Introduction

The Marshall University ETD program is supported by the Graduate College, ProQuest/UMI, and Marshall University Libraries.

This site provides you with complete instructions on how to prepare and submit the ETD.
The ProQuest ETD Administrator  site is where you will submit your thesis or dissertation. A Graduate College reader will review your submitted work to ensure that it meets all requirements and then the Graduate Dean will publish the approved copy to Proquest. The Marshall University Libraries provides open access to and long-term archiving of your published ETD.

NOTE: There are 2 important ETD Web sites:

All master’s and doctoral students must submit the thesis or dissertation electronically through the ProQuest ETD Administrator site.
ProQuest is a private company that has acted since 1938 as the publisher and distributor for the majority of theses and dissertations written in the United States. Published theses and dissertations are listed in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database. 

Thesis/D Preparation at a Glance

1. Write your Thesis/D under the direction of your advisor and committee.  Marshall University has specific format requirements for margins, fonts, page numbering, line spacing, headings, and the title page. Most of these requirements are based on the guidelines required by ProQuest.
   Please make sure you understand the correct style and format explained in our handbook, Formatting Guidelines for Thesis/D Electronic Submission
   Please make sure you understand exactly how pages should be ordered and numbered as explained in our brief instruction sheet: How to Order Pages
2. If your Thesis/D involves human subject research, be absolutely sure to follow the requirements for meeting Institutional Research Board approvals.
3. In the semester in which you intend to submit your Thesis/D for graduation, submit the application for graduation (Application for Comprehensive Assessment and Graduation):
   The application for graduation must be submitted along with a receipt for the Diploma Fee ($50 for master’s degree or $100 for doctoral degree) from the Bursar’s Office. The application due date can be found at our Graduate College timetable.
4. Submit a final draft of the Thesis/D to your advisor by the due date. The date can be found at our Graduate College timetable.
5. Defend your Thesis/D before your committee. The date of your defense is determined by your academic department.
   Make sure you submit the signed Comprehensive Assessment form to the Graduate College.
6. Make any changes to your Thesis/D as recommended/required by your committee.
7. Submit the ETD Signature form to the Graduate College, Old Main 113.
8. You are now ready to create an account and prepare your Thesis/D for electronic upload to the ProQuest ETD Administrator site. You can leave the website and log back into your account at any time.
9. Convert the final version of your Thesis/D to Adobe PDF format and save it. Adobe PDF is the only acceptable file format. If you need help in preparing a PDF for upload, ProQuest provides:
   -a very helpful FAQ site
   -an excellent tutorial on the submission process.
   You can also get help at these two campus locations:
   Design Center, Communications Building 211 (Huntington Campus)
   Instructional Technologist, GC (South Charleston campus)
   Be sure to check for the following:
10. Did you name the main file in the proper format? (lastname-firstname-year-degree.pdf—e.g., smith-john-2012-ma.pdf).
    -Is the ETD file name in lower case letters?
    -Does your ETD have the correct pagination format: title page (no page number), abstract page (no page number), other preliminary pages (lower case Roman page  numbers); main body (Arabic page numbers, beginning with 1 and numbered consecutively to the end, including any appendices).
    -Does the Table of Contents match the actual text in the main body, and do the page numbers match?
    -Are all internal and external multimedia objects and files linked and ready for submission?
    -Have you checked for missing pages, poor font translation, and other anomalies?
11. As soon as you submit your work, ProQuest automatically sends you an e-mail confirming that your submission is complete, and will send to the Graduate College a notification of your submission.
12. A Graduate College reader will then review your work according to formatting guidelines and if changes are needed you will be asked to edit and resubmit. See Last Step: Graduate College Style and Format Review below.
13. When your Thesis/D is approved, the Graduate Dean will publish your work to Proquest/UMI where it will be logged and indexed. You will be notified by email that this has occurred.  Once your Thesis/D is published to Proquest/UMI, the Marshall University Libraries receives a PDF copy which is archived and made available for public access on the Marshall Digital Scholar site.

Publishing Options
When you are ready to submit, you will need to set up an account at the ProQuest ETD Administrator web site. This is the location where you will upload your ETD.
There are two ways to publish - traditional or open access. With either method, you can also use an embargo to delay publishing for a selected period of time.

Traditional Publishing (no cost)
With traditional publishing your work is available for purchase by others and enables you to receive royalties based on those purchases. Please consider that the need for others to purchase your work means that your work will not receive the widest possible dissemination. Your work will still be listed in an online database and those who choose not to purchase it do have online access to a brief section including the title page and first few content pages.
NOTE: Most Marshall University students select Traditional Publishing. Talk to your advisor if you are unsure.

Open Access ($95: paid to Proquest by credit card at time you set up your account at the ETD Administrator site.)
Open Access is the broadest possible method of disseminating your work. The full text of your ETD is available free on the Internet.  Because your research is available free of charge, there is no income to ProQuest (or to you via royalties). For that reason, there is a cost to you for this publishing choice.
NOTE: Marshall University already provides open access to your work at no charge through its own institutional repository at the Marshall Digital Scholar web site.

Embargo (i.e. restrict access)
You can grant immediate access to your work or  block access to protect the work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a designated period. You can choose to embargo for six months, one year, or two years. If you choose to delay access, your work will default to whichever publishing method you have selected (traditional or open access) at the expiration of that embargo.
Most publishers of professional journals state that theses or dissertations that are available online do not qualify as prior publication and therefore do not impact future publications. However, not all publishers are in agreement. If you are unsure, please talk to your advisor.

Copyright ($55: paid to Proquest by credit card at time you set up your account at the ETD Administrator site.)
As the author of the thesis or dissertation you already own the copyright as soon as it is published. International copyright law provides full protection and establishment of the author’s rights. ProQuest does offer an additional copyright registration service that registers your copyright, establishes your claim to copyright, and provides certain protections if your copyright is violated. This means that ProQuest will submit your application to the United States Copyright office on your behalf and provide you with the certificate from the Library of Congress. Most students do not choose additional copyright protection. Talk to your advisor if you are unsure.

Fees

Ordering Bound Copies

When you create an account at the ETD Administrator site you will have the opportunity to order bound copies of your work from Proquest. You will be offered a range of binding options and can select the one that best meets your needs. Be prepared to pay with a credit card.

What You Need to Submit to the Graduate College office

These items are not part of your ETD submission, but they are still due in the Graduate College office.

• Application for graduation along with a receipt from the Bursar's office showing payment of the diploma fee.
• The signed Comprehensive Assessment form showing that you have passed your comprehensive exam.
• The ETD Signature form showing that the PDF you will submit to the ETD Administrator site is the final copy approved by your committee.

Last Step: Graduate College Style and Format Review  

A powerpoint presentation titled, Intro to the ETD Process
A PDF copy of the powerpoint presentation titled,  Intro to the EDT Process PDF
Thesis/D Sample Title Page
Frequently Asked Questions-ETD Admin
Pagination Instructions for MS WORD

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