Publishing a Dissertaton

In this guide you will find the University of Lapland’s instructions for publishing your doctoral dissertation. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the information provided in this guide well in advance before submitting the application for permission for public defence. Please follow the instructions concerning your chosen publication format and channel.

The instructions provided in this guide mainly concern publication in the University of Lapland’s series. If you publish your doctoral dissertation through some other publisher, please follow these instructions as applicable. A summary of the stages and schedule of the publication process is available on the page Publication process.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the finalizing of the manuscript or the layout process please contact the Doctoral School at dissertations@ ulapland.fi. With the publication process, further information is available through the University Library at research.library @ulapland.fi.

Please note that the doctoral researcher must be registered as ‘attending’ for the current term at the University of Lapland.

• Doctoral dissertations in the University of Lapland's institutional repository Lauda
• Register as an attending student

You are responsible for obtaining permissions from the original publishers to republish your articles as part of your doctoral dissertation. Seek permission to republish the articles already in connection with the first publication of the articles, and at the latest at the pre-examination stage, in order to avoid delay in publishing the doctoral dissertation.

All permissions to republish must be secured prior to entry into the Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation. Please note that you are responsible for obtaining all permissions to publish and for documenting the permissions in the dissertation manuscript.

Complete the following steps:

• Go through the publication agreement between the author (you) and the publisher, and/or locate the relevant information on the publisher’s website.
• If it is clear from the agreement or the website that republishing the articles in a dissertation in the chosen publication format is allowed, you do not need to request permission.
• If your article has been published under a Creative Commons (CC) license, you do not need to request permission.
• Check which version of the article the publisher allows you to publish.
• If you are required to request a permission, please follow the publisher’s instructions.
• Large international publishers often have a form for requesting permission to publish. It is usually available on the publisher’s website or in connection with the published articles. Smaller publishers are usually contacted by e-mail to request permission to publish.
• If you publish in the University of Lapland’s series, you do not need to present the permissions to publish to the University, but the permissions must be documented in your dissertation manuscript.

If you request permission to publish by e-mail, cover the following points in your message:

• Specify what article your request concerns and where it has been published.
• Specify whether you are requesting permission for electronic or print publication.
• If the dissertation will be published in an electronic format in the University of Lapland’s series, please mention that it is a non-commercial institutional repository of the University.
• If the dissertation will be published in an electronic format, ask whether a copyright license can be granted to the article.
• If the dissertation will be published in a print format, please mention whether copies of the work are to be sold or whether the work will be available free of charge through a non-commercial publisher.
• The version of the article to be included in the dissertation should preferably be the final published version of the article.
• Mention the date by which permission is required.

The publisher might restrict authors from using the final published version of the article and permission to publish will not necessarily be granted. In such cases, the accepted author manuscript (i.e. the latest submitted version of the article that has undergone peer review, but no copyediting or formatting has been applied by the publisher) should be used.

If no permission to publish the article as part of the dissertation is granted by the publisher, the article will be left out of the online version of the publication in the University of Lapland’s series and will be included only in the print copies of the dissertation to be used during the public defence. The permanent address (based on the digital object identifier, DOI) of the article will be included in the List of Original Articles in the dissertation.

Further information: The Library research.library @ulapland.fi.

As soon as you have been granted permission to defend your doctoral dissertation, request the serial number and the ISBN identifiers for your dissertation from University Library. When completing the request form, please also mention your chosen copyright license for the dissertation. In response to your request, the library will provide you with:

• the identifiers and the serial number
• the permanent address of the electronic publication
• a pre-completed Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation
• instructions for signing the Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation.

By entering into the Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation, you grant the publisher the right to publish the doctoral dissertation and confirm that you have obtained all necessary rights to publish and distribute the work. In addition, the agreement specifies the rights and responsibilities of the author (you) and the publisher. You as the author are responsible for the content of the work and your rights over the work. All permissions to republish your articles as part of an article-based dissertation must be secured prior to entry into the Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation.

