Dissertation Submission Guidelines For Undergraduate Students
To make the process of submitting your dissertation go without a hitch, consider the following tips.
- Edit your work.
- Make an electronic copy.
- Submit a printed paper.
- A title page containing the full title of your paper, your full name, college/university, the date of submission, and the degree for which it’s submitted.
- Declaration of originality.
- Abstract.
- Acknowledgments.
- Table of contents.
- Figures.
- Body chapters.
- Appendices.
- Reference page.
- Request restricted access.
- Comply with the submission deadline.
Before submitting your paper, make sure it’s ready to be examined. Check it for any misprints or spelling mistakes, informal words or phrases, and formatting issues.
Usually, undergraduate students are required to submit both paper and electronic copies of the dissertation. In the case of an electronic version, it’s often done online through ProQuest, even if your university doesn’t participate in this program. There are three ways to publish your paper via ProQuest: upload a PDF file, have it sent by your university delivering means or submit a paper version that will be digitized. Make sure that you prepared the PDF correctly, it should have no password protection, embed all fonts, and allow printing.
You can hand in your dissertation in person, through a third party, or by post. Make sure that your work has the following structure:
Normally, you’re required to provide two printed copies, one for each examiner. They should be softbound. Spiral binding isn’t accepted. Remember to provide a CD containing your PDF paper labeled with the paper title, your name, your prospective degree, and the year of submission.
Since your dissertation will be in an open access in your library archive or database later, you can limit its availability if you feel the necessity. You can reason your decision stating that the text of your paper contains some trade secrets or that the disclosure of some information from it will result in a legal challenge. However, your unwillingness to make your work public due to the scientific competition is not a valid reason.
You should remember that late submissions are penalized. It’s your responsibility to manage your time by anticipating the troubles you may face at the last moment such as printing or network problems. Your overdue work will be accepted if you had a credible case (health condition), and a special committee has agreed to allow the acceptance of your late work. If you haven’t made it on time, you’re obliged to submit what you’ve done up to that moment.