Step 1. Formatting
Step 2. Submission

 

 

 

 

Step 3. Approval

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submission Portal

After Dec 2020, students will submit drafts and final copies to the submission portals instead of submitting through email. Please continue reading for information on this system:

Students will upload drafts and final PDF versions of their ETD through the Graduate School's ETD Submission Portal.

Each submission portal has a submission checklist for students to complete prior to submission.

Draft Upload

Students will submit drafts of their ETD to the ETD Submission Portal. They will recieve feedback via email from the Formatting Advisor on changes that need to be made to their formatting.

Submit Draft Now

ETD Final Upload

After your ETD draft has been reviewed; you have successfully defended; and you are ready to submit a final document, upload your final PDF to the ETD Submission Portal.

Submit Final Copy Now

Formatting Checklist

The Submission Checklist is a shorter version of the Formatting Checklist, listing the most commonly seen formatting mistakes.You will be required to complete all of the checklist steps before the final PDF can be submitted to the portal.

Submission Procedures

Important: Your ETD must be approved on or before the deadline date of the semester in which you plan to graduate. To ensure your ETD is approved by the deadline, it is highly recommended that you submit a draft for initial review in advance of the deadline. Please do not submit your ETD for the first time on the deadline day; this may result in your having to take a one-credit extension or graduating in the following semester.

Thesis Master's Degree Students 

Submit your ETD draft through the ETD Submission Portal for initial review. After you have completed your defense and made all the changes required by your committee, upload your final ETD as a PDF. The Graduate School does not require a bound paper copy of your thesis or dissertation.

Filmmaking Students

Science and Natural History Filmmaking students must also submit a copy of their film. Submit a compressed H264 file (under 5GB) or a sharable link to the Formatting Advisor. If your film is larger than 5GB please contact the Formatting Advisor for alternate submission options. Films will be archived on the ETD Film archive with MSU Domain access only.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Education (EdD) Students

Submit your ETD draft via the ETD Submission Portal for initial review. After you have completed your defense and made all the changes required by your committee, upload your final ETD as a PDF. The Graduate School does not require a bound paper copy of your thesis or dissertation.

After approval, you can optionally submit your ETD as a PDF through ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing. Please read the Publishing Guides and Publishing Agreement sections of UMI's website for important information. There is no fee for Traditional publishing. Open Access publishing is $95. (NB: your document will be in the MSU Library's open access database ScholarWorks.) 

Complete a Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED).

Doctor of Nursing Practice Students

Submit your ETD draft through the ETD Submission Portal for initial review. After you have completed your defense and made all the changes required by your committee, upload your final ETD as a PDF. The Graduate School does not require a bound paper copy of your thesis or dissertation.

Supplemental Files

Files containing data partaining to your ETD should be uploaded to the ETD Submission Portal during the final upload.

If doctoral students choose to submit through ProQuest/UMI, they should also submit the same supplemental files. Non-proprietary, openly documented formats are always preferred:

  • Text: plain text (ASCII, UTF-8), PDF/A, CSV, TSV, XML
  • Image: PDF/A, JPEG/JPEG2000, PNG, TIFF, SVG (no Java)
  • Audio: FLAC, AIFF, WAVE
  • Video: AVI, M-JPEG2000
  • Compressed/archived formats: GZIP/TAR, ZIP
    • Files should only be compressed and/or archived when it is necessary due to large file size or the need to gather files together in a particular directory structure in order for them to be understood.
    • We encourage the use of structured organization, such as the BagIt format, within a compressed/archived file.

Raw Data Files

Raw data files can be included in ScholarWorks along with your ETD and any supplemental files. The library may also suggest you publish your data through an online repository; find out more by viewing the ETD Seminar slides. Please review the preferred file formats in the Supplemental files section.

Visit the Library Data Services for more information on a data management strategy.

Paperwork and Final Upload

We have transitioned from the Certificate of Approval (COA) form to the Submission Portal system. The Submission Portal replaces the need for the COA form.

The Submission Portal final upload serves as the official record of your ETD submission to the Graduate School and indicates that all committee-required changes have been completed. Upon approval by the Graduate School, your committee chair and co-chair will be notified that your ETD submission has been completed. No signatures from your committee are required.

The information you provide during your final upload will be used by the MSU Library to archive your ETD. You will choose if you would like your paper to be published immediately on MSU's ScholarWorks repository, or if you would like publishing to be held off for a one-year proprietary period.