These are the major steps you must complete in order to prepare, format, complete, and submit your thesis or dissertation. Steps 1, 2, 3, and 5 are required of all graduate students writing theses and dissertations. Not all Master's students are required to defend; please check with your college/school/department to confirm.
Please click on the links below to read more specific information about each step.
- Step 1: Working with Your Committee
- Step 2: Format Review
- Step 3: Submission Instructions
- Step 4: Attend Your Defense
- Step 5: Final Submission
Step 1: Working with Your Committee
- At some point in your graduate career, you will form your committee and begin working on your thesis or dissertation. If you have specific questions about the formation of your committee and the rules governing it, contact your college/school/department's graduate coordinator.
- While you are working with your committee, you will be writing your thesis or dissertation and making edits and changes based on their suggestions.
- Please confirm with your committee and/or department which style manual your discipline uses (e.g., APA, Chicago, MLA, IEEE, etc.). Neither Mason nor UDTS requires any specific style, as we work with students in many fields. It is your responsibility to confirm which style you should use, and it is your responsibility to make sure that you implement it correctly — UDTS does not check styles, and we cannot advise you regarding their usage.
- As soon as possible during the writing and editing process, please begin formatting your document according to our Formatting Guidelines. We provide templates, which are designed to make formatting your document easier.
- We also have a list of freelance editors and contractors who are available to assist you with editing, formatting, and transcription services. If you are interested in learning more about their services, please email us. Please note: these contractors are not employed by George Mason University. Their services are not free. They are independent contractors who set their own prices for the services they offer.
Step 2: Format Review
- All theses and dissertations must go through the mandatory Format Review, which is performed to ensure adherence to our University Formatting Guidelines.
- We have a variety of resources available, including templates.
- We strongly recommend that students submit their documents for the Format Review as soon as possible to avoid delays.
- When a document is ready for the Format Review, please email it to us: udts@gmu.edu. Students do not have to make an appointments for the Format Review.
- UDTS does not review content.
- We only review documents to confirm that they adhere to University Formatting Guidelines. Therefore, students may continue to make changes to their documents' content after passing the Format Review.
- We do not check to make sure that theses and dissertations adhere to any citation style (e.g., APA, Chicago, MLA, IEEE, etc.). UDTS neither requires nor forbids the use of any style manual.
- For the Spring 2025 Semester, we will accept first-time (initial) submissions of theses and dissertations for Format Review until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31. Any document sent for an initial Format Review after 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31 will not be reviewed until Tuesday, May 6 at the very earliest.
- For the Spring 2025 Semester, we will perform subsequent reviews (i.e., reviews beginning with the second round) of documents until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30.
- Any students who have not passed the Format Review by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30 will not be eligible to graduate in the Spring 2025 Semester.
- We will recommence Format Reviews beginning on Tuesday, May 6.
- After we've approved your formatting, we will send you the Submission Instructions.
Step 3: Submission Instructions
- After students have passed, we will send an email that explains Final Submission requirements, including the paperwork you will turn in at Final Submission.
- The email will also explain the Universal Electronic Submission Policy.
- Beginning in January 2013, Mason began placing electronic copies of all theses and dissertations in our Institutional Repository, MARS (Mason Archival Repository Service; mars.gmu.edu).
- We cannot block discoverability of materials in MARS via search engines.
- Students have the option to make their theses and dissertations available as soon as possible in MARS, or they can choose to delay its availability in MARS for 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years.
- Some Mason units require immediate availability of all student dissertations and do not permit embargo of any length under any circumstances. Students should always check with their colleges/schools/departments before requesting an embargo.
- Even if a thesis or dissertation is embargoed, the document will still have a record in MARS. The author's name, the title of the work, the Abstract included in the thesis/dissertation, and the search terms provided by the student will be visible throughout the embargo period.
- We must receive a completed, signed Embargo Intent Statement (EIS) from every student.
- Students who choose to embargo thei work for any period must collect the signatures of their committee chair and the graduate associate dean of their college/school on the EIS.
- We will not embargo a student's work unless both of the aforementioned signatures appear on the EIS.
- Access to materials in MARS
- Access to theses and dissertations in MARS is not limited to individuals directly affiliated with or connected to George Mason University.
- Unembargoed documents will become available in MARS as soon as they are uploaded.
- Once a thesis or dissertation becomes available in MARS (i.e., either immediately after upload or after an embargo lifts), any user who has access to the Internet can read the document, if they can find it.
- Students who have chosen to embargo their theses and dissertations will receive a notification from the UDTS Coordinator at the time of upload to MARS.
- The notification will state the embargo's termination date.
- It is the student's responsibility to keep track of the embargo termination date.
- Students are advised to retain this notification and place it in the care of an attorney, next of kin, etc. In case of death, incapacity, etc., it is up to that entity to ensure that the embargo continues.
