Penn State Schreyer Honors College

Electronic Thesis Submission Guide

The Electronic Thesis Submission Guide is also available in PDF format.

Contents

Introduction
Public Access to Honors Theses
Submission requirements
How to submit an Honors Thesis
Deadlines and Format Review
Final Submission Approval
Techincal and Formatting Requirements
Sample Thesis Pages
Getting Answers to Questions

Introduction

This guide is prepared as an aide to assist you in fulfilling the final requirement to graduate with honors – the submission of your thesis document. The requirements in this publication apply to all Schreyer Honors theses. Refer to the Honors Thesis Project Guide for assistance with the design and implementation of your thesis project.

Public Access to Honors Theses

All theses submitted are open to the public. If there is a reason your thesis should not be released to the public, you must contact the Schreyer Honors College at least two weeks prior to final submission of your thesis and request restricted access. If restricted access is granted for your thesis (usually for patent or proprietary purposes), access to the body of the thesis will be denied to everyone for a period of two years. The thesis will be released automatically for access worldwide at the end of the two-year period.

Submission Requirements

Electronic submission of the final Honors Thesis became a requirement beginning spring semester 2010. Both the mandatory draft submission and the final copy must be submitted online.

The “official” copy of the Honors Thesis is the electronic file (eHT), and this is the copy that will be on file with the University Libraries. Electronic submission does not prevent the author from producing hard copies for the department or for personal use. All copies are the responsibility of the author and should be made prior to submission. The Schreyer Honors College does not provide copies.

The electronic thesis is available to anyone who wishes to access it on the Web (unless access has been restricted). This open access distribution makes the work more widely available than a bound copy on a library shelf.

How to Submit an Honors Thesis

  1. Upload a draft of your thesis in PDF format to the Electronic Honors Thesis (eHT) Website (login required).
    1. The initial submission for review should be the textual thesis only, and should be in a single PDF file (it may include small image files such as tiffs or jpegs).
    2. The recommended file naming convention for PCs:
      yourlastname_firstname_severalwordsoftitle.extension ,
      Example: Smith_Adam_variablesinlinearequations.pdf
    3. Failure to submit your draft by the specific deadline will result in removal from the honors graduation checklist. If this occurs, you must either
      1. defer graduation if you plan to graduate with honors or
      2. withdraw from the Honors College
      If you do not withdraw, you will be dismissed from the Honors College for failing to meet all the requirements.
  2. Continue to revise your draft as required by your thesis supervisor and readers.
  3. Remove the Signatory Page since this will need to be submitted to the Honors College in hard copy.
  4. Collect the required signatures on the signatory page.
  5. Review your thesis one final time to be sure that no further changes are needed. It will not be possible to make corrections after the final approval by the Honors College.

Final Submission

  1. Go to the eHT website and upload the final eHT.
  2. You may upload in either PDF or PDF/A  format.
    1. If your thesis content is such that you feel you need to upload content other than text to properly represent your work (e.g. audio, video,) upload the textual portion of your thesis first as a single, standalone PDF file.  
    2. Add additional files for any other content as separate uploads.
    3. The acceptable formats are:
      Video Apple Quick Time (.mov)
      MPEG (i.e., MPEG-1, MPEG-2) (.mpg)
      Microsoft Audio Video Interleaved (.avi)
      Audio MIDI (with timing information) (.midi)
      MPEG (.mpg)
      WAV (.wav)
      Images PDF or PDF/A (.pdf)
      JPEG (.jpg)
      TIFF (.tif)
    4. Do not upload any ZIP files.
    5. If uploading more than one file, keep individual file sizes for the supplementary material under 50MB where possible. Large files will upload but may take a long time to download for future use, so divide large files into smaller ones if feasible (we recognize that movie files can be 4‑5GB and are not easily split.)
    6. If uploading large files, using a computer on campus should generate a faster upload speed

Cautions:
This is a significant part of your scholastic record. The University Libraries accepts copies of your thesis materials in order to create an archive to enable future access to your work. Whenever possible, upload textual content ONLY in your thesis. This precaution is to ensure that your thesis can be retained in the Penn State system through time as software changes.

The preservation of digital files is an evolving practice with limited history. The recommendations for file types and instructions for preparation of your work and recommended file types are based on current standards and understanding of digital preservation possibilities.

Help with questions about uploading is available from ITS computer labs.

