Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Here you will learn about how to technically prepare your thesis/dissertation. Document formatting is not included as the Libraries do not oversee that aspect. Often formatting information is located on a school's thesis and dissertation informational pages. If you do not find it there, contact your Dean's office. 

Document

The main thesis/dissertation document you submit must be a PDF file with all of the fonts embedded. None of Acrobat’s PDF security features should be activated. O’Neill Library's Digital Studio (Room 205) computers are equipped with both Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat Pro.

• Learn our how-to Embedding fonts document. 
• To verify your PDF meets the requirements use Adobe Acrobat Pro or Reader and select File, then select Properties. Check that the document includes the following:
  • Under Security: Security Method: No Security; Document Restrictions Summary: Everything allowed
    • Note: If using Adobe Acrobat Reader, the system will say that Document Assembly and Page Extraction are not allowed. This is OK.
  • Under Fonts: All fonts should be listed either as embedded or as embedded subset.   

Images

Image files should be included in the main PDF, by inserting JPEG files in the document.

Supplemental Files

You may also submit supplemental files, such as multimedia, preferably using non-proprietary file formats. If you have obtained permissions to include third-party copyrighted materials in your thesis/dissertation, these permissions should be submitted as supplemental files. You can also deposit accompanying data in our Boston College Dataverse and link to it from your dissertation.

Copyright

Please review your document for the inclusion of any third-party copyrighted materials. Certain copyrighted works may be included under the fair use exception to the exclusive rights of copyright holders. If fair use does not apply, you may need to ask for permission from the copyright holder. For more information, consult the Copyright and Scholarship guide. If you need more help, please contact your subject librarian or Melanie Hubbard.