Once your thesis or dissertation is done, depending on your career goals the next step may be publication. Typically this involves significant editing to get the document into shape. In some cases, you may be able to get multiple publications from your thesis or dissertation. 

This leads many to wonder: Can you plagiarize from yourself? 

Yes, and no. 

The key to understanding issues around plagiarism starts with copyright. Chances are good that you hold the copyright on your thesis or dissertation because it was a document you personally created. Your institution may recommend you include a page in your document that states this explicitly, although this is not required for theses and dissertations in the United States. Still, you can include a page on the front end of your document that might look like this:

 © Christina DeJong, 2025

If you hold the copyright to your own work, you can use it however you like. You can copy and paste text into a new document, sell copies of your work, or post it on a web site for download.

However… 

You must also be aware of any materials in your document to which someone else may hold the copyright, such as images, tables, survey instruments, or data. Some parts of your document may be copyrighted by others but be allowed under fair use. For example, quoting a few sentences from a source (with citation) is considered fair use and not a violation of copyright.

If you have images in your thesis or dissertation on which someone else holds the copyright, then you may not have the right to publish those unless they are in the public domain. 

Once you publish your document as a book or a journal article, you typically sign the copyright over to the publisher. Once you sign over the copyright, you are restricted in how you use it. At this point, copying and pasting text directly from the published document is not recommended, even if you are copying the overview of the research methodology–this should always be re-written for each new publication. 

Finally, be sure to check with your institution about their recommendations! As an example, Michigan State University provides these guidelines for graduate students. 

Here are a few other institutions that discuss copyright issues in your dissertation:

• University of Michigan
• Pennsylvania State University
• Harvard University

Do you have suggestions for other resources we can add to the list? Drop us an email and let us know!