Archiving the Dissertation

Archiving your Doctoral Dissertation*

* "Dissertation" here may also refer to DMA Document in Music, a DNP Project in Nursing, or an ADP document in Audiology. 

All graduating doctoral students submit their final, approved dissertation to be archived by ProQuest/UMI and the University of Arizona Campus Repository.  The dissertation acceptance and submission process consists of the steps outlined below, done after you have defended your dissertation and you have final approval from your committee (i.e. with any final revisions completed).  This process consists of two parts: an auditing of the PDF file you submit for archiving to verify that it meets Graduate College formatting standards as listed in step 1; and the collection of documentation as listed in steps 2 through 6.

  1. Your format check begins once you submit your dissertation to the ETD ProQuest submission site. For instructions as to how your dissertation should be formatted, please review our Dissertation Formatting Guide.  If your dissertation includes published papers or papers accepted for publication, you will use an alternate format as described in the formatting guide. 
  2. Please be sure to include a signed copy of the Approval page as page 2 of your dissertation.
  3. Please submit a Distribution Rights form with your signature to your Degree Counselor in the Graduate College. You may bring the form to Room 316 of the Administration Building, fax it to (520) 621-4101, or scan and e- mail it to your Degree Counselor.
  4. Please submit the 'Survey of Earned Doctorates' online survey.  Please complete the survey online at https://sed-ncses.org.  Since this is not a University of Arizona site, you will set up a profile to submit the survey.  (NOTE: DMA students are not expected to complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates.)
  5. Be sure to complete your Graduate College exit survey.
  6. We need to receive any unreported grades - usually the dissertation grade.  Note: The K grade for "course in progress" is discontinued as of Fall 2017; the alternative grade system, S/P/C/D/E, is replaced with the S/P/F system beginning in Spring 2018.  For students with outstanding K grades the Change of K Grade form should be emailed to your Degree Counselor.  The Graduate College will request this grade from the department; students do not need to secure their own grade from the department.

Optional Fees

Archiving with ProQuest and the UA Campus Repository is free of charge. 

However, if you elect Open Access publishing through ProQuest/UMI, you will pay an additional fee directly to ProQuest.  By paying the Open Access fee, you enable ProQuest/UMI to make your dissertation available at no cost to readers.  Note that all dissertations and theses are available free from the University of Arizona Campus Repository regardless of the publishing option with ProQuest/UMI.  If you have concerns about Open Access Publishing please review this article.

You may elect to have ProQuest/UMI file for a copyright for your dissertation in your name.  You can find more information on our About Copyrighting web page.   If you choose to file the copyright for your dissertation, ProQuest will charge you the copyrighting fee directly.  Please note that once you make your online submission, you will NOT be able to change your copyrighting decision.

Deadline for Submitting your Dissertation

To qualify for graduation in your intended graduation term, you must meet the dissertation submission deadline.  Note that before you make the submission, you must have defended and gained final approval of your dissertation from your committee, with any post-defense revisions completed to their satisfaction.

Publication of your Dissertation

Once you submit your dissertation on ETD ProQuest your Degree Counselor in the Graduate College will review the formatting and email you at the email address you provided when you submitted your dissertation via ETD ProQuest. Please check your emails and ensure you make any requested formatting changes.

Once the Graduate College accepts your dissertation and receives all outstanding documents for your degree we will accept your dissertation on ETD ProQuest. Publication of the dissertation will be based on any dissertation embargo you requested (if you indicated you want to delay release). Any corrections post publication of the dissertation may incur a fee.