Theses and Dissertations Frequently Asked Questions

To schedule your defense:

• Consult with your advisor to determine if you are ready to defend.
• Schedule a time to conduct the defense with your advisor and committee.
• Book a room at the appropriate time, create a Zoom meeting room (as needed), and reserve any necessary technology.
• Notify the Graduate School of your defense details on your Degree Progress Checklist.
• Submit the complete defense draft of your dissertation, thesis, or report to Canvas at least two weeks before your defense date.
• Submit the complete defense draft to your committee at least two weeks before your defense date.

The Graduate School does not have a deadline to defend, however, the committee approved dissertation, thesis, or report may only be submitted after a successful defense. Graduate students can defend when their committee agrees that their work is ready to be presented.

In order to complete a degree in the current semester, students must submit their committee approved post-defense dissertation, thesis, or report by 4pm on Monday of Week 14.

Students who are unable to meet this submission deadline may submit by 4 p.m. on the Wednesday before classes start for the next semester to qualify for enrollment in UN5951 in the next semester. Students who submit during the grace period will pay the resubmission fee when their documents are accepted.

Specific dates for upcoming semesters are found online.

The grace period is the period of time beginning on the Tuesday of Week 14 through 4 p.m. the Wednesday before classes start for the next semester. Students who submit their committee approved post-defense dissertation, thesis, or report during this time qualify to enroll in UN5951 in the upcoming semester. These students will pay the resubmission fee when their documents are accepted. Only students completing a terminal degree are eligible for the grace period.

The resubmission fee is 25% of the cost of one-credit of tuition. Students who submit during the grace period and those who require an additional semester to complete formatting corrections required by the Graduate School will be required to pay this fee prior to degree completion.

Two weeks before the defense, students must:

1. Notify the Graduate School of your defense details on your Degree Progress Checklist.
2. Submit a copy of the dissertation, thesis, or report to the Graduate School (via the Graduate Candidates course in Canvas), and
3. Submit copies of their dissertation, thesis, or report to the advisory committee. The format of the document (PDF or hard copy) is at their discretion.

The Graduate School will review your document to ensure that it meets the formatting requirements. Reviewing your document prior to your oral defense will ensure that you have all of the corrections necessary to complete this degree requirement in a timely fashion after your oral defense. If you do not complete the required changes, your final document will not be approved, and there will be delays for your graduation.

All Graduate School forms may be completed in newer versions of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader (v9 or higher).  If you are experiencing problems try:

1. Switching to a different browser. Currently, Internet Explorer is recommended.
   • There are known incompatibility issues with Firefox v19, Chrome, Preview (the PDF reader on a macintosh) and Linux machines.
   • Students who click on a form link and receive the message, "Please wait.... If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of your document..." have an incompatible browser or plug-in.
2. Saving the file to your hard drive and open with the newest version of Acrobat Reader rather than clicking on the link and opening in your browser.
   1. Right-click or option-click the hyperlink
   2. Save the form on your hard drive.
   3. Open the file directly from Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
3. Reconfiguring your browser to open PDF files using a compatible plug-in. Firefox users may reconfigure their browsers using the instructions below:
   1. Select Tools...Options from the menu bar
   2. Select the "Applications" tab in the pop up window
   3. Search for and select "Portable Document Format (PDF)" in the Content Type list
   4. Select "Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)" as the Action
   5. Press "OK"

TDR-Review is provided as a sample for your information and does not allow data entry, since the Graduate School completes and returns this form for you.

Plagiarism is when you use somebody else's words or ideas but do not give them credit. When you use any text from a document written by somebody else, you must provide a full citation for the material and write the text in your own words. This is called paraphrasing. Other acceptable methods include placing the copied material in quotations or a block quote.

A block quote is an indented section of text. It is used to indicate that a larger section of text has been copied from another source. Both quotations and block quotes require citations to indicate the source of the material. A block quote is generally appropriate when more than 100 words or eight lines of text have been used from the source material.

Technically, you cannot plagiarize yourself. Plagiarism is defined as using the words of somebody else and representing them as your own. It is inappropriate, however, to simply copy and paste the methods section of a journal article and submit it to another journal. These materials have been published by another journal, and the copyright transfer agreement you or your advisor signed with them may prevent you from reusing the words in another paper.

No, it is not. A citation merely indicates the source of the material. Without quotations or a block quote, you are telling the reader that you wrote the words. If you did not paraphrase the material you cited, this is plagiarism. See "What is plagiarism?" for more information.