If you publish your doctoral dissertation through a publisher other than the University of Lapland, please follow the publisher’s practices when signing the publishing agreement. The publisher will assign an ISBN number to your dissertation.

• Request form: ISBN for dissertation

Further information: The Library research.library @ulapland.fi.

A copyright license will be chosen for dissertations published in an electronic format. The university recommends that dissertations are licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0.

The license applies to the monograph dissertation as a whole and the integrative chapter of the article-based dissertation. Please mention your chosen license when submitting your request for ISBN identifiers and a serial number for your dissertation so that this information can be entered into the pre-completed Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation. If you choose not to use a CC license for your dissertation, please select the option “all rights reserved”.

The individual articles of an article-based dissertation may have separate copyright licenses. Please be sure that you are aware of these licenses prior to publishing your doctoral dissertation, and enter the relevant details concerning the licenses on the pages preceding each article.

Further information on choosing a license and documenting it in your manuscript please see Copyright Licenses.

Further information: The Library research.library @ulapland.fi.

There are certain structural differences between the article-based dissertation and the monograph dissertation. Please familiarize yourself with our instructions in order to make sure that you are following the appropriate structure. The structure of dissertations in Law may differ from what is presented in this guide, and doctoral researchers in Law should consult their supervisor regarding this issue.

Detailed instructions that apply to both types of dissertation are available for preparing the cover, the title page, and the page following the title page as well as the abstract. Separate instructions apply to preparing the List of Original Publications of an article-based dissertation, as well as the cover sheets for each article of an article-based dissertation.

Structure of a Monograph Dissertation

The items in italics in the list below are included in the dissertation if applicable to the research conducted, or if you want to include them. Each item is placed on a separate page.

• Cover
• Title page
• The page following the title page (in a dissertation published in a print format, the reverse side of the title page)
• Dedication page (a page on which the author can dedicate the work to a person(s) of their choice, or, for example, include a short quotation)
• Abstract in English; abstract in Finnish; and in other languages if necessary (with each abstract on a separate page)
• Foreword
• Table of contents
• List of figures and tables
• List of abbreviations
• The main body of the dissertation and references and bibliography
• Appendices

Structure of an Article-based Dissertation

The items in italics in the list below are included in the dissertation if applicable to the research conducted or if you want to include them. Place each item on a separate page.

• Cover
• Title page
• The page following the title page (in a dissertation published in a print format, the reverse side of the title page)
• Dedication page (a page on which the author can dedicate the work to a person/s of their choice or, for example, include a short quotation)
• Abstract in English; abstract in Finnish; and in other languages if necessary (with each abstract on a separate page)
• Foreword
• List of Original Publications
• List of figures and tables of of the integrative chapter of the dissertation
• List of abbreviations
• Table of contents of the integrative chapter of the dissertation
• The integrative chapter of the dissertation and its references and bibliography
• Appendices to the integrative chapter of the dissertation
• The original articles and the page preceding each article

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

Standard Cover Design

The University of Lapland’s Acta publication series use a standard cover design for doctoral dissertations. The University’s Communications Services will prepare the cover on the basis of the information provided on the title page of the dissertation. It is not possible to include an image in the standard cover design.

Cover Design with an Image

If you would like to have an image on the cover of your dissertation, the covers must be designed separately. You may use your own design, order a design from an external designer, or have the cover designed by a student of graphic design at the University of Lapland. When designing the cover, the designer is expected to follow the guidelines and consult the sample cover design. Doctoral researchers who are having a cover of their dissertation designed must be prepared to cover the costs of the design process.

Having the Cover Designed by a Student

If you would like to have the cover of your dissertation designed by a student of graphic design at the University of Lapland, please contact the Administrative Secretary of the Faculty of Art and Design, Marjo Majava (marjo.majava (at) ulapland.fi). She will let you know if a student designer will be available to complete the work within the time frame allowed by the dissertation publication process. When completed by a student designer at the University of Lapland, the cover design process is free of charge for you. The student designer will be awarded ECTS credits for the work.

