Administrative & Faculty Information
Graduate Education Data
The Graduate School is indebted to the late Ray Lewis White, Distinguished Professor of English emeritus, for the original Guide for Writers of Theses and Dissertations. The Graduate School also acknowledges the input and recommendations from students, faculty, and the Graduate Coordinators who were very helpful in each revision.
It is critical that doctoral candidates be aware of and adhere to the "Important Dates and Deadlines" for the semester in which graduation is anticipated. Considerable information is contained in this guide as well as the Graduate Catalog and this web site to provide valuable resources for doctoral candidates in the preparation of their dissertations.
To the extent possible and appropriate, Graduate School personnel will attempt to make research and writing a rewarding professional experience. Please contact our office if assistance is needed.
Sandra L. Groves
Director of Graduate Studies
The dissertation is a formal research paper presented by the doctoral candidate to a committee of scholars chaired by an appropriate member of the Graduate Faculty. The committee certifies that the presented work meets the academic standards of Illinois State University and the discipline. Preparation for writing a dissertation should include careful and wide reading of the professional journals and texts of the discipline along with study of the most successful theses and dissertations recently completed in the academic field.
Before the student begins to write the dissertation, the proposal must be approved by the dissertation committee. Membership of each dissertation committee must be approved by the department and by the Graduate School. The proposal must also be approved by the department chair or designee. The form provided by the Graduate School titled "Proposal Approval Form for Research Leading to a Doctoral Dissertation or Master's Thesis" is completed, signed by all concerned parties and filed with the Graduate School office as the student begins in-depth research and writing activities. When completing the form, the student must indicate whether the project involves research with humans, animals, or biohazardous materials. If the project involves the use of living human, animal subjects, or biohazardous materials, the project must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for research with human subjects, or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for research projects involving animals, or with the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) regarding use of biohazardous materials. The Graduate Catalog and "Important Dates and Deadlines," published regularly by the Graduate School, contain additional information on dissertation procedures and regulations. The Graduate School office is always available to assist in understanding the various regulations and procedures that must be followed in successfully completing this research project. Any exceptions to the above regulations and procedures must be approved by the Graduate School.
In the final stages of the dissertation research and writing, the Graduate School Dissertation Examiner will check the technical aspects of the dissertation. While the Examiner is not a research consultant, this review of the student's work before the final defense will provide an alert to technical difficulties which are part of the entire process and must therefore be addressed.
For research assistance within specific subjects, students may set up an appointment with the appropriate subject specialist librarian. Students interested in assistance or consultation on library-related research projects, discovering resources in their field during the topic formulation stage, establishing strategies for a successful literature review, and learning about library resources and services available, consult “Subject Specialists” on the library’s web site www.mlb.ilstu.edu under “Ask a Librarian” or call 438-3481.
Institutional policies require institutional approval prior to conducting any research with humans or animals. All research involving living human subjects or records of human subjects must be reviewed and approved by the Illinois State University Institutional Review Board (IRB). Likewise, any research involving the use of living animals must be reviewed and approved by the Illinois State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Dissertation content that is based on data collected without prior IRB or IACUC approval may not be accepted for inclusion in the dissertation.
Contact the academic departmental IRB representative or Research Ethics & Compliance at (309) 438-8451 for protocol review forms and information about the review process. Information and forms may also be found at http://www.rsp.ilstu.edu/policy.
Institutional policies require institutional approval prior to conducting research that utilizes rDNA or potentially infectious agents at risk groups and biosafety levels 1-4. All research falling into these categories must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). Dissertation content that is based on data collected without prior IBC approval may not be acceptable for inclusion in the dissertation.
Contact the academic department or Research Ethics & Compliance at (309)438-8451 for protocol review forms and information about the review process. Information and forms may also be found at http://www.rsp.ilstu.edu/policy.
It is strongly recommended that each student determine if additional department and/or college requirements exist during the process of preparing the dissertation. Several unique departmental differences exist at Illinois State University. The academic advisor, program coordinator, and/or department chair should be consulted.
