the University’s Institutional Repository, please download and fill out the Permission form for alumnipdf (a Guide to filling out the formpdf is available) and email it to Library Systems and Integration Team.

Alternatively, you may post it to:

Library Systems and Integration Team
Victoria University of Wellington Library
21 Kelburn Parade
PO Box 3438
Wellington 6012
New Zealand