Dissertation and Thesis Submissions
Graduate students who will be submitting a dissertation or research master’s thesis should familiarize themselves with the Graduate School’s formatting requirements and deadlines for submission. Regulations for the appointment of a research director, topic approval, the committee formation, exam and defense arrangements, and more are available in the Graduate Bulletin of Information.
If you have questions regarding the formatting or submission of your dissertation or thesis, please contact the Graduate School’s dissertation editors, Shari Hill and Evan Bryson, via the following methods:
- General questions: dteditor@nd.edu (shared account)
- Questions about the Word template: contact Shari at shill2@nd.edu
- Formatting checks may be submitted by email or through the Box system. See below for submission instructions.
- Shari is available to answer questions by phone at (574) 631-7545.
- Written correspondence, signed title pages, and any printed submission forms should be sent to:
Shari Hill
The Graduate School
502 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
1. Preparation of a Dissertation or Thesis File
Dissertations and theses must comply with formatting requirements outlined in:
- the Graduate School’s Guide for Formatting and Submitting Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s Theses.
Formatting Resources
To assist students with their formatting, we have collected the formatting checklist, formatting guide, and LaTeX and MS Word templates in the Graduate School’s Box account.
Software Classes
For students who plan to use MS Word to write their document, the Graduate School offers a free, single-session formatting class, Preparing Your Dissertation (download the class documentation from OIT Training), several times each semester. We encourage you to take this class as early as possible if you will be using Word to write your dissertation or thesis. To register for the hands-on workshop, log in to Endeavor and search for the class name in the Learning catalog.
Unfortunately, we are not yet able to offer classes for LaTeX users.
2. The Formatting Check
When a student submits the dissertation or thesis to the readers, he or she must also submit a review draft of the document in PDF form to the Graduate School. Note: If you do not submit a formatting check by the formatting deadline for the semester in which you plan to submit, we cannot guarantee you will receive comments and required changes in time to meet the formal submission deadline.
How to Submit a Formatting Check File
The Graduate School now conducts all formatting checks through the ND Box service. If you are planning to submit a dissertation or thesis but have not yet activated your Box account, please do so as soon as possible!
Early each semester, the dissertation editors send collaboration invitations to dissertation and thesis students who are on the graduation list for that semester. If you have not yet received an invitation, you may initiate a formatting check by request by emailing your PDF to dteditor@nd.edu. (Do not copy Shari on emails with attachments unless she specifically requests that you do so.) We will create a Box folder for your formatting check and invite you to collaborate with us.
What to Expect from Your Formatting Check
The dissertation editors will create a secure folder in the Graduate School’s Box account that will act as your formatting check directory. Both the review PDF you submitted for the check, and the results of the formatting check will be posted here. We may then exchange questions, comments, and new files directly through Box.
Depending on the notification settings you choose for this folder, Box may alert you by email if a Graduate School editor previews, downloads, or comments on an existing file, and when the Graduate School editors upload a file for your review (such as the formatting check results).
3. Formal Submission of a Dissertation or Thesis
Formal submissions must be completed by 5:00 p.m. on the date of the submission deadline. See the submission checklist for the list of required components.
The dissertation editors will review all components of your submission. Once your review is complete, we will contact you by email if we have questions or notice problems with your ETD, title pages, forms, or payment. If the issue is not resolved after we contact you, the Graduate School reserves the right to reject a submission and remove the student from the graduation list. If there are no issues with the components of your formal submission, you will receive an email from the ETD website stating that the dissertation or thesis has been approved by the Graduate School.
4. Ordering Personal Copies
The Graduate School does not offer binding and shipping for personal D/T copies. This includes any manuscript you wish to have bound into book format for yourself, your friends and family, your adviser, or your department. Only formal submission copies will be accepted for binding through our office.
As a courtesy to our students, we have assembled a brief PDF (Personal Copies: Using Library Bindings as a Guide) that provides suggestions for binderies to contact, and options to request if you want your personal copies to look like the printed dissertations in the library.