Copyright is the legal right of an owner of original work to (a) reproduce, (b) prepare derivative work, (c) distribute copies for sale, rental, lease, or lending, (d) publicly perform or (e) publicly display their work. These rights apply both to material created by the student and to materials created by others.
The Graduate School provides web links for materials which may further explain and clarify copyright issues and concerns. Authors of dissertations who wish to protect their writing through a formal copyright process may do so. However, the act of creation is sufficient to demonstrate ownership and copyright. Doctoral students may make copyright arrangements through ProQuest Information and Learning, formerly University Microfilms International (UMI), or on their own. If arrangements are made through ProQuest, the appropriate section of the Agreement Form (available through the Graduate School office) is to be completed and a copyright fee is to be paid. The student wishing to independently copyright materialsmay file the claim by corresponding directly with the United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave S.E., Washington, DC 20559-6000, Telephone (202) 707-3000, or via the web at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. Pursuit of formal copyright documentation is the responsibility of the dissertation author.
Restrictions may exist that affect ownership and rights to use data for dissertation material. Illinois State University’s policy on Intellectual Property recognizes that:
1. The original records (including software) of an investigation for a graduate thesis or dissertation are the property of the University but may be retained by the student at the discretion of the student’s major department.
2. The University shall have, as a condition of the degree award, the royalty-free right to retain, use, and distribute a limited number of copies of the thesis or dissertation, together with the right to require its publication for archival use.
A variety of other variables may affect copyright ownership. Please see Section 4.1.40 (Copyrights). A. (Ownership) of Illinois State University’s policy on Intellectual Property available on the University’s web site at http://www.policy.ilstu.edu.
There are specific copyright restrictions on use of other people’s materials. Permission must be obtained for most use of materials developed by others. Certain limited use may not require these permissions. Specific resources detailing permissible copyright use can be found at the Milner Library or the Library of Congress U. S. Copyright Office web site at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/.
Under the doctrine of "fair use", writers may quote passages from copyrighted works when that quoting does not deprive the copyright owner of potential profits -- that is, when such copying is for educational purposes, involving no profit on the part of the copyist or publisher, and when the material quoted is considerably less than the whole of the copyrighted work. For example, the student writing about the poetry of Robert Frost would quote from Frost's poems and should ask permission from Frost's publisher or estate when quoting entire poems, no matter how short the poems may be. For another example, in a dissertation that appends teaching materials to supplement the pedagogical chapters of the dissertation, the writer should obtain permission to reproduce such copyrighted materials as chapters from textbooks, illustrations from scholarly works, and questionnaires from scholarly societies. The writer should honor strictly the requests of copyright owners for proper acknowledgment of permission to reproduce copyrighted materials.
Lack of proper permission to use copyrighted material will restrict acceptance of the dissertation. ProQuest /UMI has requested that we include the following notice:
As the author of the dissertation manuscript, you will be asked to certify that any previously copyrighted material used in your work, beyond "fair use," is with the written permission of the dissertation author / copyright owner. ProQuest Information and Learning / UMI will not be held responsible for any damages that may arise from copyright violations. Copies of permission letters from copyright owners must be attached to the Agreement Form. If permissions are not supplied, copyrighted materials may not be (micro) filmed.
ProQuest recommends study of the discussion of "fair use" in the current edition of Copyright Law & Graduate Research: New Media, New Rights and Your New Dissertation by Dr. Kenneth Crews (http://www.umi.com/products_umi/dissertations/copyright).
Note: Since ProQuest sells copies of final dissertations, which constitutes commercial sales, copyright permission is sought for resale as well as for inclusion in the dissertation. Letters of permission for dissertations will be sent to ProQuest for permanent filing.
