American ETD dissemination in the age of open access: ProQuest, NoQuest, or allowing student choice

"ProQuest mandates for ETDs no doubt come from well-intended university administrators. But student reactions to these policies appear to be mixed. Some want to market their works through an established dissertation reseller, attracted by the prospect of revenue from sales. This view was recently reflected by Ed.D. recipient Will Deyamport, tweeting his appreciation for possible royalties earned.

Other recent graduates tweet their pleasure at seeing their works “published,” evidently accepting ProQuest’s claim that assigning an ISBN to the ETD equals publication.

Yet other students strongly oppose university policies mandating ProQuest submission, seeing a glaring contradiction to the values of the open access movement, where scholarly literature is expected to be “online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.” ...

In light of student objections, some universities are reconsidering ETD policies to allow for student choice...."