Reviewing the procedures and the SJSU Thesis Guidelines (pdf) in advance can save time and help avoid stress, especially for candidates who are completing their thesis, moving, applying for or beginning new jobs at virtually the same time. The most important thing you can do to make your deposit process go smoothly is to take time as soon as possible to learn about requirements, mark deadlines on your calendar, and be realistic about the amount of time you will need. Students frequently are trying to juggle numerous details at once. Allocate extra time in case of emergencies. Contact our office early in the semester in order to confirm your understanding of the process. You may submit your thesis up to a month in advance of the posted deadline. Waiting until the deadline, while sometimes unavoidable due to external circumstances, is guaranteed to make this process stressful. By planning, you can diminish the anxiety of the deposit process.
Students submitting their thesis to Graduate Studies and Research are expected to have applied for graduation and completed all the necessary steps towards completion of their degree. Information on the steps to completing a master’s degree and relevant deadlines can be found on the Graduate Admissions and Program Evaluations website. The thesis must be deposited for review by Graduate Studies and Research in the semester that you intend to graduate.
Deposit by Mail or Proxy
Occasionally students may have already moved away prior to completion of the master’s thesis, or may be working towards their degree long distance. In such cases, the Office of Graduate Studies and Research requires that a friend, family, or faculty member on campus assist with the thesis review and deposit process on behalf of the student.
Although Graduate Studies and Research will not mail a master’s thesis to a student, deposits may be made by mail in certain circumstances. Students must contact the Thesis Coordinator at least a month before the intended deposit date in order to receive permission to deposit by mail, and must explain the reason for needing to deposit by mail. Each case is reviewed independently. The author of the thesis is always responsible for making sure that the thesis is submitted on time to the correct address, and that someone is available to pick up the thesis once it has been reviewed by our office.
Required Materials
The following materials are required whether submitting your thesis at the Graduate Studies and Research front desk or depositing it by mail:
- Thesis Information Form (pdf)
The top portion of this form must be completely filled out, including your contact information (we will use this to notify you when your thesis has been reviewed) and the style manual you used in preparing your thesis.
- Style Manual (if applicable)
If the style manual used for preparing your thesis is not one of the common style manuals available (MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian), you must also include the style manual of choice with your thesis. If departmental guidelines were followed, a copy of such guidelines must be submitted to Graduate Studies and Research along with your thesis.
Departmental guidelines should address all of the stylistic and formatting considerations of a formal paper including guidance on the proper method for in-text citations, the formatting of bibliographic entries for books, periodicals, and internet sources, and the pertinent elements of document design such as the format of headings vs. subheadings, and the placement and format of visuals within the text.
If you used a journal format to prepare your thesis, please include the instructions for authors along with a sample article. If a journal format is selected, the thesis should be formatted as journal-ready, as it would appear if published in the journal. Figures and tables, for example, are incorporated into the body of the document after reference is made to them rather than being submitted separately or at the end of the document.
Graduate Studies and Research will check each thesis for consistency with the guide selected. Please also note that you should NOT be using other previously approved master’s theses in lieu of a style manual. The instructions provided in the SJSU Thesis Guidelines take precedence over any other style guide. If there is a serious conflict between the SJSU Thesis Guidelines and the style manual of choice, please contact Graduate Studies and Research for clarification.
- IACUC or IRB Approval Letter (if applicable)
If research for your thesis involves either human or animal subjects, you must provide evidence that you have obtained the appropriate permission before conducting your research and collecting any data. This means getting approval from either:
The SJSU Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC)
The SJSU Human Subjects - Institutional Review Board (IRB)
It is important to remember that human subjects research does not just include experimental or clinical trials, but any kind of research in which information is sought directly from human participants. This may include surveys, interviews, evaluations, and observation in which the data that is gathered is to be disseminated or published.
- Copyright Permissions (if applicable)
If copyrighted material is included in your thesis, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner and provide evidence that such permission was obtained at the time that you submit your thesis to Graduate Studies and Research. Examples of copyrighted material may include any images that are not your own - tables, figures, graphs, photographs, maps - as well as extensive portions of text, such as the reproduction of journal articles. See the following link - Copyright Information - for further guidance.
- Signature Page - An original signature page on 100% cotton paper signed by all your thesis committee members must be incorporated into your thesis (see the SJSU Thesis Guidelines (pdf) for formatting and pagination instructions, and thesis committee composition requirements). Graduate Studies and Research will only sign one copy of the signature page once your thesis is approved. You will be expected to make a photocopy onto 100% cotton paper of the final signature page for the mandatory copy of your thesis that will be submitted for binding.
Theses that are submitted without the above documents when required will automatically be rejected.
Review Process
Once you have submitted your thesis to Graduate Studies and Research for review, you will be notified of one of the following decisions within 4-5 weeks from the deadline date:
- Approved or Approved with Corrections: You will be notified by email to pick up your thesis along with an approval letter, your signature page signed by a Graduate Studies and Research representative, a list of pages that need corrections, and instructions for submitting your thesis for binding. You will need to bring your mandatory, corrected copy of your thesis as well as your original version to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research by the binding deadline.
- Not Approved: Your thesis has significant extensive errors; more than 15 corrections are needed. You will be notified by email to pick up your thesis along with a sample list of pages that need corrections. You will have approximately two weeks from the time that you are notified to resubmit your thesis. Because Graduate Studies and Research will only review a thesis two times each thesis cycle, it is expected that you will use the list of sample corrections as a guide, and proofread your entire thesis to ensure that it meets with the SJSU Thesis Guidelines.
If a thesis is found to be unacceptable or incomplete, you will be asked to consult with your advisor and thesis committee, reapply for graduation, and resubmit your thesis the following semester.
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