Manuscript Submission Process

Submit Manuscript for an Initial Format Review

Students must create an account in the ProQuest ETD Administrator before they can upload their manuscript for an initial format review. Initial submission and all revised submissions must be completed through the ProQuest ETD Administrator.

Instructions for creating an account can be found here: Instructions for Submitting your Manuscript

When creating an account on the ProQuest ETD Administrator, a lot of information is required upfront, including access preferences as well as optional paid services like purchasing bound copies of the manuscript and filing for copyright. ProQuest does not complete these instructions using the initial submission. They only publish the final approved manuscript and implement student publishing preferences and any paid services AFTER the manuscript has been approved by the FSU Manuscript Clearance Office and the student's graduation has been confirmed by the Registrar’s Office.

The Graduate School recommends that students submit their completed manuscript for an initial format review at the same time the manuscript is submitted to the committee prior to the defense. However, students must submit their manuscript for an initial format review no later than the relevant initial submission deadline for the semester in which they intend to graduate. Initial reviews are valid for two semesters (the original semester and one semester following). If the defense is delayed further than that, a new initial review must be completed by the appropriate deadline.

While it is understood that content will likely change after the defense, it is expected that manuscripts submitted for the initial format review are at least 90% complete and have been formatted in full accordance with the criteria in the most recent version of the Guidelines and Requirements.

  • 90% complete: MUST include the title page, committee page, table of contents, lists (if needed), abstract, chapters, references, biographical sketch and a majority of tables and figures.
  • Those manuscripts that do not meet this standard will NOT be reviewed and will NOT count as an initial submission to meet any deadline.

The Manuscript Clearance Office works with 250+ students per semester, so students are always encouraged to submit early.


Defend

Students must defend no later than the “last day for submission of final defended, content-approved thesis, dissertation or treatise and required forms” for the semester in which they intend to graduate. The Graduate School allows defenses up to this deadline with the understanding that all content corrections must be completed, approved by the major professor or committee, and submitted to the student's online ETD account no later than 11:59 p.m. on that deadline; however, to allow time for such corrections, the Graduate School recommends defending no later than 1 week prior to the deadline.


Submit Revised Manuscript

Once the student has completed all content changes required and approved by the committee, and incorporated all formatting corrections noted in the initial review, the student submits the revised version through their ETD account using the Revise option. The student should not create a new submission. This must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on the “last day for submission of final defended, content-approved thesis, dissertation or treatise and required forms.”

The revised manuscript will be reviewed by the Manuscript Clearance Advisor. If there are additional formatting corrections, the student will be notified. Manuscripts typically require 2-3 revisions to correct formatting issues that may arise after the content is corrected. A manuscript is not considered cleared until the formatting has been approved, all forms have been received and approved by the Manuscript Clearance Office, and the student has received an email from the Manuscript Clearance Office stating that their manuscript has been cleared.