Scoping PhD Theses: Some initial reflections | Copim

  Barnes, M. (2025). Scoping PhD Theses: Some initial reflections. Copim. https://doi.org/10.21428/785a6451.d98f9a16

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) includes digital PhD theses in their 2024 BitList, a ‘community-sourced list of at-risk digital materials’ which is revised every two years. Falling under the category of published research papers, the electronic thesis is considered ‘vulnerable’, meaning at genuine risk of loss. Theses ‘fall under specific collecting policies of research libraries or archives and are managed through dedicated repository infrastructures.’ While the vulnerable classification does not indicate the theses are at the most possible risk, it does mean that ‘the technical challenges to preservation are modest but responsibility for care is poorly understood, or […] the responsible agencies are not meeting preservation needs’. PhD theses form the foundation of a scholar’s career as well as contributing essential knowledge to the research landscape. Open Book Future’s initial scoping begins to lift the lid, providing a view to archiving and preservation practices surrounding eTheses in the UK.

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