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Submission Process

Overview
Document Conversion
ETD Submission Steps (pdf)
ETD Signature Form
Survey of Earned Doctorates
ProQuest (UMI) Agreement Form

OVERVIEW

The following is an outline which details the process of submitting your thesis or dissertation. For your convenience, separate submission checklists for thesis and dissertation electronic and paper (ETD Exempt) formats, have been provided.

The student should contact his or her graduate coordinator (college/school and department levels), regarding final requirements and deadlines to be completed for graduation. The student should also consult the latest edition of the WVU Graduate Catalog for any details not addressed in this guide.
Students should explore the potential multimedia aspects of the final thesis or dissertation early in the planning stages.
Copies of the printed draft of the thesis or dissertation should be presented to all committee members at least one month before the final examination (oral defense).
The Oral Defense should be publicly announced at least one week prior to the scheduled defense date as follows:
- WVU Online Calendar system: see http://calendar.wvu.edu/Suggest/
In the semester of expected graduation, the student must obtain a packet of submission forms from the Submission Forms page, and shuttle sheets from his or her college graduate prior to submitting the thesis or dissertation.
After the oral examination is passed and the thesis or dissertation is accepted by the department, the student must submit the final copy of the thesis or dissertation.

DOCUMENT CONVERSION

The student produces the final electronic copy for online submission.
- After you complete the word-processed ETD, you should create one or more PDF or other approved electronic files. Find a computer with your word processor and Adobe Acrobat 3.0 or higher version installed. The Adobe Acrobat software includes drivers to print word processor documents to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
Access to software and assistance:
- Technical assistance and training materials for file conversion or other special needs is available from the Office of Information Technology.
- The following OIT handouts may be helpful:
  - WVU ETD Workshop Materials
    
    http://oit.wvu.edu/training/etd/etdwkshop/
- Adobe Acrobat is available in the various computer labs across the WVU campus. Additionally the Downtown Campus Library, Evansdale Library and the Health Sciences Library (CBLC) have the full Adobe Acrobat software installed on all public computers.
- Check with your college, school or department to see if they have a local copy of Adobe Acrobat available.
- You can buy your own copy of Adobe Acrobat at an academic discount price from the WVU Bookstore or from Software Express (choose Faculty Specials).
- Adobe.com offers limited free trial and fee based document conversion services*.
- Inzone Software offers a free trial download of PDF conversion software.
- NLM DocMorph offers free document conversion to PDF sponsored by the National Library of Medicine*.
- Open Office offers a shareware word processing program that converts files to the pdf format. Versions are available for Windows, Linux and Apple platforms.
- PDFzone offers a plethora of links to freeware and commercial software to convert to the PDF format.
- PDF995 offers a free version of this pdf conversion software.
- A share-ware version of the PDF conversion script called "Aladdin Ghost Script" is available at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/. However, students should be cautioned that conversion problems may be encountered when using this software, and that there are no editing tools available as indicated in the above Adobe Acrobat product.
- Also consult the How to Create an ETD section.
- *Preferred
- The WVU Office of Information Technology only provides pdf support for the Adobe Acrobat platform.

STEPS OF THE WVU ETD SUBMISSION PROCESS

Collect all the files you need to submit.

The main thesis or dissertation document(s) should normally be converted to a single PDF file prior to online submission.
Put all files related to your ETD in the same directory. All files should have a distinct name with an appropriate standard prefix and suffix. We recommend the following file naming convention.

"Lastname_Firstname_thesis.pdf"
"Lastname_Firstname_dissertation.pdf"
“Lastname_Firstname_masters_problem_report.pdf”
“Lastname_Firstname_doctoral_research_project.pdf”

Name any other file(s) according to the convention for its type (e.g., name other PDF files with the ".pdf" suffix, name GIFs with a ".gif" suffix, name JPEGs with the ".jpg" suffix, etc.). A listing of acceptable file formats is available online.
Link "etd.pdf" (main document) to all the other files using the hyperlink feature in Adobe Acrobat.
In some instances, for example where multiple file and/or directory structure is required to accommodate interactive multiple files, you may want to "zip" the entire set of directories and respective files before submitting online. You can access the zip freeware from the following links:

WinZip (for PC platform)
7-Zip (for PC platform)
Mac platform has built-in Zip utility

Submit Online

Preferred Web Browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 or latest (Download IE for Microsoft Windows)
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 (Download for Windows | MacOS | UNIX/Linux )
Safari (Mac): Note - this browser is not yet supported by WVU OIT. They are seeking solutions for Mac users. Please use Mozilla Firefox reference (for MacOS) above.

