What is an ETD? An ETD (Electronic Thesis and Dissertation) is a dissertation or thesis that is submitted and archived electronically. ETDs at Mason are stored as PDF (portable document format) files. Students may use a variety of word processing programs to create their ETD. Dissertations and theses of students who choose to participate in the etd @ mason program are crawled by both Google and OAI (Open Archives Initiative) harvesters. This means that users will be able to locate and view Mason dissertations and theses without having to directly search our catalog.

Why should I participate in the ETD Program? Dissertations and Theses are an unmistakable part of the resources and history of the University. By participating in the etd @ Mason program students are given the opportunity to present their research and writing in an exciting new venue, the digital library. There they will have a higher profile than traditional paper-published works. Electronic access to research and scholarship is important as more and more people are accessing relevant information online. The etd @ Mason program will yield faster access to these important student publications. ETDs give students the freedom to experiment with and attach different types of multimedia and other ancillary materials to help convey their message to the reader more effectively and completely.

How do I participate in the ETD @ Mason Program? Students interested in participating in the etd @ Mason program should read the submission procedures as well as contact the University Dissertation and Thesis Coordinator. During the format review submission options will be discussed and any questions or concerns will be addressed. There are additional forms associated with participating in etd @ Mason. Included is a release form giving the library permission to accession your dissertation or thesis into the Mason Archival Repository Service (MARS) as well as a form indicating what level of access you would like users to have. A PDF version of the dissertation or thesis will be turned into the University Dissertation and Thesis Coordinator during final submission in place of one of the 100% cotton copies.

What is MARS? MARS is a stable, well-managed, permanent archive for digital scholarly materials of enduring value produced at Mason or by Mason faculty, staff, and students. Copyright of the work is not lost upon deposit into MARS. One is more likely to lose copyright to a publisher. Students who wish to take part in etd @ Mason will have the option to place a one year embargo on a thesis or dissertation in cases where there is a pending publication, contact with the Office of Technology Transfer, or for any reason they see fit.

How will my ETD be protected in MARS? A common concern associated with allowing scholarly publications to appear in digital libraries is that they will be targets for copyright infringement and plagiarism. Students who choose to participate in the etd @ Mason program will designate what type of access they will allow for their dissertation or thesis by choosing a level of digital rights management (DRM). This can include restricting the ETD from being printed, or "copied and pasted."

What about future publications? Students may be concerned that if they participate in the etd @ Mason program they will not be able to publish material from their dissertation, thesis, or project later with another publisher. Many publishers either have no ETD policy or do not consider an ETD a prior publication. In most cases there is a considerable amount of revision that goes into turning a dissertation, thesis, or project into a journal article or book chapter, thus the publication is not essentially the same as the original work. If you wish to take part in etd @ Mason yet still have concerns relating to publishing, please contact the Dissertation and Thesis Coordinator who will be happy to contact a publisher or journal on your behalf to determine whether or not participation in the ETD program would constitute prior publication.