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Electronic Thesis and Dissertation

New Information - updated September 21, 2011

Students in all programs must submit their master's thesis or doctoral dissertation to the Graduate College electronically, as a PDF. The Graduate College no longer accepts paper submissions beginning Fall 2011.

There are a few changes related to publishing fees.

1. Master's students who submit a thesis will have to pay a library publishing fee of $12.50.
2. Doctoral students who choose traditional publishing through ProQuest will pay $37.50, which includes the $25 ProQuest fee and a $12.50 library publishing fee.  NOTE:  The decision to choose traditional or open access through ProQuest is separate from open access for the UIC Library. See link below for information.
3. Doctoral students who choose open publishing through ProQuest will pay $132.50, which includes the $120 ProQuest fee and a $12.50 library publishing fee.  NOTE:  The decision to choose traditional or open access through ProQuest is separate from open access for the UIC Library. See link below for information.
   
   It is recommended that traditional publication through ProQuest and open access through the UIC Library be chosen.  The charge for traditional ProQuest publication is much lower and the document will be available as open access through UIC.
    
4. Use the following University-sanctioned secure link to pay the publishing fee online.  American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa are accepted.  There is no additional charge to pay by credit card.
   
    https://quikpayasp.com/uillinois/commerce_manager/payer.do?orderType=UIC_Thesis
    
5. The publishing fee is not accepted at the cashier station in the Marshfield Building.  Contact thesis@uic.edu if there are questions on this.
   

Background

During the Spring 2011 semester, a pilot project for electronic theses and dissertations began.  Students in the programs listed below were given the option to submit their thesis or dissertation electronically.  

• English (MA, PhD)
• Mathematics (MS, DA, PhD)
• Nursing (MS, PhD)
• Psychology (MA, PhD)

There were a number of students who submitted electronically, and all had positive comments on the experience.  Based on the positive comments from the submitters and lack of any other major issues, starting with Summer 2011, students in all fields were able to submit the thesis or dissertation electronically.

Related UIC Pages

• ETD Format
• ETD Publishing Options, Access and Related Information
• Submission Responsibilites of the Student, Defense Committee Chair, and Program
• ETD Submission Process
• ETD FAQs

Intent to Graduate

The thesis submission process is seperate from declaring an intent to graduate.  See Graduation and Deadlines for procedures and deadlines for submitting and Intent to Graduate.

Committee Approval

Master's Thesis, Doctoral Preliminary Examination, and Doctoral DIssertation committees are approved by the Graduate College based on guidelines developed by the faculty and the Graduate College Executive Committee.   A Committee Recommendation Form must be completed and submitted to the Graduate College, with appropriate signatures, at least three weeks before the date of the examination or defense.  See Exams and Defense for procedures and forms.

Registration Requirements

The Graduate College does not require master's students to be registered in order to submit an Intent to Graduate, defend a thesis, submit a thesis to the Graduate College, or graduate, assuming all course requirements are completed, or will be completed by the graduation deadline.  Students with federal aid, assistantships, tuition and service-fee waivers, fellowships, or on student visas need to be registered under most circumstances.  Additionally, some programs require registration in the term of a thesis defense.

The Graduate College requires doctoral students to be continuously registered from the term of the Preliminary Examination through the term of a successful dissertation defense (not necessarily the term of graduation), excluding summers, unless a Preliminary Examination or dissertation defense occurs in a summer term. 

Thesis/Dissertation Submission Deadlines

See  thesis submission deadlines.

Electronic Thesis/Dissertation FAQs

See Electronic Thesis/Dissertation FAQs.

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Format

The format of the electronic thesis and dissertation follows the guidelines detailed in the Graduate College Thesis Manual.  See Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Format. 

Thesis/Dissertation Publishing Options/Access and Related Information

For information on publishing options (traditional, open access, restricted) and on copyright and thesis writing see Thesis/Dissertation Publishing Options/Access and Related Information.

ETD Submission Responsibilites of Student, Defense Committee Chair, and Academic Program

Please see this information here.

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Submission Process

See Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Submission Process for procedures and special instructions on the submission  process.