Preliminary Steps to Submission

Activation of your WVU MasterID account is required to login to the wvuScholar Deposit system to complete online ETD submissions. You must first activate your account prior to login to wvuScholar. To activate or check your MasterID account settings visit http://oit.wvu.edu/masterid/.

Account Activation: When you submit an activation request for an account which is not already active, an email will be sent to the appropriate GroupWise or MIX account within approximately 15 minutes.
The email will provide instructions on what you need to do to complete the activation. Be advised that you will not be able to connect to systems using the MasterID account until you receive this email and complete the activation.
If you have problems or questions about WVU MasterID, call the WVU OIT Help Desk at (304) 293-4444.

A printable handout version of this ETD submission guide is available at http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/theses/Procedure_for_wvuScholar_Deposit_ETDs.pdf.
Review all information about online submissions below, prior to login for deposit.
We recommend that you compile all documentation prior to online submission. The server may time-out after 30 minutes of inactivity and you may lose your submission information before you can complete the process. If you have compiled all of the information required prior to login to wvuScholar, the submission time should only take about 10-15 minutes to complete from start to finish, depending on file upload size and internet connection speed.

Login to the wvuScholar Deposit system with your activated WVU MasterID account at http://wvuscholar.wvu.edu:1801/deposit.
Once you have successfully completed the login step, you will see the introduction screen.

The online submission form has five steps, outlined below.

During the completion of each step in the ETD submission process, you will notice the "Submission Steps" bar along the top of the screen will progressively turn color blue accordingly to your state of your progress.
New Submissions: Click on “New Deposit Activity” to submit a new ETD (see upper left corner of the screen).
Resubmissions: See instructions below.

1) Select Type of Submission

You will be asked to select a collection for deposit.

Select "ETD - Theses or Dissertations" and click the "Next" button.

Deposit Collection Option Screen

2) Enter your document data

In the “Descriptive Information” screen, select the appropriate menu items from all pull-down lists and complete all required fields in the formats as instructed. Help tips will appear when you place the cursor in the field and hover over the field. See the sample completed form illustration below for details.
Copy and paste your document title, abstract and keywords from your word-processed, PDF, etc. file.

For the abstract field, paste only the abstract body from your text file (exclude header).

There is a 2,000-character limit (including spaces) for the abstract body display. The system will accept abstract entries longer than 2,000 characters, however, the display to the end-user will be truncated (a line space will be inserted for display as if a new paragraph after the first 2,000 characters). This is a known issue in the system, but it cannot be changed at present.
Although you may enter special symbol or characters, you may want to avoid the use of non-standard symbols (i.e. use plain English equivalents) as this may affect the search access of your document. Most special characters will display properly and may be accessed by a search command.
Keep in mind that title and abstract information input into the document data screen become searchable keywords in order to access the document information.
Keywords: Use discipline specific keywords, some of which may be contained in the title and/or abstract information, and others that may exist in your field of study. Most people submit five to six keywords. You must separate keywords or key phrases by semicolons " ; ". Keywords may be included at the bottom of the title page as indicated on our sample title page. For assistance in determining appropriate keywords, see the keyword thesauri listing.

Committee members: Input information for respective committee Chair (or Co-Chairs) and committee members fields, using “Lastname, Firstname” format and separate each member's name by semicolons " ; ".
Email addresses are required for all committee Chairs and members. Input email addresses in the appropriate fields and separate each member's name by semicolons " ; ".
Personal URL: You may input a Web link (URL) in this field. This is intended to link to your personal professional Web page where you may post current information such as ways to contact you, links to your Curriculum Vitae or Resume, updates, addenda and/or corrigenda to your thesis or dissertation document, publication lists, etc. Be sure to include the entire Web address, starting with http://...
Defense Date: Click the “Calendar” icon to activate the calendar input window. Scroll your main window up after clicking the icon (if necessary), to view the calendar window. Select the appropriate month/day of your completed oral defense date from the calendar window. If necessary, scroll the main window down to view the date input.
Date Submitted: Repeat above calendar procedure and select the current date.

