About LSE Research Online
LSE Research Online (LSERO) is the institutional repository of the London School of Economics and Political Science. It provides open access to the research outputs of the School and preserves them for long‑term discovery, reuse and citation. The repository brings together publications, doctoral theses, and research datasets in one service, offering a comprehensive record of LSE’s scholarly work.
LSERO supports the School’s commitments to open research, long‑term preservation, and public engagement with the social sciences.
Our Mission
LSERO exists to:
- Collect and preserve research outputs produced by LSE researchers.
- Provide open access wherever possible to publications, datasets and theses.
- Support research visibility, discoverability and reuse by exposing metadata to national and international aggregators.
- Safeguard the long-term accessibility of outputs through secure storage and the use of stable, durable file formats and identifiers.
- Support compliance with funder, School and sector policies on open access, data management and research dissemination.
- Provide authoritative information on the research activity of LSE for internal and external audiences.
What LSERO Contains
See our Content Policy
Benefits of Depositing in LSERO
Depositing in LSERO offers several advantages:
- Increased visibility and reach through indexing in services such as Google Scholar, CORE, OpenAIRE, EThOS, Wikidata [HW1.1]and other scholarly aggregators.
- Long‑term preservation of digital outputs with persistent identifiers and citable records.
- Compliance support for open access and research data policies of major funders and the School.
- Comprehensive usage statistics including item-level data and tailored reporting.
- Integration with LSE profile pages and other institutional platforms that reuse repository metadata.
Services We Provide
LSERO offers a range of support services to the LSE research community, including:
- Guidance on depositing publications, theses and datasets.
- Assignment and registration of DOIs for LSE publications and datasets.
- Quality assurance of metadata and records.
- Exposure of metadata to external services and aggregators.
- Support with takedown requests and rights concerns.
- Advice on copyright, licensing and publisher policies.[
Policies
LSERO is governed by a suite of policies that ensure responsible stewardship, legal compliance and clarity for depositors and users. These include:
Copyright
Copyright for material deposited in LSERO remains with the rights holder. Conditions of use and licensing information are provided on each item’s record. Where no licence has been applied, users should assess whether their intended reuse is permitted under the relevant exceptions in copyright law. Uses falling outside these exceptions will require permission from the rights holder.
Publications
- Depositing authors must ensure they have the right to share the version they submit.
- Wherever possible, we will make publications open access in accordance with the LSE Open Access Publications Policy.
- For all other publications, the Library will make the full text available in accordance with licence terms or publisher permissions.
Theses
Copyright remains with the thesis author.
- Reuse beyond what is permitted by copyright exceptions requires permission from the author.
Datasets
- Licences will vary depending on the dataset type, sensitivity and reuse conditions.
Deposit Procedures
Publications and Datasets
See our Deposit Page
Theses
Theses are added via:
- Submission of the final examined version by the doctoral candidate.
- Digitisation projects undertaken by the Library.
- Records supplied via the British Library’s EThOS service.
- Provision of electronic version by alumni.
Current students should submit their final examined version as per PhD Academy guidance. Past students should email lseresearchonline@lse.ac.uk to discuss depositing their thesis.
Content Advisory Statement
Users of LSERO should be aware that some content may reflect outdated perspectives, terminology, or viewpoints that do not align with modern values. Certain materials may contain depictions or language that were once commonplace but are now considered inaccurate, inappropriate, or harmful. Users may encounter material related to sensitive topics such as discrimination, violence, or other distressing themes. We also recognise that what constitutes harmful content is not necessarily the same for everyone and that you may access potentially harmful material that we are not yet aware of. These items remain available as a record of LSE’s historical research contributions, preserving evidence of its academic output and intellectual developments over time.
We believe we have a duty to curate our collections responsibly and to take measures where appropriate to minimise harm. Please note that this does not mean altering any original material or removing collections or records from public access. If you identify concerning content or wish to provide feedback, please contact lseresearchonline@lse.ac.uk.
Access and Discovery
Metadata and, where permitted, full text and files are made openly available and may be harvested by national and international services. LSERO supports the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI‑PMH).
Contact Us
See Contact page for details