Discuss future access restrictions with your team & advisor(s) for each file you plan to submit online (only the PDF of the report is required).
- Removing sensitive information: Sensitive information, such as names of interviewees, and other private information that your sponsor will not want you to make accessible worldwide, should NOT be included in the final project PDF submission. Some students choose to separate appendixes and restrict portions of the eProject, others decide not to upload personal/private information at all.
- Exceptions to immediate global publication: WPI has made a commitment to share student projects as openly as possible. There are rare circumstances that provide for temporary or permanent exceptions:
- Sponsor-requested redaction (removal of confidential information): Check with your advisor to see if your sponsor has asked to review your project prior to publication, to redact any confidential information. This step allows the sponsor to protect their intellectual property. The sponsor must provide requested redactions within a limited period of time. If they do not respond to requests for redactions, your project will be published without redactions.
- Restrict access to WPI: Under some circumstances, you may want to restrict access temporarily to the WPI community. Please discuss your reasons with your advisor. For your primary report, this restriction can be for 1, 2, or 3 years. For any supplementary files, this restriction can be for 1, 2, or 3 years, or you may choose to restrict access for an indefinite period of time.
- Withhold all access (embargo): Discuss with your advisor if you should embargo your publication to protect your right to patent or publish a discovery prior to publishing it through WPI's Digital WPI. For your primary report, the embargo restriction can be for 1, 2, or 3 years. For any supplementary files, this restriction can be for 1, 2, or 3 years, or you may choose to restrict access for an indefinite period of time.
- More information: Review the submission FAQ for more information about restriction options. Be sure to come to a consensus with your advisor(s), who will approve restrictions, including the period of time of restrictions.
