The Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library Project (FAQ)

Starting with the School of Medicine graduating class of 2002, the Medical Library and Office of Student Research have begun a collaboration to electronically publish the full text of student thesis on the Internet as a valuable byproduct of student research efforts and original source material to researchers throughout the world. Because students have traditionally anticipated reproducing their research results through a scholarly journal submission process and may wonder if this project will compete with or inhibit a possible publication, this FAQ is being made available to clarify common concerns and encourage participation. Please submit additional questions and comments to Charles Greenberg, the Head of Reference Services and coordinator of the project.

The rights of the student author require that permission be obtained to reproduce and distribute their original scholarship. Locating an author at some indeterminate time in the future, as well as the effort required to scan a paper thesis into a digital format, are obstacles to a demonstrated demand model for this project. On the other hand, it is very simple to save a word processing manuscript in an alternative digital format during or following the production of a print thesis. Building a digital collection will also allow browsing and the joy of serendipitous discovery.

In addition, a student's future curriculum vitae could actually point with a web URL to the repository for the digital thesis. Digital storage space is also inexpensive and efficient.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, "Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work."

Also, "Copyright protection is available for all unpublished works, regardless of the nationality or domicile of the author."

One of the fundamental requirements of the Medical Thesis is that each student should have the experience of carrying out an investigation from beginning to end on his/her own initiative. At the point of creation and submission, the student author is the owner of the copyright.

The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. As soon as your thesis is written, it possesses copyright. There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See a summary of advantages for registering with the US Copyright Office. The most important advantage may be that registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright. Also, If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Directions for securing copyright registration are on the Library of Congress web site (Acrobat Reader required).

Many journals establish publication policies to only consider research papers that are reporting primary data and the main conclusions for the first time. This is a basic idea of competitive commerce that the best journals want to have the best articles first. Your relationship with a publisher is usually contractual, particularly when you sign a form assigning the publisher your copyright.

At the same time, given the reality that the Internet allows researchers to use a variety of means to announce or publicize their findings, journals also " allow posting of manuscript copies of papers at not-for-profit publicly funded World Wide Web archives immediately upon publication." (Science Magazine).

Your YMTDL submission form will certainly accept directions to withhold digital distribution for a designated time period of up to three years, during which your research result may be submitted to the publication of your choice. If it takes you longer than three years to find acceptance in a journal, in all likelihood the advantage of reporting a new finding will be superceded by newer knowledge. On the other hand, making your thesis immediately available with public access will allow your thesis to generate more primary research.