Dissertation record for rescinded degree

[Molly Keener]

Hello,

Our Graduate School recently rescinded the degree of a 2019 graduate. We're trying to determine what to do with the ETD file and record, both locally and with ProQuest. 

Per our agreement, the author retains copyright and licenses rights to the University, including the right to "make [the work] available." I believe this gives us the right to suppress the dissertation altogether, both file and record. But I'm concerned that there may be citations or links to the dissertation and am hesitant to just remove the record.

If anyone has dealt with this situation, I'd appreciate knowing how you handled it.

Thanks, Molly

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MOLLY KEENER

she / her | MLIS

Director of Digital Initiatives & Scholarly Communication

Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University

336.758.5829 | kee...@wfu.edu

Meet with me: calendly.com/mollykeener

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7296-5766

[Rhonda Marker]

Generally, if the dissertation should not have been made available in the first place, the best course of action is to remove all traces.

If any plagiarism was involved, providing a metadata record of a plagiarized work supports and validates the plagiarism, continuing to harm the copyright holder(s) of the original work(s).

Thank you for asking an important question.

Rhonda

Rhonda J. Marker (she/her)
Interim Associate University Librarian

Rutgers University - Newark

185 University Avenue

Newark, NJ  07102

973- 353-5160

https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/newark

Currently reading: A Most Improbable Journey: A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves / Walter Alvarez

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From: Molly Keener <kee...@wfu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 9, 2024 12:11 PM
To: e...@ndltd.org <e...@ndltd.org>
Subject: [etd] Dissertation record for rescinded degree

 

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[Molly Keener]

Thank you, Jonah and Rhonda, for your replies. They're helpful as I'm framing my suggestions for the Grad School.

Appreciatively, Molly

[Molly Keener]

Thanks Daryl. Removing access and amending the record to show that the item has been withdrawn/retracted is where we're leaning. 

Molly

On Wed, Jan 10, 2024 at 3:52 AM Daryl Grenz <daryl...@kaust.edu.sa> wrote:

Dear Molly,

My suggestion would be somewhat different than "remove all traces". While I'm not exactly sure what will be left in the ProQuest system after the removal is complete, for your institutional repository I think the best practice would be to leave a public tombstone page giving information about the date and reason for removal and some minimal metadata about the item that used to exist at that location. The original files and metadata can still be kept in a dark archive with appropriate labeling of the withdrawn status. The idea would be to think along the lines of the retraction notices of journals, rather than attempting to make the record totally disappear.

Regards,

Daryl

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From: Molly Keener <kee...@wfu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2024 12:33 AM
To: Rhonda Marker <rma...@rutgers.edu>
Cc: e...@ndltd.org <e...@ndltd.org>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [etd] Dissertation record for rescinded degree

 

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[Anton Angelo]

Would it be appropriate to add it to the Retraction Database, in case anyone has already cited it?

I'm really not sure if it would be, but asking the collective wisdom here.

Anton.

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From: Molly Keener <kee...@wfu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2024 9:45 AM
To: Daryl Grenz <daryl...@kaust.edu.sa>
Cc: Rhonda Marker <rma...@rutgers.edu>; e...@ndltd.org <e...@ndltd.org>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: [etd] Dissertation record for rescinded degree

 

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[Molly Keener]

Anton, given that this person's post-graduate work has been retracted and is in Retraction Watch, I think it makes sense. I'm going to look into how to submit it.

Thanks again for the suggestions this week!

Molly 

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