ETD Process Requirements

ProQuest Thesis/Dissertation Submission

ProQuest is the website USF uses to facilitate the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Review. It saves all versions of the ETD, and allows us to work with you on revising your document to meet the format requirements. 

To start, you'll need to create a new account and then upload your thesis or dissertation in PDF format for review. You will receive a confirmation email once you've submitted the ETD.

ETD Review Timeline

Initial review of the ETD generally takes 5-10 business days (and begins only once all submission requirements [ETD Registration, COA Packet, and ProQuest Submission] have been completed by the student).

Note that ETDs submitted close to or on the deadline may require longer review times.

Keep an eye on your email inbox so you don't miss any updates to your submission.

NOTE: Please double-check your inbox and spam folder for emails from ProQuest before reaching out to the ETD Administrators for an update on your submission.

Making Revisions & Submitting the Revised ETD

If the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) requires modifications to the submitted ETD, the student will receive an email with instructions on how to view the requested revisions. In order to see the comments, download the PDF, containing the ETD Administrator's commentary, from ProQuest and then open it. 

NOTE: Make the needed revisions in the Word or LaTeX document you originally used. Do not try to make corrections to the ProQuest PDF or try to save the PDF as a Word document. Doing so messes with the formatting and makes it nearly impossible to make the corrections. We strongly suggest saving the revised word document as a new copy so that you have the original version. This protects your work if anything happens to the document as you revise it.

The student must make all corrections and resubmit the corrected ETD to ProQuest at least a few days before the OGS deadline. 

Be sure to click all "Submit Revision" confirmations within ProQuest – this lets us know you are ready for your revisions to be annotated!

The Office of Graduate Studies will then re-review the corrected ETD as described above. 

Reviews may require an additional 5-7 business days - depending on the current number of ETDs in review and the level of revision required.

Proquest process

Late ETD Submission

ETDs submitted after the respective deadline without an extension request form from the Dean of Graduate Studies may not be processed for that semester's graduation. You may have to register again in the following semester.

Publishing Options - Embargo

An Embargo allows students to withhold the release of their ETD for one year (1Y).
Reasons for an embargo include patentable rights; sensitive/classified information; interest of academic/commercial press in acquiring the rights to publish as a book; or content likely to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

If you would like to embargo your ETD for one year, you must select the correct option in ProQuest.

ProQuest Asks: Delaying Release
“Do you want your work to be available in ProQuest as soon as it is published?”
Choose either:

○ Yes (Immediate Worldwide Access – No Embargo)
○ No (One-Year Embargo)