Paraphrasing involves re-writing a sentence from someone else using your own words and way of expressing yourself. Paraphrasing includes changing the order of presenting information in addition to the words used.

English for Writing Research Papers is available electronically (see External Links) to Michigan Tech students, and Chapter 10 has many good examples of paraphrasing vs plagiarism, including some from Dr. Gratz (MTU professor Emeritus, Biology).

Embedded fonts are included in the PDF file. This allows everyone to read your document even if they don't have a copy of the font that you used in your document.

This depends on what software you are using. It is an option in your PDF converter before you create your PDF file. Once your PDF file is created, there is no way to embed the fonts in your document in Adobe Acrobat prior to version 9. If you are using Adobe Acrobat to convert your document to a PDF file, search the help for "embedding fonts" to find instructions for your version of Acrobat.

The Graduate School has instructions on how to check if your fonts are embedded and how to embed fonts using MS Word. ProQuest provides resources on preparing manuscripts for submission, which includes information on embedding fonts.

For a visual explanation of this process, check out our blog.

Open the pdf of your thesis or dissertation in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Go to File...Properties and select the "Fonts" tab. Next to every listed font, the text (Embedded) or (Embedded Subset) will appear if the font is embedded. For ProQuest/UMI, all fonts except "Times", "Arial/Helvetica" and "Courier" must generally be embedded.

If the map is larger than 8.5 x 11, but smaller than 11 x 17, see Section 3.9 in the guide.

Supplemental files may be uploaded with your document submission to ProQuest and/or Digital Commons.

Please see our Copyrighted Materials page and section 5.3 of the guide for assistance.

Dissertations, theses, and reports are submitted to the Library after degrees have been awarded. If there is an embargo (see section 6.2 of the guide), that will further delay availability of your electronic document.

ProQuest has been publishing scholarly work for nearly 80 years. Its primary purpose is to archive graduate research and provide greater accessibility to it. Every work published with ProQuest is accessible through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database, which is a primary source for scholars to find graduate research. In addition, their archival services provide an off-site source for your work in the event that your work is lost from the J. R. Van Pelt Library. Publication with ProQuest is required for PhD dissertations and Master's theses.

The Guide clearly describes which formatting requirements apply to reports.

To view the Guide in a checklist form, see TDR-Review.

The Graduate School has many resources to assist you:

1. Word and LaTeX templates are available on the Formatting and Preparing page for Theses and Dissertations | Reports.
2. Formatting 101 presentations show you how use the Word template, fix your document using Adobe Acrobat and more.  See our  Graduate School Seminars page for upcoming seminars and archived materials.
3. The Graduate School is also writing tips and tricks on our blog in a tutorial "how-to" format. If you have a suggestion for a topic, please e-mail the Graduate School.
4. Attend our formatting workshops to work on a computer with a trained student. Upcoming events are shown on our Graduate School Seminars page.
5. Email the Graduate School your questions!

The Graduate School staff do not have experience using LaTeX. Since LaTeX is an open source program and has a wide community of users, we encourage users to seek assistance through other users. An alumnus of Michigan Tech, S. Gowtham, has created a web site and LaTeX templates that he has made available to the world. His resources can be found here:

• S. Gowtham's website—includes LaTeX template and instructions

• Web-based utility to generate LaTeX expressions in graphical format
• LaTeX templates—This following resources can assist students using LaTeX.

See also our Graduate School seminars for more information.

The availability of these templates does not indicate Graduate School approval of them. If you do choose to use LaTeX, please understand how the language works. The Graduate School may request changes in the future that are not covered by these templates, or you may want to make your own stylistic choices. Do not use these templates as a substitute for learning the basics of LaTeX yourself. Please refer to the guide for the most up-to-date information on required formatting for dissertations, theses, and reports.

The LaTeX template can also be used and found on Overleaf. Sign up using your MTU email account for access to Pro features.

See Section 3.6 of the guide for details on all formatting requirements.

Yes.  Word and LaTeX templates are available on the Formatting and Preparing page for Theses and Dissertations | Reports.

The Michigan Tech Writing Center offers support for writing and is best utilized if you plan to use them throughout your writing process.

Editors are available online to help you proofread documents. Like any service online, look for a reputable source with references.

