4.70 – Embargo of Dissertations or Master’s Theses

New Mexico State University permits the embargo of dissertations or master’s theses under certain conditions as described in this rule.

PART 1: DEFINITION

An embargo of a thesis is defined as a delay in the release of the dissertation or master’s thesis for a specified amount of time (non-renewable).

PART 2: ROUTINE PROCESSING BY LIBRARY

Unless a request for embargo is approved, dissertations or master’s theses will be routinely processed by the Library. NMSU permits the embargo of dissertations or master’s theses under the following conditions:

1. To protect information of commercial value
2. To protect a patent application
3. To protect intellectual property rights associated with publication of content
4. To honor a pre-existing contractual agreement; or
5. To protect individual rights to privacy because of the thesis subject or when cultural respect is being infringed.

PART 3: PROCEDURE TO REQUEST EMBARGO

To apply, the requestor must submit a Master’s Thesis and Dissertation Embargo Request Form to the Graduate School office with the Thesis-Dissertation Intake Form.

1. The completed Master’s Thesis and Dissertation Embargo Request Form must be signed by:
   1. Student
   2. Dissertation Advisor(s)
   3. Department Head
   4. Dean of College or Designee
   5. Dean of Graduate School
2. Conditions: The following conditions will apply if an embargo is granted:
   1. The bibliographic information (author, title, abstract, metadata, etc.) of the copy held by the NMSU Library will be publicly accessible in the library catalog.
   2. The embargoed dissertation or master’s thesis will automatically be made available upon the embargo expiration date.
   3. An approved embargo period shall be twenty-four months and non-renewable