Skip to Main Content
It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.
CWU Libraries logo
Ask a Librarian chat image Ask the Libraries
Home

Completing Your Graduate Project

This guide provides resources to graduate students at Central Washington University who are preparing to submit their graduate projects to ScholarWorks @ CWU.

What is ScholarWorks @ CWU?

ScholarWorks @ CWU is the institutional repository of Central Washington University. The collection is curated and administered by the James E. Brooks Library. ScholarWorks @ CWU showcases the scholarly and creative output of the University community, including student projects and theses. ScholarWorks also features archival material documenting the history of the Central Washington region.

How to submit your graduate project to ScholarWorks

For instructions on submitting to ScholarWorks @ CWU, please see the following guide. If you have any questions about the submission process, please contact the Scholarly Communications Librarian at scholarworks@cwu.edu or 509-963-1718.

Embargo Requests

There are numerous advantages to publicly sharing your graduate project via ScholarWorks @ CWU. More people can find and read your work, meaning that you will reach a larger audience and may garner more citations to your work. In addition, you will increase the visibility of Central Washington University and benefit academia at large with your research.

Despite these advantages, in some cases, you may wish to embargo, or temporarily restrict access to your graduate project. Three primary reasons for embargoing include:

  • Your graduate project has commercially sensitive content. Perhaps you need time to bring a concept to market or seek a patent.
  • You wish to publish all or part of your graduate project using a traditional press that regards open access publication in an institutional repository as "prior publication." Most publishers do not operate in this way, but some may. Please do some research before choosing to embargo for this reason.
  • Your graduate project contains sensitive data or information.

Please consult your committee chair and committee members when making the decision to embargo. The Scholarly Communications Librarian can also offer advice about embargoing your graduate project.

In order to embargo your graduate project, you must fill out the form below.

Embargo Request forms and Embargo Extension forms must be returned to the Scholarly Communications Librarian via email at scholarworks@cwu.edu.

Students may choose to request a one-, two-, or five-year embargo to protect their ability to publish or patent their work in the near future. An embargo provides a temporary, delayed public release of the work via ScholarWorks @ CWU. Embargo requests must be received at least one month prior to the posting of the graduate project to ensure sufficient processing time.