Dissertation Process

Dissertation Preparation and Format Check
Publishing and Copyrighting
Archiving and Disseminating the Dissertation
Binding the Dissertation
Dissertation Format Guidelines
Submit Manuscript

Dissertation Preparation and Format Check

Advisors have primary responsibility for approval of the dissertation, and the advisory committee members also must read, approve, and sign the manuscript. Such approval includes all academic and professional evaluations and judgments as to originality, adequacy, accuracy, significance, methodology, conclusions, and correctness of style.

However, the dissertation manuscript format -- margins, spacing, pagination, page layout, parts and their order -- must conform to Graduate School specifications. The Graduate School performs a dissertation format check before the Defense; approval of the manuscript format is a degree requirement. Students should follow the Dissertation and Thesis Format Guidelines in formatting their manuscripts

Two weeks before the Final Defense, the dissertation manuscript must be submitted for a format check to the Graduate School. The submission process is electronic. The manuscript should be submitted as a PDF file to the Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD) Administrator website of ProQuest/UMI, the publisher of dissertations and theses. This is the same site to which the final version of the dissertation will be submitted.

To begin, the student should create an account on the ETD website. The site prompts the student through the steps of creating a profile. Once all the requested information has been provided, the student will be prompted to upload the dissertation manuscript as a PDF file.

Graduate School staff will check the PDF file of the dissertation and notify the candidate of any format corrections necessary. The Graduate School staff, as the ETD Administrator, will notify the student of “changes required” or “manuscript accepted,” requiring no format changes. If format changes are required, students may make these corrections immediately and resubmit the manuscript. Or, they may wait until after the Defense to resubmit, incorporating both format corrections and any revisions to the content of the dissertation requested by committee members at the Defense.

Please Note: If the student received a “manuscript accepted” notice during the format check, the ETD system automatically prevents further submissions. To enable submission of the final manuscript, the student must contact phdstudents@wayne.edu.

The final copy of the dissertation, including format corrections as well as revisions stemming from the Defense, must be submitted by the completion deadline established for the semester. See deadlines.

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Publishing and Copyrighting

After completion of the student’s account profile on the Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD) Administrator website, and before submission of the initial manuscript for a format check, the student is asked to complete a Publishing Agreement. This is mandatory. The student also has the option to copyright the dissertation through the site. It is recommended that students do so.

Please Note: Although completion of the Publishing Agreement is required at the time the dissertation is submitted for the initial format check, the dissertation manuscript will not be submitted to ProQuest/UMI by the Graduate School until the Defense has been held and all revisions have been made.

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Archiving and Disseminating the Published Dissertation or Thesis

Wayne State University Libraries maintains electronic copies of students’ dissertations and theses and would like to make these available to the Wayne State community and the general public through Digital Commons@WSU. Students can control the level of access to their dissertation. Students should complete the permission form on the University Libraries website.

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Binding the Dissertation

Students wishing to have their dissertations bound should find a bindery service. LB Offices provides binding services that include the WSU logo on the cover. Information is available on the LB Office order form.

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Submit Manuscript

The Submit My Dissertation/Thesis link on the UMI/Proquest ETD Administrator website is specifically for the Wayne State University Graduate School, and is where both the initial and final dissertation manuscripts should be submitted.

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