University of Helsinki doctoral dissertation form and publishing an electronic dissertation in E-thesis

University of Helsinki doctoral dissertation form

Doctoral candidates should fill in the electronic doctoral dissertation form three weeks before the public examination of the dissertation at the latest. The purpose of the dissertation form is to integrate the collection and storing of all information on dissertations as well as their abstracts. Currently the information is used by the electronic publishing service E-thesis, by the University Communications Department and also by the University calendar of events. The collected information is also made available in DART-Europe E-thesis portal. In addition, the abstracts of the dissertations in medicine are stored in Medic - the Finnish reference database of health sciences produced by Meilahti Campus Library Terkko.

The abstracts submitted with the dissertation form are published on the e-thesis website. Two abstracts are submitted, a popular abstract in Finnish or Swedish and a scientific abstract in English. The recommended maximum length of each abstract is 2400 characters (1 page). If the doctoral candidate wishes to publish an abstract in a language not mentioned above, the abstract should be sent to E-thesis as an e-mail attachment.

Publishing an electronic dissertation in E-thesis

The doctoral candidate may publish the doctoral dissertation either as an electronic publication or as a printed publication. The publishing of an electronic dissertation in E-thesis is free of charge for the doctoral candidate. If the dissertation is made available electronically on the E-thesis website, only 30-50 printed copies of the dissertation are required. The exact number and the distribution of the printed copies should be checked from the faculty of the doctoral candidate. It is possible to apply for financial support to cover the expenses of the printing of the dissertation. For further information, see En route to the Doctorate website.

The format of electronic dissertations in E-thesis is PDF. The quality of the PDF file should be suitable for web publishing. The doctoral candidate may convert the dissertation to PDF him/herself, or the conversion to PDF can be made by Unigrafia or by some other printing press.

If the dissertation consists of articles that have been previously published elsewhere, only the summary part of the dissertation is made available in E-thesis.

Separate ISBN numbers are required for each version of the dissertation, i.e. different numbers for the printed version and the PDF version. If necessary, ISBN numbers can be obtained from the Finnish ISBN Agency (tel. 191 44327, e-mail isbn-keskus@helsinki.fi).

The author of the dissertation should sign a publishing agreement with the University of Helsinki. The agreement is available on the E-thesis website as a printable PDF file. A signed copy of the agreement should be sent to E-thesis. If the author wishes a copy for him/herself, two signed copies may be sent. The text of the agreement is currently available only in Finnish. A summary of the main points of the agreement in English is available here.

The electronic version of the dissertation is normally published in E-thesis ten days before the public examination of the dissertation. The PDF file of the dissertation should be sent to E-thesis three days before the public display of the dissertation begins, at the latest.

The file may be sent to E-thesis as an e-mail attachment or by regular mail along with the publishing agreement. If the electronic version of the dissertation is made at Unigrafia, Unigrafia will deliver the file direct to E-thesis.

To summarize, the following items should be delivered to E-thesis before publishing the dissertation on the E-thesis website:

• The electronic University of Helsinki dissertation form three weeks before the public examination of the dissertation at the latest,
• The dissertation as a PDF file two weeks before the public examination
• A signed copy of the publishing agreement two weeks before the public examination.

Contact addresses

E-mail: e-thesis@helsinki.fi
Tel.: (09) 191 44584

Mailing address:
Helsinki University Main Library
Digital Services
E-thesis
P.O. Box 53 (Fabianinkatu 30)
00014 University of Helsinki
Finland

Links

• University of Helsinki dissertation form   
• Publishing agreement (PDF)
• En route to the Doctorate - by University Communications
• Unigrafia guide to doctoral candidates
• Further information about the publishing agreement
• The Finnish ISBN Agency