Before accepting any publishing offer, students should carefully read the copyright transfer agreement or publishing contract. An agreement like this is required before your work is published in any form, because a publisher cannot reprint your words without your permission. In the Graduate School, for example, students sign a publishing with Digital Commons for the University.  This agreement grants Michigan Tech a non-exclusive license to archive their work and allows the library to make limited photocopies under certain circumstances. Students retain all other ownership rights, except those that relate to proprietary information. The ownership of proprietary information is covered under the MTU Operating Procedures Manual in Section 11.1.

The Graduate School cannot provide legal advice about contracts, but some general guidance is that students should be focusing on peer reviewed, high quality journal publications at this stage in their career. If parts of the thesis or dissertation have already been published in journals, a book publisher may not be able to reprint the work. If the thesis or dissertation is published as a book, the student may not be able to publish parts of their thesis or dissertation in a journal at a later date.

Specifically, VDM Verlag contacts many students about publishing their thesis or dissertation as a book. From the information the Graduate School can find, VDM Verlag is a legitimate publisher. This e-mail does not appear to be a scam. The book is not peer reviewed, however, so it will not significantly enhance the student's publication record.

A Google search yielded a few sources specifically about VDM Verlag and student's experience publishing. Inclusion of these pages does not endorse any of these opinions. Students are encouraged to investigate the publisher and their publishing options independently.

Students who would like to purchase a bound copy of their document may utilize the services offered by:

• ProQuest (can be ordered at time of submission; dissertations and theses only)
• Thesis on Demand (online)
• The Print Shop (Houghton)
  • perfect and coil binding
• Any binding service of your choice

You will select Open Access or Campus Access for your dissertation, thesis, or report when you submit your work to Digital Commons. Your advisor will review and approve that selection as part of our approval process.

• Open Access will allow anyone in the world to access your full-text document.  If you select Open Access, you will submit as Open Access to Digital Commons, and may select Traditional or Open Access PLUS on ProQuest (dissertations and theses only).  Please note that there is a fee from ProQuest for Open Access PLUS.
• Campus Access will allow current faculty, students, and staff, as well as anyone physically in the Library to access the full-text document.  Off campus access to current Michigan Tech patrons will require logging in with their credentials.  ProQuest submissions must select Traditional Access.
• Institutions that purchase full access to ProQuest will have access to the full-text PDF.
• All submissions may be requested from the Library via interlibrary loan.

Enrolled graduate students have access to some software downloads and may access campus computers while off campus through a virtual private network (VPN).

• IT's Remote Desktop Protocol instructions include the steps needed to establish a VPN connection from different operating systems.
  • For a list of software available through the VPN, see the remote.mtu.edu list on the Lab Software page.
• The Software Distribution Center has a list of software available for download to student machines.

You maintain access to campus computing and software downloads while enrolled, and for two weeks after the end of a semester. There may be periods between semesters where access is restricted. For questions regarding these services, please contact IT User Services(906-487-1111 | it-help@mtu.edu)

Installing a trial version of Adobe Acrobat may also be a solution to allow you to make final edits on a document or complete to forms to complete your degree requirements.

If you are completing a dissertation or report, you have the option to registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office when you submit your work to ProQuest. The fee for this service through ProQuest is $55.00.

While copyright protection is automatic once your work is in a format that may be perceived by others (i.e. a tangible form), there are certain benefits to registering a work with the U.S. Copyright Office. According to the U.S. Copyright office (Circular 01) these are: 

• Registration creates a public record relating to the authorship and ownership of a work, essentially a claim of ownership. This may be helpful if the copyright is infringed by another party.
• Registration is required before any infringement suit can be filed in U.S. courts. 
• Registration establishes "prima facia" evidence of the validity of copyright. This means if the copyright ownership is challenged, the burden of proof falls to the party challenging the ownership.
• If a work is registered prior to an infringement case being brought, the copyright holder is eligible for statutory damages, attorney fees and cost if they win their case.
• Registration also allows the owner to create a record with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prevent importation of infringing copies.

ProQuest will register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office for a fee. However you can register your own work directly with the U.S. Copyright Office. The cost of registering your work directly with the U.S. Copyright Office is $35.00. If you are completing a report and wish to register your copyright, you will need to do so directly with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Again, official registration with the U.S. Copyright office is not required, but may be beneficial, especially if you think your work may be subject to infringement (i.e. others may want to copy, distribute, create a derivative, or perform your work.) Even if you elect to make your work open access on the University's repository, the work is still protected by copyright and registration may be considered.

