Theses and Dissertations

Congrats on working towards your thesis or dissertation at UTA! The UTA Libraries Digital Publishing Librarian, Digital Publishing Specialist, and entire Open Partnerships & Services Department team are here to help you submit your documents, so they become part of the publicly accessible scholarly record. This important practice is part of the growing movement for open access scholarship around the world to ensure that EVERYONE has access to the results of scholarly research.

ETDs are openly published in UTA's institutional repository (formerly UTA ResearchCommons; new repository location soon to be announced) and will be searchable through internet search engines. The UTA institutional repository offers metrics about how many users are engaging with your ETD in a variety of ways! Make sure to check back after graduation to see what impact your thesis or dissertation is making in the world! For example, Amy Holmes’ dissertation from 2016 has nearly 6000 abstract views and almost 1000 downloads on our site alone!

Process and Deadlines to submit your approved Thesis or Dissertation to the ResearchCommons

We are currently migrating to a new and much improved platform for our institutional repository. For those submitting during the Spring 2024 semester, we have a different process than usual. Before any submission can be made, please send an email to librariesops@uta.edu identifying that you will be submitting a thesis or dissertation this semester and include your degree and department name. After that step, you will receive an email with instructions on when and how to submit to our new repository. 

As part of this process, all students must agree to the Intellectual Property Statement and Non-Exclusive Copyright Release. This Non-Exclusive Copyright Release ensures that YOU RETAIN YOUR COPYRIGHT as author of your thesis or dissertation. Doctoral students must also complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates and submit via email to thesisdissertation@uta.edu.

When submitting your thesis or dissertation, the date on the title page of your document should match your graduation month and year. The month must be listed as either: May, August, or December (e.g. May 2024). 

Deadlines to submit your approved Thesis or Dissertation to the Libraries
***Submitting prior to these deadlines will ensure enough time to complete required revisions

Semester Date
Spring 2024 May 14, 2024
Summer 2024 coming soon
Fall 2024 coming soon

After your initial submission, be sure to check your email to receive either an acceptance of your submission or a request for required changes and resubmission.

If an extension is required, please complete the online extension request form. If you have further questions, contact your advisor or the Graduate School at gradteam@uta.edu.

Embargoes

An embargo is a delayed release or temporary access restriction to the full-text PDF of your work. Common reasons to request an embargo include:

  1. If your thesis or dissertation material is to be published in a journal that requires no prior publication
  2. If you plan to file for a provisional patent relevant to the work published in your thesis or dissertation

Please note that you RETAIN your copyright as author of your thesis or dissertation when you sign the Non-Exclusive Copyright Release. This means that you are free to publish your work anywhere else you see fit without permission from UTA. Most journals and publishers today are aware that theses and dissertations are already published by universities in their institutional repository and/or must abide by mandates for federally funded research to openly publish outcomes and data.

Embargoed works are still visible as an entry in the UTA institutional repository with title, author, date, and abstract details. For those requesting an embargo for patent-filling reasons, please ensure that your abstract is written without revealing patent-relevant information or trade secrets.

If you require an embargo, they are requested when you submit your ETD to the Digital Publishing Team. You can add an embargo period of 6 months, one year, or two years. Two years is the maximum embargo time unless there are extenuating legal circumstances.

To request an embargo extension, consult either the Graduate School or the Office of Innovation and Commercialization (for patent/legal needs) to provide clear rationale as to why your work should be embargoed for longer than 2 years. That information can be provided to thesisdissertation@uta.edu.

Additional Resources for thesis and dissertation writing

Please note these changes from previous policies and workflows

  1. Strict adherence to the embargo maximum period and visibility of all but the full-text PDF for embargoed works changed as of March 2023 in consultation with the Graduate School. Refer to thesisdissertation@uta.edu with questions.
  2. We are no longer supporting submission to ProQuest because it is a paywalled database.
  3. Thesis and dissertation documents must be written in the format approved by your committee. The Libraries no longer does formatting or mechanical checks. Please speak with your advisor about formatting issues. 
    1. The library does not provide templates. The Graduate School offers manuals linked below. We strongly encourage you to contact your committee chair to discover which manual is recommended by your academic unit. For specific examples of previously published theses and dissertations, you can visit your department's community in the UTA institutional repository.
    2. Guides and Examples of Elements of Theses and Dissertations

Binding Personal Copies of Theses and Dissertations

**Effective January 1, 2024, UTA Libraries will no longer be providing bindery services for theses and dissertations. If your work has been deposited with ProQuest, you may order a print copy from them online. ProQuest may also be able to support printing of documents that have not been deposited with that service.

