Policies and practices for sustainable preservation of theses and dissertations in higher education institutes

This study examines the digital preservation landscape for Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) across global Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Employing a qualitative, empirical research design, the study utilizes Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) and Document Analysis to evaluate the formal textual policies and digital infrastructure frameworks of 45 purposively sampled HEIs across nine countries. The findings reveal varying degrees of digital preservation maturity, ranging from comprehensive standalone policies to basic, repository-level informational statements. Thematic synthesis identified five core architectural clusters: policy scope and governance, format standardization, infrastructure redundancy, active lifecycle management, and metadata architecture. While many institutions explicitly integrate ETDs into rigid security and restricted access protocols, others rely on broader institutional stewardship frameworks. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates a concerted shift from passive storage to active usability management, characterized by non-proprietary format recommendations, multi-layered “3-2-1” backup compliance, automated checksum fixity checks, and structured Dublin Core metadata schemas. The study concludes that robust ETD preservation requires moving beyond static bit-stream replication toward active, automated, and policy-driven lifecycle management. By establishing transparent benchmarks for format obsolescence, geographic redundancy, and rights management, this research provides a replicable framework for HEIs to benchmark and enhance their digital stewardship frameworks, ensuring long-term global accessibility and technological utility for scholarly outputs.