Dissertation and Thesis Submission

Updated Procedure for Submission of Reading Committee Signatures

The Registrar’s Office has created a new Reading Committee Page eForm.  This new procedure should be used by PhD, JSD, DMA, and Engineer students who need to virtually gather signatures from each reading committee member, and will enable them to fully satisfy both the title page and reading committee signature page requirements.  Students will need to provide documentation of an email to each individual reader, asking for approval of their signature page, and then upload the email approval from each reader to the eForm platform.  Students may use this sample template as a guide.

Before the eForm is submitted, students must first confirm the departmentally approved reading committee members are correctly listed in Item 2 "Confirm Reading Committee" as shown on the eDissertation/eThesis Center.  This includes ensuring there are no duplicate reading committee members listed in Axess.

If the committee is not correctly listed, such as a missing committee member or a commmittee member that should be removed or simply no reading committee members  are listed in Axess, students contact their department Student Services Officer to have the information updated before beginning the eForm process. Without successful completion of the eForm, students will not be able to clear Item 3, "Signature Page Submitted,’" as shown on the Axess eDissertation/eThesis Center pages.

How to Submit a Reading Committee Signature eForm

• Log on to Axess, and select the Student tab, then click on the " Student eForms" quick link 

• Select the "Browse Available Forms" box (Note:  the Reading Committee Signature eForm type will not be available  until the first day of the quarter you plan to submit).

• Scroll to the "Reading Committee Signature Page Sign Off" form.

• After you submit this form, it will be manually reviewed by the Registrar. You will receive notification from the Registrar letting you know that the eForm has been accepted and you can submit your dissertation. To accommodate this processing time, we recommend students submit this form at least 48 hours prior to the Dissertation Deadline of the effective quarter.  This will allow sufficient time for staff to process and enter forms.

How to Use the eDissertation/eThesis Center in Axess (Do not upload your dissertation or thesis in Axess until the quarter you intend to graduate)

• For Ph.D., J.S.D., D.M.A., and Engineer degree students seeking to submit their dissertation/thesis online, please see the How to Use the eDisseration/eThesis Center page.

Preparation Instructions:

• Preparing Dissertations for Electronic Submission
• Preparing Engineer Theses for Electronic Submission
• Preparing Dissertations for Paper Submission (Paper Submissions Temporarily Postponed Due to COVID)
• Preparing Engineer Theses for Paper Submission (Paper Submissions Temporarily Postponed Due to COVID)

Note:  These preparation guidelines are minimum standards for professional presentation of your doctoral work. The Office of the University Registrar, which is responsible for facilitating dissertation and thesis submission, encourages students to ask  questions about format before final preparation of the manuscript. A non-conforming submission may have to be redesigned and  resubmitted, with a possible delay in degree conferral. Previously approved dissertations are not a reliable guide for preparation of a manuscript as guidelines may have changed. Stanford is committed to the preservation and dissemination of the scholarly contributions of its students. The Faculty Senate’s Committee on Graduate Studies believes that this practice is of value to library patrons, researchers, and the learned community at large, as well as to the author whose work receives wide and accessible dissemination.

Submission Deadlines for Conferral

Note:  Students must apply to graduate and enroll before they can access the eDissertation/eThesis Center in Axess.

The eDissertation/eThesis Center opens to submissions on the first day of instruction each quarter for which the student has applied to graduate.

Electronic Dissertation and Thesis Submission

The Registrar's Office in conjunction with the Stanford University Library offer students the option to submit their dissertation/thesis in electronic format. This electronic submission process is free of charge to students and allows them the ability to log into Axess and check their pre-submission requirements in the eDissertation/eThesis Center under the academics tab. Once these requirements have been met the "Proceed to Dissertation/Thesis Submission page" button will open up in the student eDissertation/eThesis center and this will allow the student proceed and upload a soft copy of their dissertation/thesis.

This means that Ph.D., J.S.D., D.M.A., and Engineer degree students now have the option to submit their dissertation/thesis either online in electronic pdf format. The electronic submission process is not available for master's theses or undergraduate honors theses.

Additional Resources:

• eDissertation/eThesis FAQs

• Dissertation and Thesis Help - Wiki.
  • The information on this wiki is intended to supplement the above guidelines.
  • The information on this wiki is not official University documentation. So, it stands to reason: use it at your own risk.

Copyright Considerations for Authors of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Take a few minutes to review the Copyright and Publication Considerations before you submit your dissertation or thesis. This document was produced by Stanford University Libraries in consultation with the Office of the General Counsel, and is designed to inform students about copyright and dissertation distribution, in particular the choices and decisions a student faces in the process of submitting a dissertation or thesis. 

General Questions:

For further information on preparing and submitting doctoral dissertations, Engineer degree theses, and D.M.A. final projects, contact the Student Services Center via a SNOW ticket at: Student Service Center Help Ticket.