Cambridge does not require electronic copies of Masters theses to be deposited in Apollo, and Masters students do not have an account in Symplectic Elements.
Batch upload option for departments and faculties
Faculties and departments may choose to upload their Masters theses to Apollo as a collection. The Thesis team offers a batch upload service to support this.
To take part in the batch upload service, contact the Thesis team at thesis@repository.cam.ac.uk.
How the service works
Departments and faculties using the service:
- are given a shared drive to upload theses, metadata and deposit licence forms
- decide how many theses to upload and how often
- check that each thesis is suitable for open access
- have their theses uploaded once per term by Repository staff
All theses uploaded in this way are made open access immediately. This means the full-text is freely available to anyone.
Guidelines for using the service
Before uploading to the shared drive, departments and faculties must:
- confirm that the thesis does not contain third party content without permission
- confirm that the thesis does not contain sensitive or confidential information without authorisation
- redact any restricted content if needed, and include both the full and redacted versions
You must resolve these issues before uploading. Including restricted content may break copyright or data protection laws.
If you are unsure whether a thesis is suitable, do not include it in your batch upload.
Supplementary data files
If a thesis has associated data files, administrators can upload these separately via Symplectic Elements.
Checking and clearing third party copyright
Third party copyright is content created by someone other than the author. If a thesis includes third party content, the author must get permission to use it. They should request this during their research, as it can take time.
Do not upload theses that:
- include content where permission has not been granted
- include content where permission is still being sought
- include content where no permission process has started
If the content can be removed, upload both a redacted and a full version of the thesis.
Hardbound and electronic theses are treated differently under copyright law. Hardbound copies are considered unpublished. Open access electronic theses are considered published. All authors must credit the original source and copyright holder.
Learn more about third party copyright and using other people’s material.
Handling sensitive information
Sensitive information includes content that could affect the privacy, safety or rights of individuals or organisations. Examples include:
- personal data protected by GDPR
- commercial or trade secrets
- confidential or health-related data
- culturally sensitive material
- content about legal cases
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 lists types of sensitive material that are protected by law. The University may also restrict other material, even if not legally protected.
Do not upload theses that include sensitive material unless:
- the person or group the content refers to has given clear permission, or
- a redacted version is supplied, with both full and redacted versions included
Learn more about managing sensitive information in theses.
Further help and support
If you have questions, or need advice on uploading Masters theses, please contact the Thesis team.