The information regarding fees in this FAQ was current as of June 11, 2019.

Usually. The student who wrote the thesis or dissertation owns the copyright and must be asked for permission. Figures are generally considered works in and of themselves and do not usually constitute a small portion of the work. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information. 

If, however, the figure is a simple representation of data, you may not need permission.  Data cannot be copyrighted, so non-creative ways of representing the data are generally considered fair use.

Usually. Your advisor cannot grant you permission to use material since the publisher now owns the copyright. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

If, however, the figure is a simple representation of data, you may not need permission.  Data cannot be copyrighted, so non-creative ways of representing the data are generally considered fair use.

Usually. Unless you have retained the rights to the article, the publisher now owns the copyright and only the publisher can grant permission. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

If, however, the figure is a simple representation of data, you may not need permission.  Data cannot be copyrighted, so non-creative ways of representing the data are generally considered fair use.

Usually. When you sign the copyright transfer agreement, you transfer the copyright to the publisher. Some publishers allow you to retain certain rights, which might include reprinting the article in a thesis. Either way, you should document that you have permission to use the article or have retained the right to publish the article. See " How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

Usually. All webpages are copyrighted, and most have a legal notices page that details their policies and procedures. Material on the web - although easy to get - is still copyrighted in the same way as a book or journal article. See "How to Use Copyrighted Materials" for more information.

It depends. If you published any of the material in a journal or book, you will need to abide by the copyright transfer agreement you signed with the publisher. If the material has not been published elsewhere, you retain the copyright to your thesis, and do not have to ask permission.

Most publishers respond quickly to requests for permission. Publishers, however, are under no obligation to respond. If they don't respond, your best course of action is to remove the material from your thesis or dissertation.

Yes. The photographer owns the copyright to the image, assuming that it is an original composition. It does not matter if the material has been published or not. You should give credit to the photographer in the caption of the figure and obtain a permission letter.

It depends. If you took a photograph of your own original composition, then you own the copyright to that photograph, and permission is not needed.  If, however, you take a photograph of someone else's work, it is similar to making a photocopy, and you will need to document that you can reuse that material in your work.

For example, if I take a photograph of the Mona Lisa (a very famous painting!), I probably don't have the ability to reprint that photograph.  If, however, my photograph is of the Mona Lisa with people looking at the painting, and the composition of that photo is unique and creative, then I can likely argue that the photograph is something I can use in my work.

It depends. Significant modifications result in a figure that is uniquely yours. The source of the inspiration or base of the figure must be acknowledged in your caption. To clarify the source and figure creator, we recommend a credit line in your caption similar to, "Figure adapted by author from SOURCE." where SOURCE would be replaced with an appropriate citation. If the figure is just a tracing of the original figure, or does not contain a significant amount of creativity, you have not created it, and must ask for permission.

No. Data cannot be copyrighted, so you are free to use data to create any figure you like. The source of the data must be properly acknowledged, however, and a plain citation can cause the reader to believe that the figure (and not just the data) was taken from the source. To clarify confusion and properly identify the source and figure creator, we recommend a credit line in your caption similar to, "Figure created by author from data in SOURCE." where SOURCE would be replaced with an appropriate citation.

Fair use is complicated, and in reality, the courts determine if your use is fair. Putting copyrighted material in a thesis or dissertation is not the same as photocopying an article, or using a figure from the internet for a paper submitted to a professor for class. Things that are definitely not fair use include long quotations, whole journal articles and most figures from any source. Additional information can be found in the Copyright and Your Dissertation or Thesis publication prepared by ProQuest.

Unless figures are truly in the public domain, US Copyright Law protects images and words from any source from being copied into your thesis or dissertation. The same laws protect you against others copying your work and placing it in their documents without your permission. If you are the author of the journal article, consult the copyright transfer agreement you signed to see what rights you retained as an author. If you are not the author of the material, contact the publisher to obtain permission to use the material. Most publishers have a form that can be filled out on their webpage to request permission. Please see our copyright page for more information about how to request and document permission to use materials in your thesis or dissertation.

US Copyright Law does allow limited use of copyrighted material under the "fair use" doctrine. This permits you to use limited portions of copyrighted material in any document you publish. Please see the Copyright Office FAQ to assist you in determining if the work you want to use is considered fair use, or if you need to ask permission. Typically, quotations of less than one page are considered fair use, but reproduction of a figure from a journal or webpage is not.