-
Created by
Hirschmann Barbara, last updated by Fritschi Madeleine on Sep 10, 2025
3 minute read
When uploading your file(s) to the Research Collection you can choose how to manage the access rights.
Depending on the publication type you will encounter different options to choose from.
Please note that the access rights described on this page only refer to the fulltext or actual research data object (i.e. the uploaded files). When you submit data and/or publications to the Research Collection, the metadata describing the object will always be made publicly available.
The only exception are Habilitation theses, whose metadata will not be visible as long as the venia legendi has not been bestowed.
Doctoral Theses
Based on the 2008 Ordinance on Doctoral Studies you can choose from the following access rights:
| Access right | Submission form: name access right | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Open access | public | The thesis will be published immediately after the internal review process has been completed. |
| Embargoed access | doctorate-embargo | The thesis will be published after the chosen embargo period; the abstract will be published immediately after the internal review process has been completed. |
Habilitation Theses
You can choose from the following access rights:
| Access right | Submission form: name access right | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Open access | public | The fulltext of your thesis will be published immediately after the internal review process has been completed (in case of Habilitation theses once the venia legendi has been bestowed). |
| Embargoed access | embargo | The fulltext of your thesis will be published on the day of the embargo end date that you indicated (in case of Habilitation theses the embargo end date must not be before the date the venia legendi is bestowed). |
| Closed access | closed | The fulltext is uploaded for archiving purposes only. Only the submitter and ETH Library staff can access the file. |
Other Publications (journal or conference contributions, books, reports, master thesis, bachelor thesis etc.)
The Research Collection is the instrument for implementing ETH Zurich's Open Access Policy. Accordingly, academic texts can be published as a first or secondary publication with the following access rights:
| Access right | Submission form: name access right | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Open access | public | The fulltext will be published immediately after the internal review process has been completed. |
| Embargoed access | embargo | The fulltext will be published on the day of the embargo end date that you indicated. |
Please be aware that the ETH Libray will check any access rights and embargoes against the original publisher's copyright policies as recorded on Open Policy Finder.
Research Data
Research Data often come with special requirements regarding the protection of personal data, simultaneous publication with a journal article or other factors requiring sensitive handling of access rights issues.
Therefore, the Research Collection provides a maximum degree of flexibility regarding access rights when you publish/archive your data. You can choose from the following access rights:
| Access right | Submission form: name access right | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Open access | public | The digital object will be published immediately after the internal review process has been completed. A DOI will be registered within one hour. |
| Embargoed access | embargo | The digital object will be published on the day of the embargo end date that you indicated. A DOI will be registered within one hour the internal review is completed. |
| ETHZ users | restricted | The digital object will be available for logged in users from ETH Zurich only, after the initial review process has been completed. A DOI will be registered within one hour. |
| Closed access | closed | TThe digital object is uploaded for archiving purposes only. Only the submitter and ETH Library staff can access the file. No DOI will be registered for the object. |
Access request: When research data are deposited with restricted access rights, external Research Collection users can request access to the data via a form linked from the Landing Page of the item. ETH Library forwards release applications to the work's copyright holder, provided that he or she is still employed by ETH Zurich and/or has a an up-to-date ORCID record with a valid email address. If the work's copyright holder can no longer be reached, the research group leaders or, if applicable, the corresponding department will be contacted regarding the access request in accordance with the ETH Guidelines for Research Data Management. In the event of a positive answer by the copyright holder we will send a personalized access link to the requester (example of a dataset with restricted access).
General Remark: Due to software updates, the design of the user interface can change and the screenshots shown above may not correspond to the actual appearance. But the process and the functionalities remain the same.