Illinois State University and other universities that grant doctoral degrees have arranged for the microfilming and distribution of their dissertations by ProQuest Information and Learning / University Microfilms International, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. ProQuest receives one copy of each dissertation completed at Illinois State University with the right to publish the abstract of the dissertation in Dissertation Abstracts International. The right to distribute copies of the dissertation in, and from, microfilm along with the non-exclusive right to reproduce and distribute in any format in whole or in part, is also granted to ProQuest. The candidate for the doctoral degree must complete forms and pay for microfilming. Information on fees and agreement forms are provided by the Graduate School when the Right-to-Defend permission is granted.
This Guide for Writers of Doctoral Dissertations is the official format handbook for all dissertations presented to the Illinois State University Graduate School. The Guide is intended to (a) assist students through the administrative aspects of completing the dissertation work and (b) assure that all dissertations completed at Illinois State University present the same appearance and meet all of the standards of the Graduate School.
To follow the form of another dissertation invites perpetuation of error. If an error exists in the earlier bound work, repetition in current writings would perpetuate this error and therefore will not be approved.
Each academic department has chosen a writing style manual that is accepted nationally for published research in that discipline. Commonly accepted manuals at Illinois State University are the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Throughout the proposal, research process, and final presentation of the dissertation, the student should follow procedures discussed and exemplified in the manual approved by the department http://www.grad.ilstu.edu/thesis_dissertation/manual_prefs.shtml
Note: Manuals such as those of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) are written as specific guides for the preparation of typescripts for professional publication as journal articles or as books. These manuals are not handbooks for the preparation of dissertations. On matters of scholarly writing and editing, one outstanding guide is A Manual of Style published by the University of Chicago Press. The latest edition advises on the sensible organization and the attractive presentation of the most common and the most unusual subject matter. Students must primarily follow the manual approved for their discipline when preparing research results for typing. The "book format" outlined in this Guide always takes precedence over the "submission format" of the professional manual. Two examples of potential differences between submission format of a professional journal versus the dissertation are: (a) the dissertation must not carry running headings or the author's name on each page, and (b) tables and figures must actually appear where they belong in the dissertation and not be appended as if a printer would later insert the tables or figures in the text "approximately here," as some manuals suggest.
Some departments and disciplines prefer the use of "parenthetical notes" within the text to identify the source of a quotation, idea or reference. Other disciplines may prefer the use of "footnotes" at the bottom of page or "endnotes" at the end of a chapter or document. To determine which is the appropriate form for each dissertation, inquire within the academic discipline, dissertation committee, and the department preferred writing style manual. In most documents only one citation format is allowed.
The word-processing program used for the dissertation must be capable of meeting and be formatted to meet Guide requirements for margins, pagination, and spacing; the chosen manual's requirements for internal format; and commonly accepted standards of hyphenation, capitalization, indentation, underlining, placement of notes, diacritical marks, etc. Use font styles and sizes which meet standards for publication quality (See "Type Style" under "PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS" in this text.) To achieve some of these requirements it may be necessary to remove automatic default settings and macros in the word processing program. The dissertation should be printed using a laser printer or a high quality ink-jet printer on paper (See “paper” under “PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS” in this text) .
If uncertainty exists concerning the quality of print or how to achieve acceptable quality, bring a sample to the Graduate School Dissertation Examiner for approval and/or possible suggestions.
The Dissertation Examiner of the Graduate School represents the Graduate School in matters regarding the presentation of dissertations toward the requirements for completion of doctoral degrees. The candidate for a degree must secure permission from the Dissertation Examiner before scheduling the oral defense of the dissertation. The oral defense must be passed before submitting the official copies of the work to the Graduate School for completion of the degree requirements.
The official format check directs the writer's attention toward the consistency of presentation details which are often overlooked by students and committee members whose primary focus has been on scholarly content. Attention to both content and presentation concerns is fundamentally important and necessary in the preparation of quality professional documents. The completion of the dissertation should be viewed in the same way one would view the submission of an article or a book for publication. A bound copy of the dissertation will be placed in the library. Digital and hard copies will be available from ProQuest Information and Learning, and there is an option to have the dissertation copyrighted. For books or journals, copy editors accept responsibility for final format. With the dissertation the final format is the responsibility of the student. The Dissertation Examiner helps meet format standards for the discipline.
