Hi Sue,

You say that 'students wish to avoid seeking permission' - I would be asking their reasons for that. Academic integrity requires permission to be given, so unless it's impossible to ascertain the copyright holder, the student has this obligation, and they acknowledge this via their declaration.

My suggestion is that if they submit a thesis including 3rd party material with no permissions, they should also be required to submit an alternate version with that material in a separate document and removed (but referred to) in the main document, so that the bulk of the thesis can still be made available in the event of a disgruntled copyright holder protesting. This additional work is the responsibility of the student, not their institution - the declaration they sign puts the onus on them to either satisfy the standards of academic integrity by only publishing material with permission, or to enable the institution and EThOS to enact their takedown policies in the event of a complaint.

Linda McDonald


The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096