Review all fields on the input screen to verify that all characters were properly pasted/inserted.

You may need to re-type/re-paste some special characters manually if not properly captured.

Student E-mail Address: Input the E-mail address at which you prefer to be contacted and/or is the most durable. Non-WVU E-mail accounts are preferred if your WVU credentials will terminate with graduation.
After completing all fields on the document data screen, click the "Save" button to save and return later, or click the "Next" button to proceed to the next step.

Deposit Metadat Input Screen

3) Access Rights

Select the appropriate level of Web access for your document. Detailed information about Web distribution of your ETD, publishing implications and advice on which option to choose is available online from our Intellectual Property section.

WVU ETD Web Distribution Options

Open Access
(Majority of WVU students use this option)
Campus Access
(Use for publication restrictions)
No Access
(Strictly reserved for patent/proprietary use only)

The "Post-Embargo Status” applies to the “No Access" option, the system will automatically change your document access level to the selected post-embargo access level once the default embargo period has expired.
Once approved, “No Access” deposits will only publically display the document data (author, title abstract, keywords, etc.). Access to the thesis or dissertation file(s) will be embargoed to all parties for the duration of the restriction conditions selected at the time of deposit.

After completing all fields on the access rights screen (Select Access Rights options and check the “I accept the terms” box), click "Next" button to proceed.

Deposit Access Rights Options Screen

4) Upload your file(s)

Use the browse buttons provided to select files to be loaded. Use the menu provided to browse and select drive / folder / file(s) from where your ETD file(s) is (are) located (i.e. hard drive, memory stick, CD, etc.) to upload to the system.
Multiple File Submissions: In most cases, you may upload all of your files in one submission session. See also the discussion at the beginning of this document.

Insert the files in the order in which you want them to appear.
Add descriptive file names in the adjacent file note field.
Important: The first file in the upload list will be the “manifestation” that the end-user opens by default when encountering your ETD files and this will normally be the selected file that will be published to Web search engine indexes, etc. Insert your main thesis or dissertation document first.

Click the "Next" button to complete the file upload process.

Deposit File Upload Screen

5) Brief Information and Confirmation Screen – Complete and/or Save Your ETD submission

Make sure the information you provided is correct (including spelling!)
Click the "Submit" button to complete the submission or click the “Save” button to login later to complete the submission.
The wvuScholar Deposit system will then generate an automatic email to notify the depositor (student). The University Libraries will forward submission information by email to the Committee Chair, the College/School Coordinator and the graduate student regarding the pending submission, and at each step along the way.

After clicking the “Submit” or “Save” button, the introduction screen will appear. Be sure to logout when you are finished by clicking on the "End Session" icon at the top right of the screen.
Previous draft deposits saved but not submitted will appear in the left sidebar “Draft” folder.
Resubmissions/Revisions: Click on the “Submitted” folders in the left sidebar to view/edit a previously submitted, un-reviewed deposit. Click on the “Returned” folder to view/edit a previously reviewed-returned/rejected submission. You may edit document data and/or upload revised files by clicking on the pencil tool and selecting the applicable tab. To replace a file, use the “Browse” button to load new file, then click the “Save” button; the new file will overwrite the previous file. After making any change, first click the “Save” button, wait until the screen clears, then click the “Submit” button (when you are ready to resubmit the document).

Do not create a duplicate deposit for resubmissions.

returned screen

Submit your ETD Submission Forms and Fee(s)

In addition to the electronic filing of your thesis or dissertation, a completed ETD Submission Packet (forms and fee(s) must be forwarded in person or by mail to the University Libraries.
Submission forms and fee(s) may be submitted before or after online submission.
Submission details can be found online in the Submission Checklist pages.
When your ETD is approved, you will be notified by email from the University Libraries.
The student should also check with the college/school and department to determine whether they require additional printed and bound or electronic copies.
Submissions should arrive no later than the official deadline date or as indicated by the graduate college/school coordinator for the semester in which graduation is anticipated.

