Submission of the Master's Thesis to the College of Graduate Studies and Research

All Northeastern students completing a Master's thesis must submit the thesis electronically through ProQuest’s ETD Submission Process. 

Preliminary Deadline: Students planning to defend and submit their thesis should create their ETD account and enter their background information into the system at least four weeks before the last day of finals of the semester in which the student plans to graduate.

Deadline: The thesis should be submitted via ETD for review by the College of Graduate Studies and Research at least three weeks before the last day of finals of the semester in which the student plans to graduate. This will allow sufficient time to allow for corrections and/or adjustments. The deadline for submission will be publicized at the beginning of each semester. For the deadlines for this semester, please visit the Thesis Deadlines page. 

Electronic Thesis Submission Process

  1. Create a single PDF file of the textual part of the thesis, including the Title page. Do not use compression or password protection, and make sure that all fonts are embedded.
  2. External/Internal links to multi-media files should be identified in the abstract.
  3. Use only acceptable file formats for multi-media files (see the ProQuest site for guidelines on acceptable file formats).
  4. Submit the thesis to the ProQuest website. Note: the single thesis file is reviewed and submitted by the student, except in rare instances when the Dean or Associate Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research will submit on the student’s behalf. Student receives email confirmation that their thesis has been submitted and the College of Graduate Studies and Research receives email notice of submission.
  5. The College of Graduate Studies and Research reviews the document for compliance with policy and format as outlined in this manual. CGSR does not review disciplinary content. CGSR will email the student the status of their manuscript: Accepted, Revisions requested, or Rejected.
  6. The student must revise the electronic document until it has been approved.
  7. Upon final approval of the thesis and after submission by the College of Graduate Studies and Research of the approved thesis to ProQuest, the student may order bound copies from ProQuest.

For more guidance on the technical aspects of preparing the thesis for electronic submission, please review the Publishing Guide provided by ProQuest. Note: you do not need to have created an ETD account to access this guide.