PhD Degrees

Plagiarism of thesis and final paper repository

Contacts
Postgraduate Administration

Aftef receiving confirmation of admission to the discussion, you will upload the digital version of your thesis in the appropriate Reserved Area.

The paper will then undergo anti-plagiarism assessment in order to identify any potential illegitimate use of sources drawn from the Internet.

Plagiarism self-check of thesis

You may verify your thesis draft at any time for suspect materials, sourcing materials and to help you correctly reference material in your bibliography. Plagiarism assessment is free of charge for up to four “analysis credits”, corresponding to approximately 40 pages.

To access the service, follow the instruction in your Personal Area. Please remember that if you access the service directly from the compilatio.net web site the free analysis credits offered by the University are not available.

Uploading the final version

Your paper is to be uploaded in your Reserved Area > Student Services – Esse 3 > Degree > Upload Thesis and verify Supervisor’s consent > Upload.
The file must be in PDF/A format and should not be over 20 Mbyte. If the size of the PDF is greater than 10Mbyte, you can use the PDF compression software [ITA] made available by the University.
If, even after compressing the pdf, the file exceeds the permitted size, you will need to upload a text-only version of the document and send it to the email address bancadati.studenti@unive.it and to postlauream@unive.it ( in cc) the complete version. You can follow the same procedure even if your thesis contains attachments that cannot be converted into PDF (for example video), still uploading the textual part.

After uploading, remember to check and possibly update all the data relating to the final exam question, in particular: thesis title, thesis abstract, thesis language, teaching activity, keywords, thesis consultation.
The upload can be made several times within the opening period. Failure to upload the thesis in the indicated period will result in exclusion from the PhD discussion.

The final thesis can also be written in a foreign language subject to authorization by the Teaching Board.

Plagiarism assessment

At the end of the upload period, the University will check all the documents using the Compilatio.net software. The results of the check will be visible in the Student Reserved Area - ESSE3 > Final exam > Thesis upload and supervisor / supervisor acceptance.
If a significant percentage of similarities with other sources is found, the supervisor will evaluate whether to approve the thesis or, if he deems changes necessary, he will be able to grant the doctoral student 14 days to make them.

Upload to the University Institutional Archive

Once you pass the final examination, your thesis will automatically be uploaded to the ARCA Institutional Archive.
The electronic archiving process also meets the legal deposit requirement for the thesis at the National Central Libraries.
 

Since 2010, Ca' Foscari University, recognising the intellectual value and significance of doctoral theses, has participated in the national "Magazzini Digitali" project by storing theses in a dedicated institutional archive.
As of 2024, all doctoral theses from the university have been migrated to the ARCA Open Research Archive, a digital space for depositing and consulting theses, subject to the assigned licence.
 

Thesis Embargo

The embargo is the period during which a thesis stored in an institutional repository remains restricted from public access.
Only certain metadata - such as the title, abstract, and scientific-disciplinary sector (non-exhaustive list) - will be visible during this time.
The embargo period for doctoral theses lasts a maximum of 12 months, after which the thesis becomes publicly accessible (“open access”).

A request for an embargo must be duly justified and may be granted for the following reasons:

  • confidentiality and/or ownership of results and/or sensitive information belonging to Ca' Foscari University of Venice;
  • confidentiality and/or ownership of results and information from external institutions or private companies involved in the research related to the doctoral thesis;
  • the presence of innovative elements for which protection procedures have already been initiated or are intended to be initiated;
  • other justified reasons.

Doctoral graduates may request a change from open access to embargo, or vice versa, only within one year following the final examination.
Following this period, any request to extend the embargo must be authorised by the relevant PhD Faculty Committee. Consequently, the doctoral graduate must get in touch with the PhD Secretariat to submit a justified request.

The 12-month embargo limit may only be exceeded in the following cases:

  • rejection by the publisher [the commercial publisher with whom the author intends to publish the thesis], as stated in the SHERPA-ROMEO database or as officially declared by the publisher;
  • a documented objection from a co-author who is not affiliated with Ca' Foscari University;
  • reasons of public or national security;
  • privacy concerns or the presence of sensitive data;
  • protection of the University’s economic rights.