Guidelines for Submission

Continuous Enrollment

When a program requires a dissertation or thesis, registration in dissertation or thesis coursework is required for at least two semesters and provides the necessary continuous enrollment until the thesis or dissertation has been submitted to the Thesis Coordinator. The requisite courses are 594 Master's Thesis or 794 Doctoral Dissertation.


Sequence for Submission

Step 1

Before the defense:

  1. Download the Approval to Submit Defended & Final Copy of Doctoral or Master's Work.
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Step 2

  1. Defend your dissertation or thesis
  2. Obtain the necessary signatures on the Approval to Submit. Scan and save in PDF format.
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Step 3

Create a profile in WebThesis, the Graduate School's thesis and dissertation online processing website.

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Step 4

PhD Students
  1. Take the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). Only the first section is required. Save the emailed completion receipt as a PDF.
  2. By the Documentation Deadline in the given term, submit a single email to the Graduate School at gradsch@usc.edu, attaching the PDF of the completion receipt for the SED and the PDF of the Approval to Submit form. Label each PDF as follows: last name, first name, WebThesis ID number, document type.
    (For example: TrojanTommy1234ApprovaltoSubmit.pdf.) To ensure your documents are received and processed, make the subject of the email "Thesis/Dissertation Submission Documents."
  3. The body of the email should consist of the student's name, USC ID, WebThesis ID, name of program, and name of staff graduate advisor. See Figure 1 below.
Professional doctoral and master's students
  1. By the Documentation Deadline in the given term, submit a single email to the Graduate School at gradsch@usc.edu with a PDF of the Approval to Submit form attached. Label the PDF as follows: last name, first name, WebThesis ID number, document type. (For example: TrojanTommy1234ApprovaltoSubmit.pdf.) To ensure your documents are received and processed, make the subject of the email "Thesis/Dissertation Submission Documents".
  2. The body of the email should consist of the student's name, USC ID, WebThesis ID, name of program, and name of staff graduate advisor. See Figure 1 below.
Sample Email for Thesis Documentation
Figure 1

Normally within 2-3 business days, the Thesis Coordinator will process documents and send an email confirmation that the manuscript may be uploaded, as well as the directions for doing so.
At this time, the manuscript processing fee will be applied to the student's account in OASIS.

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Step 5

Upload the manuscript for review in ProQuest in the form of a single PDF file before the upload deadline.

The Thesis Coordinator will review the manuscript and send an email notification that required format revisions are available in WebThesis. Normally this takes place within three weeks during peak submission times and sooner during off-peak times.

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Step 6

Make the requested revisions to the format and upload the manuscript to ProQuest a second time.

When the format revisions have been approved, an email will be generated with instructions for uploading to the USC Libraries.

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Step 7

Upload the approved manuscript to the USC Libraries.

The degree will normally be officially posted within a month.


Early Submission Option

Students who submit the necessary documentation a week or more before the end of the third week of classes and who also upload the manuscript to the Graduate School by the end of the third week of classes in a given term may take advantage of the Early Submission Option and are exempted from the requirement to register in 594 or 794 in that semester.

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