Two final copies of the dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School office by the deadline listed on the appropriate semester/session "Important Dates and Deadlines." These copies are submitted loose leaf, that is unbound. Both copies are to be printed on 25% rag or cotton content paper. Both copies must contain the signatures of the dissertation committee members. At least one dissertation copy must have original signatures. The second dissertation copy may have photocopied signatures. Black ink should be used for all signatures. (There will be three signature pages per dissertation copy.)
Final dissertation copies should be accompanied with the Right-to-Defend form signed by the dissertation committee chair, the packet of various forms and surveys given to the student following the earlier format check, and eight (total) blank sheets of the rag or cotton content paper. The signed Right-to-Defend form confirms that the student has passed the oral defense of the dissertation. The extra blank sheets are used in the subsequent binding process. The Library is responsible for binding these two dissertation copies which become University property and are placed on file in the University library. Providing and binding additional personal copies and copies for committee members or the department are the responsibility of the student.
The schedule of "Important Dates and Deadlines" for each graduation can be found at this link as well as in the Graduate School office.
Doctoral students who are writing a dissertation and who have completed all other degree requirements must maintain continuous registration each semester. This may be accomplished with coursework, with additional dissertation hours, or with one semester hour of dissertation audit. The continuous registration requirement does not apply to the summer term unless the student is graduating at the end of that term (August). This regulation applies to any doctoral student regardless of the catalog under which the student entered.
A doctoral student who has completed a minimum of 15 semester hours of 599 Doctoral Research, has a "Research Proposal Approval Form" and a "Plan of Study" on file in the Graduate School office, may apply for one hour of dissertation audit, 599.01. Permission must be obtained from the Graduate School office in order to register for 599.01.
After the student has registered for one semester hour of 599.01, they will automatically be registered and billed for one semester hour of 599.01 each semester until continuous registration is interrupted, either by non-payment of the tuition bill, withdrawal from the program, or by successfully meeting all graduation requirements. Any student interrupting continuous registration for a period of more than one yearwill be withdrawn from the degree program. Any student requesting reinstatement in a degree program must direct such a request in writing to the department and, if departmentally approved, to the Graduate School. If reinstatement is approved, the student must complete an application for readmission and pay tuition for the delinquent semesters.
The student will be responsible for maintaining communication with appropriate department personnel regarding: (a) writing style requirements and preferences within the academic field, (b) additional requirements and procedures which may differ from other departments, and (c) exposure to related topic studies, etc.
The committee members and the department or college office may also require additional final copies of the dissertation. The student should present the requisite number of copies to these entities on the paper suggested by the appropriate committee members or administrators. Provisions for copies as stated in this Guide concern only the original and copy intended for acceptance by the Graduate School.
After proofreading the document and no later than 10 days before the oral defense, the writer must submit all parts of the dissertation to the Dissertation Examiner in the Graduate School office, 309 Hovey Hall, for the first format check. There are no paper specifications required at this time. The dissertation must be left in the Graduate School office for 3 days for this first check. An appointment will be made for a meeting to discuss the Examiner's findings.
No later than 7 days before the oral defense, the writer must meet with the Examiner to discuss the format check findings and to pick up the dissertation, the Right-to-Defend, and the packet of forms which will need to be completed and deposited with the final dissertation. The writer then makes two examination copies and deposits them in the department office for review by interested persons prior to the oral defense.
Students should check the "Important Dates and Deadlines" sheet for their graduation date in order to determine their individualized scheduling needs. Should students encounter scheduling complications due to employment or distance of travel, they should call the Dissertation Examiner to discuss potential alternate arrangements.
After successful oral defense before the dissertation committee, and before the deadline announced in the respective semester/session's "Important Dates and Deadlines," the student will present to the Dissertation Examiner for approval:
The signed Right-to-Defend form.