Review Process

The library administrator will normally contact you by email within 24 hours after submission regarding the status of the document review.
The committee Director/Chair has the option to review the document data and file(s) submitted, and is permitted up to 5 days to review the document submitted. Faculty who would like to review pending ETD submissions should contact the library administrator. After 5 days the submission is assumed approved and the record will be updated accordingly. At the end of each semester, the University Libraries will override the 5-day default review period in order to expedite ETD review and approval processes to clear students in time for graduation.
Resubmissions: You may update your document data and/or file(s) at any time during the review process by logging back into the system. Resubmissions may be completed only up until the time the submission is approved.
After approval, file replacement requests are considered on a case-by-case basis; for more information contact the library administrator. Generally, file replacements must be submitted no later than 2 weeks after approval. Once processing (microfilming and abstract publication) has been completed at ProQuest/UMI, a standard $45.00 microfilm replacement fee is charged. WVU policy requires parity for all ETD versions, both in the local WVU repository collection as well as copies distributed via ProQuest/UMI. For unusual circumstances, the student should have the committee Chair contact the University Libraries to discuss file replacement issues.
Your document and select bibliographic information will be published with the WVU ETD collection in the wvuScholar repository once your submission has been approved. The library administrator will send an email notification of the approval to the student, committee Director/Chair and the college coordinator. Your ETD and document data will be available online according to the Web distribution option you selected during the same day the submission is approved. You may access your ETD by searching or browsing the wvuScholar repository at http://wvuscholar.wvu.edu:8881.
Technical Problems: To report technical problems with the WVU ETD system and to receive assistance, contact the Office of Information Technology help desk at (304) 293-4444.
Submission Process / Format Questions: For questions not addressed here, you may contact the library administrator at (304) 293-5267.

Helpful submission hints

Have you included your Curriculum Vitae or Resume? (Note: Inclusion of a CV is optional)
Have you checked your PDF file for missing pages, poor font translation, and other anomalies?
Are all internal and external multimedia objects and files present when you submit?
Have you included a Table of Contents and a list of each multimedia object type?
Have you checked that all your pages are numbered correctly?
Keywords

List four to six keywords or short key phrases to aid the cataloging librarian who will provide bibliographic subject access to your document through MountainLynx, the local online library catalog and OCLC WorldCat, an international catalog database. These words will be indexed in addition to all the words that appear in your title and abstract.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT REQUIRED FORMS

ProQuest (formerly UMI) Agreement Form

UMI offers abstract, copyright, microfilming, and publishing services.

All master's and doctoral students who submit an electronic thesis or dissertation are required to participate in the UMI Abstract publishing program (participation for Project Reports is optional).
For more information see the Intellectual Property page.
For publication purposes, a printed copy of the abstract must also be submitted in addition to the abstract included in the thesis or dissertation manuscript (see the sample Abstract and the Abstract section in the Arrangement of Contents page).
- Header: Must contain the word "Abstract", document title and author's name.
- Page(s) should not be numbered.
- Single spacing is preferred but double spacing is also acceptable.
- Word limits are no longer imposed. Suggested length is 350 words for dissertations, 150 words for theses (excluding words in the header).
The additional copy of the abstract will be computer scanned by UMI, so bear in mind that the appearance of your abstract submission will remain exactly the same when published. The use of figures in your abstract entry is acceptable, but remember that keyword searching is useful only with text.
For publication purposes, a printed copy of the title page which cites the names of the committee chair (advisor) and committee members must also be submitted; this will serve as the header for the microfilm copy (see the sample Title Page).

ETD Signature Form

Required for all ETD submissions.
Student indicates Web distribution choice.
Student and faculty committee members must sign.

Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

Doctoral Students Only: A completed questionnaire entitled "Survey of Earned Doctorates" should be presented to the University Libraries when the dissertation is submitted. For more information about the survey, see National Science Foundation Web site.

Note about compliance: While the surveys are voluntary, the level of federal funding designated for public institutions such as WVU is dependent on the aggregate information provided by these questionnaires. Student responses are held in complete confidence and no individuals are identified in university reports of findings. For additional information regarding the confidentiality of the Survey of Earned Doctorates please consult the SED Brochure.
Please note, beginning with the 1997-98 edition, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has been awarded the federal contract for conducting this survey. You should use the edition corresponding to the current academic year. Copies are available online or from the University Libraries.