Publicity of a thesis

The thesis report is a public document and generally should not contain confidential information. The thesis report must be openly assessable. The public helps to secure the objective and equitable evaluation of theses.

The Tampere University of Applied Sciences must not create completely confidential theses. If the thesis is to be partially kept secret, the decision must be carefully considered. Possibly confidential information (see examples of classified information in theses) should not be included in the thesis report (see thesis report compilation option). If the thesis contains confidential material, it must be mentioned in the summary of the thesis report. The supervisor of the thesis commits the duty of confidentiality and the prohibition of exploitation to the idea paper, the thesis plan, the basic material of the research and all confidential information throughout the thesis process and beyond.

As a student you decide on the way the thesis is published in the Theseus (Theseus is an electronic online library of theses of polytechnics): in open collection or in restricted collection. Note that since September 2021 library does not accept printed versions. More detailed instructions on publishing and Theseus are available in the Student's Guide and library's webpages.

Before graduating and receiving the diploma, the student will submit his / her thesis for publication and at the same time for filing. The thesis report is marked as published in the study register system. The supervisor can see the note if he / she wishes to have the student's study details. Before signing the diploma, the Coordinator coordinates checking that the entry has been made.

Examples of Classified Information in Thesis

Article	Examples
Private professional or business secrets that, if made public, would cause economic loss to the private business and place competitors in a profitable position (24§: 20)	Elaborate financial details Business experience skills Technical details Classified information related to a business plan Innovations under development
Information related to military intelligence and defensive preparedness (24§: 10)	Detailed location information Information related to defense system functions Technical details Detailed military equipment and assembly information
Information on a person's private life (24§: 32)	Political views Private opinions Other information on private life (e.g. lifestyle, interests, family life

 

Thesis Writing Options

Already in the beginning of the writing process, a thesis instructor must inform his/her student of the different options for drafting a thesis.

The recommended options for drafting the thesis are the following:

1. The thesis along with all the attachments are written in such a general or abstract manner that it does not contain any classified information and is therefore a public thesis in its entirety.
2. The student writes a completely public thesis along with attachments for evaluation. This thesis and its attachments do not contain any classified information. In addition, the student drafts a separate, classified report for the external client. The classified report remains between the student and the client and will not be taken into account in the thesis evaluation.
3. The student writes a completely public thesis along with public attachments for evaluation. The thesis also contains a detached, classified attachment that will not be made public. The classified attachment will not be taken into account in the thesis evaluation. In the thesis, the student must indicate on a general and abstract level which information is excluded from the public thesis and placed in the detached, classified attachment.