The packet of surveys and forms required of dissertation writers which includes:
ProQuest Agreement form
one copy of the orals form
an extra abstract and title page
Survey of Earned Doctorates
any required permission letters
degree announcement form
appropriate applicable fee payments
commencement participation information form
Two identical, corrected unbound, signed copies of the whole work (including signed annotation, abstract and approval pages) on at least 25% cotton content white paper.
The student may present the original and one photocopy, or the student may present two photocopies of the work.
At least one of these copies must carry the original ink signatures of the committee members.
Requirements for paper quality, absence of errors, and physical appearance of the work are standard, whether the student presents original or photocopy pages.
For binding purposes, the student must include four blank sheets of the paper used for the original and four blank sheets of the paper used for the photocopy.
Plain bond paper, typical for photocopying and printer needs, is acceptable for the format check stage. In both format-check and in the final copies, all parts of the dissertation (text, tables, figures, et al.) are to be presented with consistent, uniform font and layout.
The two final copies of the dissertation presented to the Graduate School must be of a uniform format and typed, error-free, and on high-quality paper of substance and durability. Requirements are that paper be:
• white,
• 8.5 inches x 11 inches,
• unlined,
• 25 percent rag or cotton content (the correct paper will have a watermark stating the brand name and fiber content), and of at least twenty-pound weight.
The use of erasable paper is not acceptable.
The use of Illinois State University or any state or academic institution's watermarked stationery is strictly prohibited.
The use of recycled paper which meets all the above criteria is acceptable.
The term "original" refers to the dissertation prepared with a word-processor using a laser printer or a high quality ink jet printer on the paper required and in the format approved by the Graduate School. The term "photocopy" refers to exact duplicates of the "original" that are prepared by photographic or photocopy means.
The Graduate School requires that a complete and accurate copy be presented to the Dissertation Examiner in advance of the student's formal defense of the work before the department committee. The oral defense is to be supportive of a final, finished work and not of an intermediate draft prepared by the student. When the dissertation is approved by the Dissertation Examiner, the student will be given a Right-to-Defend form. This form is to be completed by the committee chair upon the student's successful oral defense of the work. Doctoral students will receive several additional items to complete and return to the Graduate School office with the Right-to-Defend and the final dissertation copies.
There are to be no errors in the printeddissertation. Errors which exist are to be corrected and the required pages reprinted. Erasure, ink-removal, correction fluids, correction tapes, and correction strips are not acceptable means of correction in final dissertation copies. After the defense, pages containing errors must be corrected and replaced prior to the last day and time (specified on the appropriate "Important Dates and Deadlines") when final dissertation copies are to be submitted.
Avoid use of italics and bold. ProQuest Information & Learning recommends underlining. Italicized items are less readable in microfilmed copies. Emphasis gained with use of bold is lost in the microfilming process. If additional formatting are needed for emphasis, please discuss needs with Dissertation Examiner.
The type should be of a common font and size such as Times or Helvetica 10 or 12 point and not of an unusual style such as cursive, script, Gothic, or Italic. The entire dissertation is to be typed in the same typeface, although slight variations can be made, when necessary, for tables, charts, figures, appended materials, and computer-generated data. ProQuest/UMI recommends the more "open," rounded fonts for readability.
| Some Acceptable Fonts: | Some Unacceptable Fonts: |
|---|---|
| Arial 12 |
Athens 12 Chicago 12 Comic Sans 12 Geneva 12 Impact 12 Bradley Hand (or other script) 12 London 12 Los Angeles 12 Monaco 12 New York 12 San Francisco 12 Textile 12 |
There are certain additional concerns for printing doctoral dissertations. Regarding the micropublishing of dissertations, ProQuest/UMI recommends Arial, Helvetica or Century Gothic, 10 point or larger. To test the clarity of eventual reproduction, photocopy the text in question at 75% reduction. The result will provide an indication of the final micropublished copy.
Headings or titles on opening pages (first pages of acknowledgments, contents, tables listing, chapters, appendices, etc.) must begin approximately 2.0 inches from the top of the paper. The design and spacing of prefatory pages should follow the format given in the "Sample Pages" section of this Guide. The 2 inch mark should typically fall somewhere on the line of type, i.e., from the top of the uppercase letter to the bottom of the letters with "tails." If this cannot be achieved exactly, the 2 inch mark should fall above the first line of text, rather than below it.