Familiarize yourself with the design guidelines  for graphic design students and the sample cover design, send them to the student designer and agree on the details of the order. The cover design schedule should be agreed on well in advance, with the designer, so that the work can be finalized during the manuscript layout and page design stage. Please be sure to submit the finalized cover design files to the Doctoral School at the latest by the time the manuscript layout and page design stage is completed.

Back Cover

For the required print copies of a dissertation and for dissertations published in print format, a front cover, a back cover and a spine are designed. If you wish to have more print copies of your dissertation made, it may be advisable to write a short text introducing the work to be placed in the back cover. For a dissertation published in an electronic format, usually only front cover is designed, but it is possible to design a back cover too, if you so wish.

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

You do not need to format the title page. Simply enter the information listed below in the order given below on a separate page of the manuscript. Please list each item on a separate line. The Doctoral School has the right to edit the information provided if it is not consistent with the established practices of the University.

• the title and number of the publication series
• the name of the author
• the title of the doctoral dissertation
• the following text: Academic dissertation to be publicly defended with the permission of the Faculty of [name of Faculty] at the University of Lapland in [lecture hall] on [date] [time].
• publisher
• place and date of publication

The title page of the required print copies of an electronic dissertation is slightly different from that of the electronic dissertation. You do not need to include this page in your dissertation; it will be prepared during the manuscript layout and page design stage.

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

You do not need to format this page. Simply enter the information listed below in the order given below on a separate page of the manuscript. Please list each item on a separate line. The Doctoral School has the right to edit the information provided if it is not consistent with the established practices of the University.

• the name of the University
• the name of the Faculty
• the name(s), title(s), and affiliation(s) of the dissertation supervisor(s)
• the names, titles, and affiliations of the pre-examiners
• the name, title, and affiliation of the opponent
• for electronic monograph dissertations or integrative chapter of electronic article-based dissertations: copyright license as a CC-Icon. If you have chosen the option all rights reserved, please use the marking © University of Lapland, [Name of the author]
• the name of the layout artist
• the name of the cover designer (applicable only if a cover has been designed separately for the dissertation)
• the title and number of the publication series
• ISBN
• ISSN
• for electronic dissertations, the permanent address of the publication

The page following the title page of the required print copies of an electronic dissertation is slightly different from that of the electronic dissertation. You do not need to include this page in your dissertation; it will be prepared during the manuscript layout and page design stage.

The copyright license icons can be downloaded from the website of Creative Commons.

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

A doctoral dissertation always includes an abstract in English and it would be courteous to include an abstract also in Finnish. In addition, it is possible to include an abstract in multiple languages. Each abstract is placed on a separate page, with the heading Abstract / Tiivistelmä / The same in some other language.

The bibliographic information of the dissertation is placed at the top of the page, before the actual abstract text:
Author
The title of the dissertation
Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication, number of pages.
The title and number of the publication series
ISBN
ISSN

You do not need to format this page. Simply enter the information mentioned above in the order given above. Please list each item on a separate line and place the abstract under this information. For further information regarding the content of the abstract, please contact your supervisor.

• The heading of the page: List of Original Articles
• Text: The dissertation is based on the following original articles, which will be referred to in the text by their Roman numerals I–[the number of the last article]
• Full bibliographic information about the articles in the order of publication. The articles are referred to with their Roman numerals.
• Text: Articles [numbers] are reproduced with the kind permission of their copyright holders.
• If the publisher of an article has not granted permission to republish the article, the following text should be used: Article [the number of the article in question] is available on the website of [the name of the journal in question], address https://doi.org/[The digital object identifier, DOI of the article].

Some publishers granting permission to republish articles give the exact wording to use when acknowledging permission to republish. This text is placed at the bottom of the page. Please familiarize yourself with the publisher’s requirements.

