Submission Process

Ohio State theses, dissertations, and DMA documents are submitted electronically and are available via OhioLINK, the Ohio Library and Information Network. Doctor of Philosophy and DMA documents are also archived with ProQuest/UMI. Master's documents are not archived with ProQuest/UMI. To help the electronic submission process go smoothly, the Graduate School must review the formatting of each graduate student's paper document. Graduate students should bring a paper copy of the document to Graduation Services in the Graduate School, 247 University Hall. The paper copy will be reviewed for correct formatting and returned while the graduate student waits. For PhD and DMA studients, the format review is required at the time of the two-week notice of final defense. This format check cannot be accomplished electronically.

Electronic dissemination

Ohio State has agreements with two organizations—OhioLINK and ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing—to store and provide access to theses and dissertations. All theses, dissertations, and DMA documents are submitted through OhioLINK. Additionally, all PhD and DMA documents are archived through ProQuest/UMI. More

Delay of dissemination

In certain situations, there may be a reason to delay the electronic distribution of the dissertation. Because the university policy is to disseminate all dissertations as soon as possible, requests for delays must be reviewed and approved by the Graduate School. More

Submit document

Submit document to OhioLINK's Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. Students can access OhioLink anytime.

Step-by-step guide to the submission process

Master's theses guidelines

Ph.D. and DMA documents guidelines

Graduate School review

The Graduate School will contact graduate students by e-mail if any changes are needed or if the document has been accepted as meeting graduation requirements. If changes are requested, the may log back into their personal OhioLINK account, delete the original submission, upload the revised document, and click submit. Documents are not viewable online through OhioLink until Graduation Services staff have sorted and "published" them. During a high-volume semester, this process can take a few months.

After the Graduate School accepts the PDF document, graduate students must submit the following items to the Graduate School:

• Dissertation or thesis approval form, signed by all thesis committee members
• Delay of Electronic Dissemination Form, if applicable
• Payment of all related graduation fees through Buckeye Link
• Commencement Absence Form, if the graduate student does not plan to attend commencement

Document submission and graduation

Documents submitted electronically and all related forms and fees must be submitted by the published deadlines to be eligible for graduation during any given semester. Doctoral students are also asked to complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates and the Ohio State Doctoral Exit Survey during their last semester before graduation.

• Graduation requirements, master's students: Section 6.6, Graduate School Handbook
• Graduation requirements, doctoral students: Section 7.14, Graduate School Handbook

 

Questions may be directed to a staff member in Graduation Services or  (614) 292-6031