You can fulfill your publication obligation by handing in printed copies or by means of a digital publication. For the exact regulations and the various options, please refer to the doctoral regulations of the individual faculty office of the University of Münster.
We recommend contacting the thesis office by telephone prior to submission.
Personal submission is possible during the service hours of the thesis office (Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) or after making an appointment by telephone.
Contactless submission is possible at any time, irrespective of the opening hours of the thesis office. You can find further details in the information sheet Abgabe von Dissertationen.
Monographic dissertation: A monographic dissertation (classical dissertation) generally consists of a not yet published, coherent and self-contained scientific treatise. An integral part of the doctoral process is the publication of the dissertation. You fulfill your publication obligation by submitting a prescribed number of printed copies or publisher's editions to the faculty or the university library. In most facultys digital publication is now also possible. The submission regulations can be found in the respective doctoral regulations and in the information sheets of the doctoral examination office.
Cumulative dissertation: Whether and under what conditions a cumulative dissertation is permitted in a faculty is specified in the respective doctoral regulations.
Cumulative dissertations are second publications. Therefore, check under which conditions the publishers allow you to use the essays in your dissertation. The regulations of your publishing contract are decisive. If you have a publishing contract, ask for the right to store a digital copy of your work in an institutional repository. For more information, see under legal advice.
The websites Publishers theses policies (Information from the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin) and Sherpa Romeo can provide additional guidance on publishing permissions.
Habilitation thesis: The habilitation serves to formally establish the ability to independently and responsibly represent a scientific field in research and teaching (teaching qualification).
The habilitation theses or at least their essential parts are to be published by the habilitation candidates, but there is no general obligation to publish. As a rule, the publication should take place within two years after the determination of the teaching qualification. The habilitating faculty and the university library are each entitled to one specimen copy (of the whole or its parts). Details are regulated by the habilitation regulations of your department.
The University and State Library of Münster includes your dissertation or habilitation in the library holdings, records the publication in its catalogues and reports it to the German National Library. This makes it searchable via national and international search engines.
Information on general questions and submission formalities can be obtained from the University and State Library of Münster's thesis office.
University and State Library of Münster publishes your dissertation or habilitation on the university publication server miami and ensures its permanent availability. The publication is reported to the German National Library, listed in library catalogues and can be found via national and international search engines.
All essential regulations for the creation and submission of a digital dissertation can be found in the checklist for authors of digital dissertations.
Information on general questions and submission formalities can be obtained from the University and State Library's thesis office.
Submission statement: For the publication of a digital dissertation with miami, the agreements laid down in the Digital Publication Consent Form (in German) (incl. Appendix 1 "Upon publication of a digital dissertation") with the University and State Library of Münster apply.
Copyright: As the author, you grant the University and State Library the simple right of use to publicly reproduce the digital dissertation in data networks and to transmit it for individual retrieval. This means that you, as the author, are in principle free to publish your work elsewhere in digital form or as a printed work. In case of a later publication, please indicate that you have already granted the University and State Library the simple right of use for the digital dissertation. The selected digital publication as a form of delivery cannot be subsequently withdrawn.
You can find more details under legal advice.
Digital dissertations are permanently stored on the publication server and cannot be subsequently removed.
File format: The dissertations published with miami must correspond to the print version as a graphical image. We therefore recommend generating the printed version from the PDF file and then converting the file to the archivable PDF/A format. The citation capability then remains guaranteed for the digital version. The PDF/A-1b (basic) standard is sufficient, but the PDF/A-1a (advanced) standard is recommended.
For more information about PDF/A, see file creation.
Curriculum vitae / Acknowledgements: According to the requirements of some facultys, the printed dissertation must be accompanied by the curriculum vitae, which, however, is subject to data protection in the case of a web publication. We therefore recommend removing the CV from the digital version before the PDF/A conversion and replacing it with blank pages in order to protect personal data. If you expressly wish the CV to be published in the digital version, an express declaration of consent must be provided for the storage and distribution of this personal data. Please note the corresponding item in Appendix 1 "Upon publication of a digital dissertation" in the consent form. If your dissertation contains a preface or an acknowledgement, please consider personal rights and sustainability there as well.
In case of doubt, please contact the University and State Library's thesis office.
If you have completed your doctoral studies with at least "magna cum laude", the University and State Library of Münster offers you the possibility of publishing in the series University of Münster Academic Publications. Your dissertation will be published digitally and you will receive a print-ready file in case you want to order print copies from a publisher or print service provider – for which you are responsible. Habilitation theses can also be published in the series.
Details can be found in the Service Point for Publications.