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

A page, here referred to as a cover sheet, with the following information must precede each article:

• the number of the article in the dissertation (roman numeral)
• full bibliographic information about the article
• information on permission to republish the article
• information on the license if the article has one. Information on the license should preferably be entered both as a CC-icon and a verbal description.

Enter the information regarding permission to republish as required. If the publisher has no specific requirements, after the bibliographic information, enter the following text: Reproduced as a part of a doctoral dissertation with the kind permission of the copyright holder.

If the publisher requires a specific wording when acknowledging permission to republish, please follow the publisher’s requirements.

• CC logo downloads, Creative Commons
• License chooser beta, Creative Commons

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

Body of Text

• The dissertation file includes only the text to be included in the dissertation. Do not leave any comments in the file.
• Use different text styles in Word. Be sure to indicate different heading levels and to separate the indented quotations from the body of text.
• Apply numbering to the different heading levels if needed (1, 1.1, 1.1.1 etc.)
• Make sure that there is only one space between words. The space bar should not be used for positioning or aligning words or indenting lines.
• Check the correct usage of hyphen (-) and dash (–)
• In the Finnish language, opening and closing quotation marks are identical: ” – – ” and in a quote within a quote ’ – – ’. In English, opening and closing quotation marks are used.
• Do not hyphenate the text manually; use automatic hyphenation.
• You can use italics, bold face, and underlining. These features will be kept during the manuscript layout and page design process, but otherwise the appearance of the text (for example font, line length) will be changed.
• Page numbering is updated during the manuscript layout and page design process.
• Follow discipline-specific guidelines regarding references and bibliography.

Tables, figures, images and diagrams

• Do not include tables, figures, images and diagrams in the body of the manuscript. Prepare them as separate files.
• The titles and descriptions of the tables and the image and figure captions are placed in the manuscript and not in the separate files.
• In the manuscript, clearly indicate the place of tables, figures, images and diagrams with [square brackets].
• Create tables by using the appropriate tool in Word or Excel. Do not use the tabulator or the space bar to position or align text.T
• The title and description of the table should be placed above the table.
• Create figures in a software using vector graphics. Save the figures as .pdf files, preferably in the software in which they were created
• Final image resolution of 300 dpi is required
• Image and figure captions should be placed under the image or figure.
• Use black and white figures and images unless coloured pages are critical for the understanding of the data. The costs of producing hard copies of the dissertation are higher if the manuscript includes coloured pages. Please note that the layout artist will not alter the colours of the images in the submitted manuscript.
• Please not that the print copy of the dissertation is in size B5.

Appendices

• Prepare appendices as separate files.
• In the manuscript, indicate placement of the appendices with [square brackets].

Name all files clearly, for example: figure01, figure02 etc. Use the same names in the body of the text to indicate placement of tables, figures, images, diagrams and appendices.
 

Accessibility
Act on Provision of Information Society Services governs electronic dissertations and their abstracts deposited in the University of Lapland’s Lauda repository, and these publications are subject to accessibility requirements. Attention is paid to accessibility during the manuscript layout and page design process, but please complete the following steps:

• Use different styles in Word to structure the manuscript, for example to indicate different heading levels and to present information in a list form.
• If necessary, prepare a written text describing the content of the images, figures, diagrams, and tables in your manuscript to place the information in the appropriate context for those who cannot access these visual materials.
• You can check the accessibility of your text by using the ‘Accessibility Checker’ function in Word.

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

As soon as you have been granted permission to defend your doctoral dissertation, contact the Doctoral School at dissertations@ulapland.fi in order to agree on the manuscript layout and page design process. The Doctoral School will organize the manuscript layout and page design process and communicates with the layout artist and with the University press. You will receive a detailed manuscript layout and page design schedule from the Doctoral School. Please note that you will not be able to submit your manuscript for layout and page design before the Agreement on Publishing a Dissertation has been signed. The layout is free of charge for you.

Submit the articles of your article-based dissertation to the Doctoral School at your earliest convenience, so that the layout designer can check the compatibility of the files with the layout software well in advance. If you have any special wishes regarding the layout and page design process or printing, please contact the Doctoral School as soon as possible to make the necessary arrangements.

