Electronic Thesis / Dissertations

 

Electronic Theses/Dissertations (ETDs) at ISU

Signature Pages are no longer included in your thesis!

Overview

Iowa State University began requiring all Theses and Dissertations to be electronically submitted in the Fall of 2006.

 

All students whose programs of study require a Thesis or Dissertation must comply with all Iowa State thesis requirements in order to graduate.

 

Electronic Thesis/Dissertation Procedure
  1. File an Application for Graduation (Diploma Slip) for the semester you plan to defend your thesis and to graduate.

  2. Request your Final Oral Examination.

  3. Defend your thesis.

  4. After your defense, make all of the thesis corrections required by your committee. Check the Guidelines and Resources page and follow the ETD Format Checklist.

  5. Obtain the required signatures on both your "Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form" and your "Graduate Student Approval Slip for Graduation" (for the semester you will graduate) as soon as possible. (The Graduate College sends the Approval Slip to your graduate secretary after your "Request for Final Oral Examination" is approved). Submit both correctly completed forms to the Graduate College, 1137 Pearson Hall. A legible fax of the Submission Form is acceptable.

  6. Create an account at the ProQuest/UMI ETD submission website, fill out the data, and upload your final, correctly formatted, PDF thesis to the website for Thesis Office review. Allow at least one hour to submit. Most students will choose the TR-1 Publication option.  For information about the other options, choose from the following links: Open Access, Copyright Fee, or Embargo/Hold. You may wish to discuss these options with your Major Professor(s).
    You will also need:
    • A future address and phone number (yours or a friend's),
    • your final, uncapitalized thesis title, ready to copy or type into the ProQuest/UMI website,
    • names of your department(s) and major professor(s), and committee (optional),
    • your abstract (ready to copy and paste into the website),
    • other thesis and degree data.

  7. Pay appropriate fees with a credit card. If you purchase a thesis copy from UMI, it will be made from your microfilmed thesis, one-sided, and in black and white. You can make your own color, two-sided, bound copies from your PDF at local copy centers. One hardbound copy automatically will be sent to the ISU Library from UMI after processing.

  8. Check your e-mail for 2 messages:
    • After you submit your thesis you will receive an automatic message that your dissertation/thesis was submitted and a manuscript number. It may take half an hour to receive the message.
    • After the Thesis Office reviews your thesis, you will either receive a message that your thesis was accepted or that there are "changes required for...name of your thesis." The thesis review may take a few days. You cannot graduate until you receive the final "auto" e-mail from a UMI "editor" that says your thesis was accepted.

  9. All PhD students: The confidential NSF (National Science Foundation) Survey of Earned Doctorates is needed: The NSF Survey is available on-line, in paper form, or downloadable PDF versions. The downloadable or PDF survey may be filled out and returned to the Graduate College. If you fill it out on-line, request the on-line "certificate" that you have completed the survey and send it to the Graduate College (fax: 515-294-3003). This survey helps allocate funding by tracking the funding granted and needed, and the jobs accepted for all 45,000 PhDs/year in the U.S. There are summary reports, the confidentiality policy, and more at the NSF Survey Website.

  10. Complete any other academic requirements from your department and the Graduate College.