are masters thesis public

• Why and what is UTUGradu?
• How does UTUGradu work?
• Before initiating UTUGradu process: Preliminary Examination of a Thesis and Moodle Assignments
• 1. Initiating the Examination and Publication Process (UTUGradu)
• 2. Turnitin Originality Check and Filling in the Examination Information on the Thesis Form
• Following the Process in the List View
• 1. Completing the Thesis
• 2. PDF/A Converting and Validation of the Thesis File
• 3. Turnitin Originality Check
• 4. Filling in the UTUGradu Thesis Form
• 5. Commenting on the Evaluation Statements
• Head of Department/Dean
• Student Administration
• Master's thesis copyright

Public availability and publication of master's theses

• Use of quotations in master's theses
• Use of images in master's theses
• Further information
• Turnitin Originality Check
• Accessibility
• In Finnish This link opens in a new window

All master's theses that are written in public educational establishments and lead to a degree are, according to the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, official documents that are public unless specifically otherwise provided. ( The Constitution of Finland, Section 12.2 ; Act on the Openness of Government Activities, Section 1 ).

The Act also defines what kind of official documents are secret. Such are for example documents that contain information on business or professional secrets and documents that contain the basic materials for a dissertation or other scientific study, or the assessment of the same ( Section 24 ). In master's theses the secret information should only be included in the background material.

According to the guidelines published by the MInistry of Education and Culture (2/500/2004) universities and universities of applied sciences must ensure that master's theses do not contain secret material, and that they are available to the public immediately after their approval.

Electronic publication of the thesis When you submit your thesis for examination, you must choose the extent to which your thesis will be available on the web. If you select the open publishing method , your approved work will be published as a full text in the UTUPub publication repository , where it is open to everyone. Your thesis will get a permanent URN (Uniform Resource Name) that can be easily shared and easily referenced (eg in a CV). If you choose the limited publishing method, your thesis metadata (including author, title, approval date, subject and unit / faculty data) and summary text will be stored in the UTUPUb publishing repository without the full text of your thesis. NB. If the thesis is an article or consists of articles: make sure that the publication journal of the article allows a thesis / article to be published in the UTUPub publication repository as a thesis / part of the thesis. In such cases, it is wise to discuss the matter first with the supervisor.

Public availability of master's theses FAQ

What if my thesis contains trade secrets?

The actual thesis should not contain trade or professional secrets; they can only be included in the background material.

Submitted theses are made publicly available after approval, including on the internet, if the student has agreed to this during the submission process.

How can I read master's theses whose availability is restricted?

The master's theses whose public availability the student has chosen to restrict can be read on particular workstations at Turku University Library. The use of the workstations and the material are governed by the Copyright Act, meaning that the content cannot be copied digitally, saved on a storage medium or sent by email. The workstations cannot be accessed through the off-campus access service. Printing of the material is possible.

Can I borrow theses with restricted availability through interlibrary loan?

The library does not loan master's theses with restricted availability through interlibrary loan.

Will my thesis grade appear on the open network? The grade of the thesis and the reviews are not published online or in the library workstations. Grading is available on request from the faculty. I would like to change the publication method of my thesis, is it  possible? You can change the method of publishing your thesis at any time, but you need to be in touch with the University Library at [email protected]. I noticed an error in my thesis when I submitted it for examination/ when reading my thesis in UTUPUb publication repository. Can I send a new, corrected version of my thesis to the repository? The student can not make changes to his / her thesis after being submitted for examination and publication (= student has verified the publication details of the thesis on the UTUGradu form). However, if you find that there are small-scale corrections or refinements (may be a typing error,  a mistake in paging etc.) to be made that do not generally affect the examination of the thesis but are more cosmetic, you can contact the library ([email protected]) and ask to add a the so-called " errata" (= error list attachment)  where you can report the corrected items in your work.

It is no longer possible to make changes to the examined and approved thesis file itself. An example of the errata attachment: After the Master's thesis being approved, the following errors have been identified: page 6, row 2. Name of the person: Virtainen, should be Virtanen.

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• Last Updated: May 3, 2024 2:42 PM
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Public access to and publication of Master’s theses

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• Open University

A thesis written by a student to complete a degree is a public document. All activities at the university are governed by the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, and also the public availability of theses is based on this legislation. Neither the university nor the teachers have the authority to decide on the public availability of a thesis contrary to the law. The numerical grades and verbal statements given for theses are usually public as well.

On this page

Public access to theses.

Master’s theses included in second-cycle (master’s) degrees are public documents. Public access to them is based on the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), with which the University must comply in all its operations. The University and its teachers do not have the power to decide on public access to theses contrary to the above Act.

Public access to theses means that the University must make theses available to anyone upon request.

As a thesis supervisor, you should ensure that students know about public access to theses in advance. When drawing up a thesis plan and supervising a thesis, supervisors must also ensure that the choice of thesis topic and material is not contrary to the principle of public access without acceptable grounds.

Public access to theses also includes their abstracts.

Secret material and theses

Because a thesis becomes public immediately after its assessment and approval at a meeting of the faculty council, degree programme steering group or grading committee, the thesis must include no secret information. Students can include secret information in the background material, which is not part of the thesis to be assessed.

The Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999) contains provisions on secret official documents. Secret information includes information related to private business or commercial activities or a private individual’s health, assets, political convictions or family life.

It must be noted that students cannot include secret material in thesis appendices or abstracts. The thesis supervisor has the right to gain access to secret background material, but must ensure that such material is not included in the thesis itself. The thesis examiner conducts their assessment based on the student’s written thesis, which must not include secret information. The examiner is not entitled to access secret background material.

It is the supervisor’s duty to advise and instruct students in issues related to the data protection of research material, such as its anonymisation.

Delayed publication (embargo)

Students may request that the publication of their thesis in the open publication repository Helda be delayed. A need for delayed publication (embargo) may arise, for example, if a thesis has been written in a research group and is closely related to research to be published later. A thesis whose publication has been delayed is still public, and access to it must be given to anyone requesting it.

The dean will decide on the embargo, and its maximum duration is one year.

Publication of theses

The University is committed to the premise of open science and research and, as part of implementing this openness, aims to make theses available electronically. Students are separately asked to permit the electronic publication of their theses. Supervisors should acquaint students with the basics of open science and research and encourage them to publish their theses electronically.

Abstracts for master’s theses are published in the Helsinki University Library’s open publication repository Helda . After the approval of theses, students are also asked for permission to publish their theses in Helda. If permitted, their theses will be made openly available and assigned a permanent web address.

Archiving of theses

Master’s theses are archived permanently. Helsinki University Library is responsible for archiving and providing access to theses approved at the University of Helsinki.

Further information and links

Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999; unofficial English translation)

Rector’s Decision HY/3220/00.00.06.00/2021, 21 June 2021: Guidelines for degrees and studies at the University of Helsinki

• Instructions for students
• Notifications for students