Copyright information for theses and dissertations publication

Canadian privacy legislation prohibits the publication of signatures. This means that your title page should be the unsigned version, and any other signatures that appear in your thesis or dissertation should be removed or blacked out.

You should remove any personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, and addresses. If you have included your thesis or dissertation supervisor's contact information in a consent form that appears as an appendix it should also be removed. Generic contact information for organizations or businesses is ok to include.

Many students include their own email address, phone number, or address in appendices (such as copies of consent forms). It is up to you if you would like to publish this information in your thesis or dissertation, however you should keep in mind that your thesis or dissertation will be openly available online once it is published.

Photographs of human research participants may not be used unless participants have given documented prior permission for such use as part of the Research Ethics Board-approved formal consent process.

If you planning on using photographs in your thesis or dissertation, keep in mind that your thesis or dissertation will be publicly available, and that you need to protect the privacy of your research participants.

• Obtain permission from anyone who is identifiable in photographs, even if the photograph was taken in a public place
• If this isn't feasible, consider blurring faces or using a different photograph
• Photographs of human research participants may not be used unless participants have given documented prior permission for such use as part of the Research Ethics Board-approved formal consent process.

Canada:

• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Overview of privacy legislation in Canada
• Privacy Act (Public sector)
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) (Private sector)

British Columbia:

• Office of the Information and Privacy Officer for B.C.
• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) (Public sector)
• Guide to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) for individuals
• Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) (Private sector)​
  • A Guide to B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act for Businesses and Organizations

Royal Roads University

• RRU Research Ethics Policy
• Office of Research - Ethics