Still have questions? Check the FAQs!

FAQ: I just defended my thesis or dissertation. How do I submit my documents to fulfill the requirements of the Graduate School?

Answer: Please first review the information provided above. If you have not found information you seek, please contact thesisdissertation@uta.edu.

 

FAQ: How to access past theses and dissertations of UTA Students?

Answer: Older theses and dissertations are searchable in the library catalog here: https://uta.summon.serialssolutions.com . These are physically bound and available upon request.Newer theses and dissertations are only available in the UTA institutional repository. Browse to your department and refer to the theses and/or dissertations sections to find recent examples.

 

FAQ: I need to see examples of article-based dissertations.

Answer: For several years, all dissertations produced at UTA have been published openly in the UTA institutional repository. On the home page, use the search bar to search “article-based” or “article-based” AND a keyword from your discipline/topic to find an example closer to your field. For example, you could find “Smoking Cessation within the Federal Employee Population, an article-based dissertation by Brenda Ross Swilley from 2020.

 

FAQ: Does the Library have a template for theses and dissertations?

Answer: The Library does not have any official templates for theses and dissertations. Each discipline has different requirements that they follow. Students need to contact their department for specific information about what their dissertations should and should not have. The Graduate School does have guidelines of elements that should be included in its manuals. Please note: these are only to be used as a guide or starting point. As stated above, each department has specific guidelines that the student must follow. 

 

FAQ: Does the Library provide formatting and manual check services for theses and dissertations?

Answer: No, the Library does not provide these services. We encourage students to reach out the UTA Writing Center and/or the Graduate School for guidance on formatting and manual checks. There are Plagiarism Checkers freely available through services like Canvas, the Learning Management System used at UTA.

 

FAQ: I’m submitting my thesis or dissertation. Do I need to select an embargo?

Answer: Please refer to the information on embargoes offered above. Only select an embargo period if you want a delay in publication for your thesis or dissertation on the UTA institutional repository because you plan to publish in a venue that requires no prior publications or apply for a patent within two years. Most students select the “NONE” option to not request an embargo.

Please note that most academic publishers are now aware that high-level research institutions like UTA require all theses and dissertations to be made openly accessible via an institutional repository and therefore the stipulation that work cannot be published elsewhere does not apply if it was a thesis or dissertation in an institutional repository. If you would still like to embargo your work, please note that the embargo only applies to the PDF of your full text. The title, authorship, and abstract of your work will still be visible (per our policies with the Graduate School). You have the following embargo options:

Publication/Patent Hold 6 months - The full text of this work will be held/restricted from worldwide access on the internet for six months from the semester/year of graduation to meet academic publisher restrictions or to allow time for publication.

Publication/Patent Hold 12 months - The full text of this work will be held/restricted from worldwide access on the internet for twelve months from the semester/year of graduation to meet academic publisher restrictions or to allow time for publication.

Publication/Patent Hold 24 months - The full text of this work will be held/restricted from worldwide access on the internet for twenty-four months from the semester/year of graduation to meet academic publisher restrictions or to allow time for publication.

 

FAQ: What is ORCID? Do I need an ORCID iD to submit my thesis or dissertation?

Answer: ORCID is a “persistent digital identifier” that many researchers use to increase the visibility of their research across multiple platforms like Web of Science, publisher websites, and institutional websites. An ORCID is meant to serve as an overarching way to identify yourself as a researcher in the global scholarly community. When you create an ORCID, you receive a webpage listing all the publications you have published under your iD. It is free to sign up for one and add to your manuscript; however, it is not required to submit a thesis or dissertation.  

 

FAQ: I found errors in the thesis or dissertation I submitted to the institutional repository and I need to resubmit. How do I do that?

Answer: Congratulations on completing your thesis or dissertation! Do not submit a new ETD. For revisions, please contact thesisdissertation@uta.edu for information about changes.

 

FAQ: Does the library offer a service for binding of UTA theses or dissertations?

Answer: No. Effective January 1, 2024, UTA Libraries no longer provides this service due to a lack of requests.