Dissertations
For your dissertation, the embargo options are on the form you submit to ProQuest. Your selections apply to both ProQuest and Open Scholarship, the digital repository maintained by the Washington University Libraries:
• no embargo = the full text of your dissertation (as a PDF) would be available on Open Scholarship, the university's digital repository, as soon as we process the files.
• 6 month embargo = when we process the files, there will be a record of your dissertation (with your name, title, abstract, advisor information, etc.) available through Open Scholarship, but the full-text would not be available for 6 months.
• 1 year embargo = same as above, except one year
• 2 year embargo = same as above, except two years
• 3 year embargo = same as above, except three years

You may change the embargo period, either extending or reducing it, after your original submission, but you would need to contact the library (Digital Library Services – digital@wumail.wustl.edu) and ProQuest (disspub@proquest.com or http://www.proquest.com/en-US/support/contact.shtml) separately.

Theses
The embargo options are the same as above, except that they are only applied locally to Open Scholarship as theses are not submitted through ProQuest.

For more information, please contact Digital Library Services: digital@wumail.wustl.edu or visit http://libguides.wustl.edu/etds

University Libraries Policy
Current University Libraries policy (effective 2022): At the request of depositors, content can be “embargoed,” or restricted, from view for a limited amount of time of up to three years. Open Scholarship requires an end date to the embargo, at which time the content automatically becomes available for viewing in Open Scholarship. However, the depositor may submit one renewal request to extend the embargo for a maximum of three additional years, for a total maximum embargo of six years.

"Academic departmental policy may govern the use and duration of embargoes and students should consult their department for this information." https://library.wustl.edu/about/policies/open-scholarship-policies/#ossubuse   [under Embargoes]