Text throughout the document is to be double spaced. Judicious use of single, triple, and quadruple spacing to "set off" block quotations, headings, tables, and illustrative materials is sometimes allowed within the Graduate School guidelines. Keep two lines of text with each new heading. Otherwise, “widows” and “orphans” are acceptable. Be sure to consult the department, and the department's chosen writing style manual, for typical spacing standards within the particular field of study.
Because dissertations are ultimately filed as bound volumes in the University library, students must maintain margins which allow ease of binding and reading of the bound work. Binding pages at the left requires that .5 inch of paper be reserved for the binder's convenience. Text must be typed on the 6.0 inch space between the 1.5 inch left and 1 inch right margins. The top and bottom of each page will also maintain a 1 inch margin. In setting up any centered headings, titles, or numbers, centering should take place within the 6.0-inch-long typing line. Text on full pages should fill the space allowed; that is, typing should be left margin justified, and come to within one inch of the page bottom and as close as possible to the 1 inch right margin. Some specific fonts lose readability with right and left margin justification. Therefore, justified right margin is strongly discouraged. The typist might wish to prepare a template to indicate the acceptable margins for the finished work.
Every page of the dissertation is numbered except for the annotation, abstract, title, copyright and approval pages. Do not add periods, hyphens, or other decorative punctuation to page numbers.
| CORRECT | INCORRECT |
|---|---|
1 |
1. |
2 |
-2- |
3 |
•3• |
Page numbers should be considered part of the actual text, appearing as the first or the last line of text allowed on each full page. Margins should be set accordingly. Inquire with the Dissertation Examiner, or in the academic department regarding appropriate location of pagination in the document.
• Preliminary pages (including the Acknowledgments, Contents, Tables and Figures listings, et al.) are numbered with lowercase (small) Roman numerals, centered within the 1.5 inch left and the 1 inch right margins, on the 1 inch bottom margin. Ideally the last line of text should appear one double space above these page numbers.
• On introductory pages of chapters and addenda, center Arabic numeral page numbers on the 1 inch bottom margin, within the 1.5 inch left and the 1 inch right margins. The last line of text on each page appears one double space above the respective page number.
• On all secondary pages of chapters and addenda, locate Arabic numeral page numbers on the 1 inch top and 1 inch right margins. These page numbers should not extend into the top or right margin space. Text begins one double space below these page numbers.
• The total number of pages identified on the Annotation and Abstract pages must match the page number on the last page of the references listing or last appendix.
Computer graphics, computer scanned photographs, or digitized images may be laser printed as long as image quality and other dissertation standards are maintained.To ensure that the required level of reproduction is maintained, and other standards are met, contact the Graduate School with samples for approval.
When the best / chosen option involves mounting photographs, drawings, pockets, or other illustrative materials onto the final cotton-content dissertation pages, the technique utilized must assure permanent adherence. Adhesive tape and glue are not acceptable, as these materials become unsightly and are impermanent. Materials should be mounted with heat-fixed adhesive paper or with permanent-bonding spray adhesive.
Note: Each submitted copy of the dissertation must contain identical mounted or printed materials. The writer must remember to prepare identical originals (not photocopies) of the materials for mounting in the two copies submitted to the Graduate School. The writer will be responsible for consulting with committee members and the department regarding their need of original mounted materials.
Note: Because of microfilming requirements and processing, photographic materials in dissertations are best when originals are black and white. Inclusion of color illustrations should be discussed with Examiner since color originals may contribute to significantly diminished quality in subsequent microfilmed/micropublished copies.
Computer-generated text from graphics packages and software is preferred for lettering and drawing. Hand-lettering or drawing must be of professional quality. Every effort should be made to prevent potential smudging and/or "bleeding" in final library copies.
Sample dissertation pages and format checklists are available at the Graduate School, Hovey 309.
