Do I Need Permission To Publish My Dissertation In Canada?

The short answer is: your dissertation is published the moment your university deposits it in Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and your institutional repository. You do not need permission for that — it is the standard end-of-program step. Where permissions become important is later, when you want to republish parts of the dissertation as journal articles or a book, or when your dissertation contains third-party material (images, instruments, copyrighted text) that needs clearance for the original deposit.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Deposit

Every Canadian doctoral and Master’s thesis is deposited with LAC through the Theses Canada program. Your university handles the deposit on your behalf as part of the final submission process. You sign a non-exclusive licence that allows LAC to reproduce, lend, and distribute the work for non-commercial research and educational purposes.

• The licence is non-exclusive — you keep your copyright. You can also licence the work to journals, publishers, or anyone else.
• You can request an embargo of up to 24 months (or longer in exceptional cases) if your work contains patentable material, sensitive data, or content you intend to publish in a journal that prohibits prior public dissemination.
• The licence allows LAC to convert the file to standard preservation formats and to make it accessible through the LAC online catalogue.

Embargo Periods Explained

An embargo delays public access to your dissertation while LAC still holds the file. Embargoes are common in three situations:

• Pending publication: some journals consider prior public dissemination of a manuscript — including in an open thesis — to disqualify the work. Embargo until publication.
• Patentable material: if your work contains a patentable invention, premature public disclosure can void patent eligibility. Embargo until the patent is filed.
• Sensitive data: Indigenous community research under OCAP® principles, classified industry-collaborative work, or work involving vulnerable communities.

Republishing Parts of Your Dissertation

Many doctoral graduates want to convert dissertation chapters into journal articles or a monograph. Whether you need permission depends on what you signed.

• You keep copyright in the dissertation. You can republish parts in journals, conference papers, or a book without anyone’s permission.
• You must disclose to the new publisher that the material has appeared in your dissertation — this is not double-publication in the ethical sense because dissertations are an established prior medium.
• Some journals do consider it prior publication. Nature, Cell, and some clinical journals require that the dissertation be embargoed or that the article be substantially reworked (new analyses, additional results, recast argument).
• Monograph publishers (academic presses like UTP, UBC Press, McGill-Queen’s University Press) routinely accept dissertation-based books, but you will be expected to substantially revise the manuscript — the book is not the dissertation.

Third-Party Copyright in Your Dissertation

This is where permissions matter for the original LAC deposit. If your dissertation includes content you did not create, you need either a licence, the rights-holder’s permission, or a defensible fair-dealing argument under the Canadian Copyright Act.

• Images and figures from other publications — usually need written permission from the rights-holder or the publisher. Many publishers (Elsevier, Springer, Wiley) have streamlined permissions portals.
• Photographs of people — require consent from the subject if identifiable.
• Published surveys and instruments — require the developer’s permission; reproducing the full instrument without permission is not fair dealing.
• Song lyrics, poetry, or substantial prose excerpts — require permission from the rights-holder unless the excerpt fits a fair-dealing purpose (research, private study, criticism, review).
• Software code or screenshots of proprietary software — check the licence terms; many free/open-source licences permit inclusion with attribution.

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What Counts as “Prior Publication”?

This question matters because many journals and book publishers will not accept work that has been “previously published.” The current convention is:

• Dissertations deposited with LAC and your institutional repository are considered archival publication, not commercial publication. Most journals accept manuscripts that began as dissertation chapters.
• Preprints on bioRxiv, arXiv, SSRN, PsyArXiv are similarly considered preprints, not full publication.
• Peer-reviewed journal articles or conference proceedings are considered formal publication. Republishing the same article verbatim in another journal is double-publication.
• Trade publications, blog posts, and news articles are not academic publication but can affect newsworthiness for certain journals.

If You Wrote Your Dissertation Under Industrial Funding

Research funded by industry partners (through Mitacs, NSERC CRD, or direct contract) often has additional permissions and embargo requirements. Common arrangements:

• The industrial partner has a 30–90 day review period to flag patentable material before public deposit.
• You may need to redact specific data, formulas, or process descriptions.
• Mandatory embargo of 6–12 months until intellectual property questions are resolved.
• Joint copyright in some cases — check the original research agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions