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Guidelines to Submission

Thesis Center: Guidelines to Submission (Steps 1 to 7)

Step 1 -

Finalize your committee

  • Download the Appointment/Change of Committee form
  • Complete this form well in advance of your defense date, as it requires the signature of the school dean, department chair, and committee members. At the time of submission to Thesis Center, all applicable fields on the form must be complete and current
  • Save a PDF of your completed Appointment/Change of Committee form

 

Create a profile in Thesis Center

  • Click the Login button below to create a Thesis Center profile
    login
  • After clicking “Register”, a verification email will be sent. Click the link to verify the registration. This will activate your Thesis Center profile
  • Click ‘Create a new profile’
  • Fill out the “New Manuscript Submission Profile” in Thesis Center with your information. Refer to your Appointment/Change of Committee form to complete the Committee Information section. They must match
  • Click “Create”
  • Upload a PDF of the Appointment/Change of Committee form to the Checklist page in Thesis Center
Step 1

**PhD students only**: Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). You are only required to complete the first section. Save a PDF of the completion certificate. Upload the PDF to the Checklist page. The survey is available here: https://sed-ncses.org

Step 2-

The morning of your defense, you may go to the Checklist page in Thesis Center to generate the electronic Approval to Submit form. Your action will prompt Thesis Center to send an email containing a link to the form to all of your committee members.

Your committee members must indicate their approval by the Checklist Submission Deadline.

Step 2aStep 2b
Step 3-
  • Defend your dissertation or thesis, and make any changes to your manuscript that your committee requires
  • Monitor the progress of the electronic Approval to Submit form through the Checklist page of your Thesis Center profile

NOTE
No further changes to the manuscript are allowed, with the exception of revisions to the formatting required by the Thesis Coordinator.

Step 3
Step 4-
In order for you to submit your thesis or dissertation, the following items must be complete on the Checklist page in Thesis Center by the Checklist Submission Deadline:
  • A PDF of the completed Appointment/Change of Committee form
  • All committee members must have indicated their approval on the Approval to Submit form
  • PhD students only: a PDF of the completion certificate from the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

IMPORTANT

  • Checklist verification will begin once your expected semester of degree conferral starts.
  • All Checklists are reviewed in the order received.
  • If you miss the Checklist deadline, your submission will automatically update to be reviewed for the following semester.

After verification, you will receive an email confirmation that the manuscript may be uploaded. The subject will read: “Upload Thesis/Dissertation to Thesis Center”.
Step 5-
  • In the submissions page of the Thesis Center profile, upload a single PDF file of the manuscript that was approved by your committee. Be sure to upload by the Manuscript Submission Deadline. This deadline pertains to the initial upload of the manuscript
  • Confirmation of your submission will be sent to the email address you’ve entered in Thesis Center. The subject will read: “Manuscript Received”
  • The Thesis Coordinator will review the manuscript for format and presentation and, should any changes be required, send a notification email. Normally this takes place within 3 weeks during peak submission times and sooner during off-peak times. The subject of the notification email will read: “Formatting Changes Available”
 
NOTE
Submissions made past the deadline will not be processed until the beginning of the following semester.
Step 5
Step 6-
  • If you receive an email with the subject “Formatting Changes Available”, follow the instructions in the email and return to the Submissions page in Thesis Center to view the corrections listed there
  • Address the corrections, and upload the revised manuscript to the Submissions Page as a single PDF
  • The Thesis Coordinator will review the manuscript for format and presentation and send a notification email, should any additional changes be required
  • After all corrections have been addressed, an email confirmation will be sent
Step 6
Step 7-

Monitor your email for a message from the USC Digital Library. You will confirm the thesis or dissertation publishing information with the USC Digital Library. At this point, you will be able to upload any necessary supplemental media files to accompany the PDF thesis or dissertation manuscript. You must respond to the email to finalize publishing information with the USC Digital Library. The deadline for finalizing publishing information is the degree conferral date of the given term. This is the final step required for degree conferral.  At this time, the manuscript processing fee will be applied to your student fee bill. The fee is $115 for doctoral students and $105 for master’s students.

Step 7