ETD Instructions

Thesis and Dissertation

Before applying for graduation, a graduate student should have completed all course work on his or her approved program of study or be currently registered for the remaining courses. During the final semester and/or the semester of final oral and written examinations, a graduate student must register for at least 2.0 credit hours or 1 credit hour for those graduating in June. Under special circumstances, students may pay an equivalent minimum registration fee through Graduate Studies for the required hours. Audit and independent study credits are not acceptable. Students who miss the graduation deadlines for any given semester must register for at least 2 credit hours or 1 credit hour for June graduation (preferably project, thesis, dissertation, or internship credit) or pay the equivalent minimum registration fee and will graduate the following semester/term.

Final Oral Exam

You must have committee approval of your thesis or dissertation prior to scheduling your final oral exam.

The final oral examination (defense of the dissertation or thesis) will be scheduled by the department after consulting with you and all committee members about availability.
Final examinations may not be held during the interim periods between semesters or terms.
In order to pass the final defense (with or without qualifications), students must demonstrate a sound understanding of their work and its implications.
The student and the committee chair must be present for the defense. Other members can attend remotely but must be approved by petition to Graduate Studies.

ETD (Electronic Thesis or Dissertation)

All graduate students who are writing a thesis or dissertation must submit it as an ETD (Electronic Thesis or Dissertation) as part of the graduation requirements. Your work will be made available worldwide through the BYU library.

After your Oral Thesis Exam you will need to make any changes discussed at the exam. Once the document is approved, you will create the ETD with bookmarks and embedded fonts. Graduate Studies reviews the preliminary pages in the ETD. Then it is reviewed by your department and college and any or both reviewers can add comments asking for necessary changes.

Once your department and college have approved the document it will be sent to Graduate Studies for final approval and release to the library.

Writing Guidelines

If you are writing a thesis or dissertation in your graduate program, you are responsible for learning about and following the style guide(s) your department and college use.

If you have any questions, please contact the Advisement Intern or the Advisement Administrator:

Advisement Intern,
Email: gsadvisementintern@byu.edu
Phone: 801-422-1677

Denise G. Stanton, Advisement Administrator
Email: denise_stanton@byu.edu
Phone: 801-422-4541

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Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Policy
BYU Graduate Studies requires that a title page, abstract and table of contents be included in each thesis and dissertation. The format of the title page must comply with university-style standards as communicated here. Formatting of the abstract and table of contents is at the discretion of the college style standards. If needed, default formatting guidelines for each of these pages, the thesis body, and sample documents are available here.
BYU Graduate Studies Requirements
Formatting
To ensure that each thesis and dissertation is legible and accessible in printed and digital format, BYU Graduate Studies requires:
US letter sized pages (BYU Print and Mail suggests margins of at least ¾” to ensure the quality of printed and bound documents)
all fonts embedded in the PDF
bookmarks for each chapter and heading that is present in the table of contents section in the PDF
Article-based Chapters
BYU Graduate Studies is supportive of article-based formatting of chapters in theses and dissertations when consistent with disciplinary norms and college style standards. If applicable, accepted or published articles on which the student is a primary author may be inserted as chapters in the thesis or dissertation. Submitted articles are subject to college formatting requirements. Article-based chapters using accepted or published articles must include a complete citation and the following statement: “I hereby confirm that the use of this article is compliant with all publishing agreements.”
Helpful Hints:
It is preferred that the name on your thesis match BYU’s AIM system unless you have previously published or would prefer to publish under a different variation of your name.
Release Status options:
Immediately: Released immediately after submission.
Delay: Released publicly after one year.
Creative Works (English MFA’s only): Will never be publicly released.
Secured: Held privately by BYU for a pre-determined amount of time (For documents being considered for a patent or involved with export controls).
All doctoral students are required to complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) before they can graduate. It can be submitted anytime during their last semester.
BYU Graduate Studies has updated the policy with respect to final thesis and dissertation submissions. In the past many specific formatting requirements have been articulated both through official and unofficial communications. This updated policy communicates a simple set of BYU Graduate Studies dictated requirements for included sections and overall formatting and the flexibility that is given to each College to dictate thesis and dissertation formatting.
BYU Graduate Studies will no longer dictate style standards for the chapters of a thesis or dissertation (e.g. line spacing, fonts, pagination).
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BYU Graduate Studies Requirements
Formatting
To ensure that each thesis and dissertation is legible and accessible in printed and digital format, BYU Graduate Studies requires:
US Letter sized pages (BYU Print and Mail suggests margins of at least ¾” to ensure quality of printed and bound documents)
all fonts embedded in the PDF
bookmarks for each chapter and heading that is present in the table of contents section in the PDF
Article-based Chapters
BYU Graduate Studies is supportive of article-based formatting of chapters in theses and dissertations when consistent with disciplinary norms and College style standards. If applicable, accepted, or published articles on which the student is a primary author may be inserted as chapters in the thesis or dissertation. Submitted articles are subject to college formatting requirements. Article-based chapters using accepted or published articles must include a complete citation and the following statement: “I hereby confirm that the use of this article is compliant with all publishing agreements.”
BYU Graduate Studies will examine theses on a regular basis to ensure reasonable levels of quality and consistency.
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College Requirements

In addition to the requirements stated above, each thesis and dissertation must meet standards for content and formatting that is consistent with national/international disciplinary norms, as determined by the graduate program and the College. The program and College are responsible for establishing and enforcing adherence to their standards.