Northeastern University Library Answers: University Library FAQ

Student authors may choose to temporarily restrict access to the full text of their thesis or dissertation to protect sensitive information or because they have applied for a patent based on their work. In such cases, readers may access a work only after a designated period of time (the embargo period). At Northeastern, students may choose to apply an embargo of six months, one year, or two years. You can do this during the online submission process. Different embargo lengths are rarely permitted, and must be approved by your academic program or college.

You may find that dissertations and theses from other institutions have embargoes of different lengths or have other restrictions. But in general, even while the full text is embargoed, the citation and abstract is still made available to researchers. This information is considered part of the university's academic record.