Find answers to the most common questions about registration and publication of theses in DiVA, posting of doctoral theses, ISBN, ISSN, papers in compilation theses, and copyright on images and illustrations.
How do I book my posting?
When the library receives the decision on your public defence, we will book your posting and send you more information about it. At Umeå University, posting is done digitally in DiVA. Read more about posting here:
If you wish to hold a posting ceremony, book it via our form at least one week before your preferred date.
How do I get an ISBN for my thesis?
You order an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) from the library using our form:
How do I get an ISSN for my thesis?
ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is administered by the faculty or department publishing the series. Contact the publishing faculty or department to obtain the ISSN and serial number in the series.
Can the library help me register my thesis in DiVA?
Since you have the most knowledge about your thesis and defence, it is best that you register the thesis yourself in DiVA.
Follow the instructions:
Register and publish your thesis
If you have any questions regarding the registration, you are always welcome to contact the library. We can schedule a meeting if you wish.
Can I register an older thesis in DiVA?
Theses published at Umeå University can be published in full text
If your thesis is not registered in DiVA, you are welcome to do so. Registering your thesis ensures that it is available and preserved in digital format.
If copyright permits, you can also make your thesis available in full text at the time of registration.
Contact the library if you have already registered your thesis in DiVA and want to add the full text afterwards.
If you have an active Umu-id, log in with it in DiVA to register and possibly upload the full text. Choose a manual based on whether you are going to register a monographic thesis or a compilation thesis.
Follow the instructions on the page:
Register and publish your thesis
If you do not have an active Umu-id, contact the library, and we will help you register your thesis. If the thesis is only available in printed format, it can be digitised for publication in DiVA, provided the copyright allows it.
Digitisation of your publication
Please note that theses written at Umeå University from 2004 and later are already registered in DiVA.
Theses published at other universities can only be registered
If you wrote your thesis at another university, you can register it in DiVA if you wish. Select the appropriate manual above and follow the instructions, but without uploading the file containing your thesis.
If your thesis is registered in another database, you can use the manual to import publications to make your work easier:
Do you have questions about older theses?
Use the library's contact form if you have questions about older theses. If your question concerns DiVA, select "Publishing, theses and research data." For questions about digitising printed material, select the option "Archives and Special Collections."
Can I replace the full text in DiVA with an updated version (after the posting)?
No. If you discover errors in the thesis after it has been posted, you can make a list with corrections (an errata sheet). Send the errata sheet to publicering.ub@umu.se, and we will upload it to DiVA.
The errata template can be found in the University's templates for printed material:
Templates with logo (Aurora)
I have been authorised to postpone the electronic publication of my thesis. Do I still need to register it in DiVA three days before my posting date?
You must register your thesis in DiVA at least three working days before your posting date.
The library sets an embargo for the publication of the thesis in accordance with the faculty’s decision. The full text of your thesis will be published and visible in DiVA after the embargo.
Information about the thesis, abstract and posting sheet included, will be visible in DiVA on your posting date.
Follow the instructions at:
Register and publish your thesis
Should the published compilation thesis contain all connected works making up the complete work?
You should include all your connected works in the printed version of your thesis.
In the digital version of your thesis in DiVA, you should only publish your comprehensive summary (“kappa”). You should also register details of your papers, but you do not need to upload their full text.
How to include published connected works in your printed thesis
In order to include published work in your thesis, you must have either
If you have retained the copyright to the connected work, you can include it in your thesis without asking for permission from the publisher. If you have transferred the copyright to a publisher, you need their permission to include the work in your thesis. This permission can either be included in the publishing agreement you signed with the publisher, or you can apply for one via the publisher's website.
Unpublished works
Make sure you include all your papers in the printed version of your thesis, including unpublished manuscripts.
How to register your comprehensive summary and its connected works in DiVA
In the digital version of your thesis, only the comprehensive summary is published in full text. Papers, including unpublished works, should be registered separately in DiVA before you register the thesis. Follow the instructions in the manual:
Register compilation thesis in DiVA
When you register your connected works in DiVA, you can also upload the articles themselves. To do so, you must have either:
Please contact the library if you need help sharing your work in DiVA.
One of the articles in my thesis is published with a Creative Commons licence. Do I need permission from the journal to publish that article in my thesis?
You do not need any permission to publish your connected work in your thesis in that case. When you publish with open access under a Creative Commons licence, you usually retain all (or enough) of the copyright to use the work in your thesis.
Read more about copyright and Creative Commons:
Copyright and open licences when publishing
Should I register manuscripts that are part of my thesis, but have not yet been published?
You must register information about all parts of your thesis, including published and unpublished papers. You register unpublished works as manuscripts in DiVA.
Follow the instructions in the manual:
Register compilation thesis in DiVA
Can I assign a Creative Commons licence to my thesis?
For monographs, where you have the copyright, you can choose to license under a Creative Commons licence. For compilation theses, you can only put a Creative Commons licence on the comprehensive summary, not the connected works. Remember that other copyrights may protect any illustrations in the comprehensive summary. You own the copyright to any connected works that are unpublished.
You can learn more about licensing material under Creative Commons in the library's open course:
Online course: Creative Commons licences in scholarly publishing
Choosing a licence
Use the Creative Commons tool to select the licence:
Share your work (Creative Commons)
Theses published by a publisher
If you publish your monograph with a publisher, the choice is not always up to you, but sometimes, the publisher allows the thesis to be licensed under a Creative Commons licence. Check with the publisher to see what applies, or contact the library.
What do I do if I want to use a picture or illustration in my thesis?
When you want to use an image or illustration created by someone else and the work does not have a Creative Commons licence, you usually need to seek permission from all copyright holders. For example, creators and publishers may be involved from whom you need authorisation.
Using the picture or illustration as the cover image
If you are going to use the picture or illustration as the cover image of your thesis, you must acknowledge the creators on page two of the insertion, which is the same page as the printing and ISBN information. Give the creators' names first and then the name of the work.
Example of how to write in your thesis:
Cover image: First name Last name "Name of the work"
What if I want to use a picture or illustration with a Creative Commons license in my thesis?
There are different types of Creative Commons licences. It is important that you adhere to the terms of the licence that apply to the work you want to use. Read more here:
Copyright and open licences when publishing
When you want to use a picture or illustration with a Creative Commons licence, you need to give proper credit to the creator or creators of the work. The following information needs to be included:
Example of how to write in your thesis
Cover image: Butterfly fish in aquarium by Gladnes is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Example of how to combine reference and recognition in a caption
Picture 1. Butterfly fish in aquarium. (Gladnes 2012). CC BY 4.0
If you have made modifications to the picture
If the picture has a Creative Commons licence that allows modifications, you can change it. In this case, you should also indicate how the work was modified in your licence information. Please note that modifications are not allowed if the licence has the condition "ND".
Cover image: Thorsten Bosch, “Coala in tree”. Licensed under CC-BY 2.0 / text has been added to original.
If your modifications are so significant that the result is to be considered a new work, you should state licence information for the new work. Read more here:
Recommended practices for attribution (Creative Commons Wiki)
Book training and consultations
Book training and researcher consultations about scholarly publishing, DiVA and research data management.
Contact the library
Contact us if you have any questions. Select "Publishing, theses and research data" in the contact form.