Submit your finalized manuscript, which has undergone a language revision, for layout and page design to dissertations@ulapland.fi.
Instructions for submitting your manuscript:

• The body of the monograph dissertation or the introductory part of the article-based dissertation along with the first pages of the manuscript as one .docx-file
• The tables, figures, images and diagrams of the monograph dissertation or the introductory part of the article-based dissertation as clearly named .pdf files.
• The appendices to the monograph dissertation or the introductory part of the article-based dissertation as separate .pdf files.
• The original articles included in the article-based dissertation as separate .pdf files
• If a cover has been designed separately for the dissertation, please submit the cover design files separately: For an electronic dissertation, submit the front cover file only; For print copies of the dissertation, submit both front and back covers

The Doctoral School will send the layout draft to you for review within about one week of the date of submission. You will receive instructions for revising the manuscript. At this stage, only minor corrections are possible and major revisions to the content can no longer be made. You will have about two weeks to revise the manuscript if you have submitted your dissertation for layout and page design on schedule. Follow the instructions provided by the Doctoral School, and when submitting your revised manuscript to the Doctoral School, please also include the following information:

• The number of copies for your own use
• A list of pages to be printed in colour. Please note that every page printed in colour will somewhat increase the price of a printed copy of the dissertation.

Further information: The Doctoral School dissertations @ulapland.fi

The Doctoral School delivers the finalized dissertation to the Library, where it will be deposited in the Lauda Repository. The introductory part  of the article-based dissertation and the original articles will be deposited in the Lauda repository separately. In the Lauda repository, the dissertation has a description page with links to the introductory part of the dissertation and the full-text articles included in the dissertation. The permanent address of the publication leads to this description page. Only the articles for which permission to republish has been granted will be published in the repository.

The University Printing Centre makes 9 print copies of the electronic dissertation for the public defence. Because these copies are considered copies, no separate ISBN and serial identifiers are needed. All original articles of the dissertation – including ones for which permission to republish has not been granted – will be included in the copies produced for the purpose of the public defence. The Doctoral School will submit the dissertation with a finalized layout to the University Printing Centre.

The print copies of the dissertation will be delivered by the University Printing Centre to the Faculty to be distributed:

• to the Opponent/Opponents
• to the Custos
• to the Doctoral Researcher
• to both Pre-examiners
• to the Faculty

In addition to the print copies of the electronic dissertation for the public defence, you may order additional copies of the dissertation at your own cost. The additional copies ordered by you will be considered copies similar to the copies produced for the public defence, and no ISBN and serial identifiers are assigned to them. Please note that the articles of an article-based dissertation for which permission to republish has not been granted cannot be included in the additional copies made of the article-based dissertation. The copies are paperback books.

The copies ordered by you will be printed by the University Printing Centre at the same time with the copies for the public defence. When submitting your revised manuscript to the Doctoral School for layout and page design, you should mention how many copies of the dissertation you would like to order for your own use. The payment methods available are invoice and card payment at the University Library.

On the faculty’s decision, a doctoral dissertation can be published in print format if there is a clearly stated reason why this should be done. The faculty makes the decision on publishing the dissertation in print format upon granting permission to defend the doctoral dissertation. The print dissertation follows the same structure as the electronic dissertation. The layout and page design process and printing will be organized by the Doctoral School in a similar way as with the electronic dissertation. The print dissertation is a paperback book.

In addition to the number of copies you wish to order for your own use, 9 copies of the dissertation will be made for the public defence. The copies for the public defence will be delivered from the University Printing Centre to the Faculty no later than two weeks before the public defence. The faculty will distribute the copies:

• to the Opponent/Opponents
• to the Custos
• to the Doctoral Researcher
• to both Pre-Examiners
• to the University Archive
• to the Faculty
• to the University Library

The University does not sell, market, distribute or store print dissertations. The University is responsible for distributing the print copies of the dissertation made for the purpose of the public defence. You are responsible for the distribution of copies of the dissertation other than the ones mentioned above. If a faculty or some other unit of the University pays the printing costs in full or in part, the distribution arrangements must be agreed on with the faculty or unit in question.

