Thesis Preparation, Requirements & Deadlines

Theses must be submitted within six months of the date of the final oral examination.

There are thesis submission deadlines for each convocation period and registration requirements when submitting your thesis. We recommend you submit your thesis a minimum of 3-5 working days before any deadline, as corrections may be required. Please review the various deadlines below for more details.

Your thesis must be in a software application that can be converted to PDF/A (Archive), eg MicrosoftWord, WordPerfect, etc. You will need to convert your thesis to a single PDF/A file and submit it to Thesis Deposit. Once in Thesis Deposit, the FGSR will review your thesis for acceptance. Follow the steps below.

5.1 Confirm Thesis is Formatted Correctly

Before converting your thesis to PDF/A, confirm that it complies with the FGSR Minimum Thesis Formatting Requirements and department-specific guidelines. Refer to Step 1: Format Your Thesis.

5.2 Convert Thesis to PDF/A (Archive) and save with appropriate naming convention

Your thesis needs to converted to a single PDF/A file, even if it was originally saved in one or more files.

How to Save as PDF/A (Archive)

Your final PDF/A must be named as follows:

•lastname_firstname_ middleinitial(s)_submissionyearmonth_degree.pdf
(Example: Smith_Jill_M_201404_PhD.pdf)
•To convert your thesis to PDF/A, you may need to use Adobe Acrobat (not the freely available Acrobat Reader).
•For information on where to access Adobe Acrobat and other resources, go to the Adobe Acrobat Resources page.

5.3 Prepare and Submit Supporting Documents

Complete and send the following documents to the FGSR (2-29 Triffo Hall), or scan and email the document to your FGSR Program Services advisor. Please click here to find the FGSR Program Services advisor assigned to your department.

These documents must be received prior to electronic submission of your thesis.

•print and complete one form (print, fill out and sign this form by hand)
•this form grants permission to University of Alberta Libraries to include your thesis in its collection
•the student, as author, still retains copyright
•grants the National Library permission to publish and disseminate your thesis either by interlibrary loan or sale

If you have copyright permission letters allowing inclusion of another person's work in your thesis, the letters must be included.
Copyright Office Resources

This form (signed after the final examination and completed by the Graduate Coordinator), must have been sent to the FGSR. Confirm with your department that this form has been completed and sent to the FGSR.

NOTE: Restricting Access to a Thesis: Students who want to restrict access to their theses for an embargo period must complete and submit the Request to Restrict Access to a Thesis form (found in the FGSR Forms Cabinet) to the FGSR. The request must be made before submitting the Thesis to the FGSR. See the Graduate Program Manual or the University Calendar.

5.4 Register with Thesis Deposit and Submit Thesis

Before submitting your thesis to Thesis Deposit, you must register with Thesis Deposit (see procedure below). You must use a computer with:

•internet access using either a broadband or dial-up connection
•Windows, Macintosh or UNIX/Linus operating systems
•Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 8.x or later, Safari or other modern browser

Go to Thesis Deposit, using the procedure Submitting Your Thesis Electronically in Thesis Deposit

5.5 Thesis Submission Review by FGSR

Staff in the FGSR review your electronic thesis in Thesis Deposit to make sure it meets the minimum required specifications.

If not approved:

•an email from the FGSR will be sent to the email address used when registering with Thesis Deposit, notifying you that your electronic thesis has been rejected. You will be required to make any modifications instructed by the FGSR, log back into Thesis Deposit and re-submit.

•you must continue to check your email after each submission in case there are any corrections required. Your submission is not complete and you will not meet the deadline until your thesis is approved by the FGSR. (It may be necessary to check your spam/junk folder.)

Once approved:

•an email will be sent to the email address used when registering with Thesis Deposit, confirming that your thesis has been successfully submitted and approved and outlining the final required steps.

Under the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research's policy on public access to theses, academic and research achievements of graduate students should be shared with the greater community for scholarly and scientific purposes, and access should be made freely available after convocation.

For this reason, theses submitted from University of Alberta graduate students are included in:

-The University of Alberta Libraries theses collection and the NEOS Library Consortium, to which University of Alberta Libraries belongs

-Library and Archives Canada's electronic Theses Canada Portal, Libary and Archives Canada's microfilmed collection.

When you submit your thesis electronically it will not be immediately released. Theses will be released on embargo dates of June 15 for Spring Convocation and November 15 for Fall Convocation.

They will be accessible in the University of Alberta's institutional repository: Education and Research Archive (ERA). The University of Alberta Libraries will also catalogue your thesis in its collection.

Although your thesis will be shared publicly, keep in mind that you as author retain both copyright ownership of your thesis and the moral rights (the rights you retain over the integrity of the work and the right to be named as its author even after sale or transfer of the copyright).

If you need a Letter of Completion at the end of your program, please use this form to do so instead of emailing FGSR. Please read the instructions in the form carefully before submitting.