Final Preparation Procedures

SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC AND PAPER DOCUMENTS

Master’s thesis

Students must submit one electronic document prepared according to the specific requirements for ETDs using D-Scholarship@Pitt, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institutional Repository.

Students also submit the following paper documents to their graduate school: 

  • One completed and signed ETD Approval Form. 
  • Receipt for processing fee (pay at Student Payment Center, G7 Thackeray)

The following where applicable:

  • Copyright Approval Letters
  • Request to Secure an ETD for 1 Year for Patent Pending Status
  • Executable Software Statement
  • School Exit Survey

This material becomes the property of the University. The student’s school or department may require additional copies. Please refer to the checklist at the end of this document (and reproduced on the third page of the ETD Approval Form) for a complete list of all materials that must be submitted before the school can give final approval of the thesis.
 

Doctoral dissertation

Students must submit one electronic document prepared according to the specific requirements on the following pages using D-Scholarship@Pitt, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institutional Repository.
Students also submit the following paper documents to their school’s graduate office: 

  • One completed and signed ETD Approval Form. The ETD Approval Form must include minimally the typed names of the committee members and dissertation director and the signature of the dissertation director. Alternatively, it may include the typed names, academic ranks, and department affiliations of all committee members and their signatures in black ink.
  • Receipt for processing fee (pay at Student Payment Center, G7 Thackeray)
  • Proof of completion of the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), either as an e-mail confirmation or
    certificate of completion. You can obtain instructions to complete to the online Survey of Earned
    Doctorates from the student services staff of your graduate school.

The following where applicable:

  • Copyright Approval Letters
  • Request to Secure an ETD for 1 Year for Patent Pending Status
  • Executable Software Statement
  • School Exit Survey

These materials become the property of the University. The student’s school or department may require additional copies. Please refer to the checklist at the end of this document (and reproduced on the third page of the ETD Approval Form) for a complete list of all materials that must be submitted before the school can give final approval of the dissertation

Undergraduate Theses (University Honors College)

Students must submit one electronic document prepared according to the specific requirements for ETDs using D-Scholarship@Pitt, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institutional Repository.

Students also submit the following paper documents to their graduate school: 

  • One paper copy of the Title Page
  • One copy of the Abstract
  • one completed and signed ETD Approval Form. The ETD Approval Form must include minimally the signature in black ink and typed name of the thesis advisor. Alternatively, it may include the typed names, academic ranks, and department affiliations of all committee members and their signatures in black ink. 

The following where applicable:

  • Copyright Approval Letters
  • Request to Secure an ETD for 1 Year 
  • Executable Software Statement
  • School Exit Survey

This material becomes the property of the University. The student’s school or department may require additional copies. Please refer to the checklist at the end of this document (and reproduced on the third page of the ETD Approval Form) for a complete list of all materials that must be submitted before the school can give final approval of the thesis.

ACCEPTABLE ELECTRONIC FORMATS
Electronic File Formats
  • The body of the text must be in Adobe’s Portable Document Format (.pdf). PDF allows documents created through word processing to be made available online with the freely available Acrobat Reader software. PDF also retains all formatting and graphics, allows hyperlinks, bookmarks and thumbnails, and can be indexed for more efficient search optimization. 

The following additional file types are permitted and supported as supplmental files for electronic theses and dissertations:

  • Images    GIF (.gif); JPEG (.jpeg); TIFF (.tif)
  • Video    Apple Quick Time (.mov); Microsoft Audio Video Interleaved (.avi); MPEG (.mgp)
  • Audio    AIF (.aif); CD-DA; CD-ROM/XA; MIDI (.midi); MPEG-2; SND (.snd); WAV (.wav)

Additional files should always use the highest resolution version of the object, not just a version suitable for today’s devices, since technology will improve. The thesis or dissertation can include more than one version of the object, to help those with a variety of devices, particularly if the medium itself is not scalable (for example, a slide scanned at 2700 dpi, with 640 × 480 and 320 × 240 versions as well).
If proprietary software is used, the thesis or dissertation must include a viewer if the vendor permits, to allow readers to view the file(s) without purchasing additional software. Use of proprietary software is discouraged, since over time this file may not be readily usable due to changes in versions and technology. All theses or dissertations using proprietary software must be accompanied by written permission from the owner of the software for its use in this thesis or dissertation.