You can also publish your dissertation through a publisher other than the University of Lapland. For example, a Finland-based science publisher or some other relevant publisher may be able to offer a wider readership and greater visibility for your work than the publication series of the University of Lapland. It is advisable to discuss your choice of publisher with your supervisor. The faculty will take this issue into consideration when granting you permission to defend your dissertation.

Complete the following steps:

• Start discussions with the publisher early to initiate the publication process.
• Consider the publisher’s schedule when choosing the date of the public defence.
• Discuss the possibility to self-archive an electronic copy of your dissertation in the University of Lapland’s Lauda Repository.
• Entering into the publishing agreement, please pay attention to the fact that the completed dissertation must be placed on public display 10 days prior to the public defence. This also applies to dissertations published in an electronic format.
• Sign the publishing agreement with the publisher.
• Follow the publisher’s guidelines when finalizing the manuscript.
• Insert the information sheet on the public defence (a loose insert page) in the dissertation.
• Deliver 9 print copies of the dissertation to the Faculty no later than 2 weeks prior to the public defence.

The publisher usually covers the costs of publishing a book and is responsible for its distribution and marketing. The publisher is also responsible for e.g. the visual presentation of the book, assigning an ISBN identifier to the book, and printing and/or electronic publication.

The Information Sheet on the Public Defence

If the publisher of the dissertation is other than the University of Lapland, it is not necessarily mentioned on the title page of the book that the work is a doctoral dissertation. In such cases, an information sheet on the public defence (a loose insert page) is inserted in the dissertation, including the name of the author, the name of the work, and the following text:

Academic dissertation to be publicly defended with the permission of the Faculty of [faculty] at the University of Lapland in [lecture hall] on [date] [time].

You can do the layout by yourself, if the standard layout does not work for you, or order it from somewhere. Please note that the layout provided by the University is free of charge for you and it is possible to execute special wishes to some extent. Consider carefully if it is wise not use the layout service provided for you.

Please contact the Doctoral School at dissertations@ulapland.fi as soon as you know when you are going to get the permission to defend your doctoral dissertation in order to discuss the layout schedule. You need to make sure the manuscript contains all the required information and elements and follows the structure described in this guide. The Doctoral School checks the layout before publishing or printing the copies to make sure it contains all the required elements.

There are no templates and the Doctoral School and the University Print do not give advice on the details of the layout. You are yourself responsible for the layout. The University has no special requirements about the visual appearance of the dissertation. Using the Lapland University Press sets the following requirements:

• size B5 (176 x 250 mm)
• at least 1,5–2 cm text margins
• 3 mm bleeds if there are pictures that go over the margins
• 7 mm space for creasing
• crop marks in the print version

If you design the cover as well, follow the guidelines provided.

Two versions of the manuscript are sent to the Doctoral School

• a PDF/A file for the electronic publication
• a print ready PDF

Prepare a draft of a dissertation press release in which you tell about your work to a general audience. Submit the draft of the press release to the Communications Services of the University of Lapland at the latest two weeks before the public defence. When writing the press release, please follow the instructions provided by the Communications Services.

Dissertation press releases are published in English and in Finnish. Please contact the Communications Services well in advance to have your dissertation press release translated into Finnish. A portrait photo of the doctoral researcher will be published with the dissertation press release. If necessary, a photography session can be organized by the Communications Services.

The completed doctoral dissertation will be put on public display 10 days prior to the public defence. On the front page of the website of the University of Lapland, there is a section about upcoming dissertations in which links to information on the public defence and the dissertation press release, as well as a link to the electronic dissertation (if applicable) are published. In addition, the Faculty will put an original print copy or a print copy of the dissertation on display in the main lobby of the University.

• Instructions for press release