- Renewing an embargo
- It is the author's responsibility to notify the graduate associate dean of their college/school of their intent to renew the embargo (or to institute a new limit).
- It is not required to renew an embargo for the same term. For example: If the author originally embargoed the work for 10 years, and they only want to renew the embargo for 2 years, they can request to do so.
- The UDTS Coordinator will forward the author's request to the graduate associate dean of the appropriate college/school.
- The graduate associate dean of the college/school will be responsible for approving requests to renew embargoes.
- Your work will be listed in University Libraries' Catalog.
Step 4: Attend Your Defense
- All students in Doctoral programs must defend their dissertations.
- Some Master's programs require their students to defend; some do not. Master's students who are unsure should check with their academic programs.
- Your college/school/department/committee may require or ask you to place a copy of your dissertation or thesis on reserve at Fenwick Library two weeks prior to your Defense date. If your college/school/department requires you to place a review copy of your dissertation on reserve at the library, do not send this copy to UDTS. Instead, view the steps outlined in the Course Reserves InfoGuide on how to place your review copy on reserve.
- At the Defense
- Most students collect signatures on their Signature Sheets at the time of their Defense. UDTS will accept digital/electronic signatures.
- It is the responsibility of the student to collect signatures from everyone listed under "Committee:" on the Signature Sheet. That includes (but is not limited to) Program Directors, Department Chairpersons, Deans, etc. Colleges/schools/departments may have protocols in place to assist you with collecting signatures. Please contact the appropriate person within those units for assistance.
- At the Defense, committee members may ask students to make changes to their documents. Students may continue to make changes to the document's content after they have passed the Format Review. Should the committee require changes to content, the student is not required to resubmit the document for further review, as long as we have already approved your document's formatting.
Step 5: Final Submission
All Final Submissions take place via email. Please contact us with any questions regarding Final Submission procedures: udts@gmu.edu.
- Final Submission is the last step in the process. In order to reach this step, all students must fulfill all of the following criteria:
- UDTS has reviewed and approved the document's formatting through the Format Review;
- The author has successfully defended (if a Defense is a requirement for the degree/discipline);
- The committee has approved the document's content.
- Upcoming Final Submission deadlines are as follows:
- Special Registration under Spring 2025: 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 17
- Spring 2025: 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 2
- Summer 2025: 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 2
- Fall 2025: 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 6
- Final Submission requirements for Master's students:
- Turn in 1 copy of your Signature Sheet, signed--in black ink--by everyone listed under "Committee:";
- Turn in a soft copy (i.e., not printed) of your final document to us;
- Turn in 1 completed, signed Transmittal Sheet;
- Turn in 1 completed, signed Embargo Intent Statement (EIS). (Please note: we must receive a completed, signed EIS from every student, regardless of intent to delay the work. Students who do not plan to delay availability must still submit an EIS to UDTS. Some Mason units require immediate availability of all student dissertations and do not permit embargo of any length under any circumstances. Students should check with their academic programs before submitting embargo request.)
- Final Submission requirements for Doctoral students:
- Turn in 1 copy of your Signature Sheet, signed--in black ink--by everyone listed under "Committee:";
- Turn in a soft copy (i.e., not printed) of your final document to us;
- Turn in 1 completed, signed Transmittal Sheet;
- Turn in 1 completed, signed Embargo Intent Statement (EIS). (Please note: we must receive a completed, signed EIS from every student, regardless of intent to delay the work. Students who do not plan to delay availability must still submit an EIS to UDTS. Some Mason units require immediate availability of all student dissertations and do not permit embargo of any length under any circumstances. Students should check with their academic programs before submitting embargo request.)
- Complete and submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates;
- Submit your dissertation to ProQuest via the Administrator
Please take note of the following:
Once you have submitted the final (i.e. defended, formatted, and signed) version of your thesis or dissertation to our office, subsequent edits WILL NOT BE ALLOWED, EXCEPT under the following circumstances:
- A formatting error has been introduced into the PDF document when converting from another document type that affects the meaning of the dissertation. For example: in the process of formatting the document into a PDF, all of the ampersands (&) have disappeared and the error is not discovered until after final submission to UDTS. Re-submission would not be allowed to revise margins, fonts, or other non-substantive items.
- Incidence of fraud or plagiarism. The relevant college/school must conduct a review of the thesis or dissertation and determine an appropriate course of action in accordance with the university catalog and approved by the Dean. If the approved course of action includes allowing the student to resubmit a corrected version of a thesis or dissertation, the UDTS Coordinator must be informed in writing by an appropriate college/school or LAU official.
UDTS will not allow corrections of theses and dissertations for the following:
• Rewording the Dedication, Acknowledgments, Abstract, or Biography.
• Correction of citations or quotations.
• Addition of new text, or deletion of existing text, in the body.
• Correction of misspellings or grammar issues.
• Replacing, adding, or deleting Tables, Figures, or Equations.
• Correction of any other minor errors or omissions.