  1. When you upload your final thesis you must also pay the $20 processing fee and turn in your signed signatory page by 5:00 p.m. the following business day.
    Submit fee (login required).
  2. Your thesis will be reviewed one final time when you bring in your signatory page. If corrections are required, your file will be deleted and you will be asked to make the changes and upload a new file immediately. Your signatory page will be returned to you to bring back after you upload a corrected file.
  3. Your eHT will be accessible on the eHT website immediately after graduation unless you have specified restricted access.

Final Approval

When the final thesis is approved, the author and all signers will be notified, by e-mail, of the approval.

Deadlines

Every Schreyer Honors thesis must be reviewed and approved by the Schreyer Honors College. There are no exceptions. Failure to meet the specified deadlines will result in removal from the honors graduation checkout list. Failure to be on this list means that you do not graduate with honors.

Technical and Formatting Requirements

The text of the eHT may be single-, double-, or one-and-a-half-spaced. Use a standard typeface of 10‑, 11‑, or 12‑point size. Limit the use of italic (script) print to foreign words, book and journal title, and special emphasis. If you wish, you may use larger size type for the thesis and for chapter headings, as long as it is not larger than 18-point. Boldface type may also be used in the title page and for headings, as well as in the text for special symbols or for emphasis.

Reduced type may be used within tables, figures, and appendices, but, in part because of microfilming requirements, it should be at least 9-point in size and must be completely legible. It is permissible to use color in the document, but keep in mind that the microfilm version will show black‑and‑white only.

Begin each chapter on a new page. Do the same with each element of the front matter (list of tables, acknowledgements, etc.), the reference section, and the appendix. Try to avoid typing a heading near the bottom of a page unless there is room for at least two lines of text following the heading. Instead you should simply leave a little extra space on the page and begin the heading on the next page. If you wish to use a “display” page (a page that shows only the chapter title) at the beginning of chapters or appendices, be sure to do so consistently and to count the display page when numbering the pages.

Margins

A .75” or 1” margin on all sides is acceptable, but keep in mind that a wider left margin (e.g, 1.5”) may be more appropriate for your personal binding purposes.

Page Numbers

Excluding the title page and signatory page, every page in the document, including those with table and figures, must be counted. Use lower case Roman numerals for the front matter and Arabic numbers for the text. The text (or body) of the thesis must begin on page 1. Do not number a page with “a” or “b” or skip numbers; do not embellish page numbers with punctuation (dashes, period, etc); and do not type the word “page” before the page number. Running headers are not permitted.

An academic vita is required as the last page of the thesis, and this page should not be numbered.

Page numbers may be placed in the upper right-hand corner, lower right-hand corner or centered at the top or bottom of the page. Page numbers should be in the same position on all the pages. Page numbers should not be placed on the left side of the page. Allow a reasonable distance between the page number and any text; in no instance may the page number overlap the text.

The Signatory Page is not included in the actual thesis. Instead it is kept on file in the Schreyer Honors College.

Front Matter

The term “front matter” refers to all the pages in front of the main text of the thesis. Front matter pages are numbered with Roman numerals. These pages are:

The abstract is required in all theses. The table of contents is also required.

Title Page and Signatory Page

Use the samples in this guide as a pattern for creating your title page or use the Penn State Thesis Template (PSTT). The names and titles of the readers/signers must be identical on the two pages. The signatory page is kept on file the Schreyer Honors College, so be sure to remove it from your final thesis before you upload it. The signatures on the signatory page indicate that the thesis is approved as a complete and final work requiring no further alteration. This page is required for approval of the document by the Schreyer Honors College.

A minimum of two signatures are required on each thesis. If one of the signers has a dual role (e.g., Thesis Supervisor and Honors Adviser), then list both roles under the professional title. Do not list the same person twice. If the sharing of roles leaves you with less than the required number of signatures, an additional reader/signer must be added.

Be sure all signers are identified by their correct professional titles. Check with the department for current information. Do not use such designations as “Ph/D/” or “Dr.” on the title page or signatory page. If a signer is not available to sign at the appropriate time, a proxy signature is allowed so that the thesis will qualify for final submission. The department or program head may sign the name of the absent signer and initial it beneath, thus indicating knowledge of the approval.

Abstract

Every thesis must contain an abstract. An abstract is a concise summary of the thesis, intended to inform prospective readers about its content. The abstract follows the signatory page and has the heading ABSTRACT at the top. It always begins on page i. There is no restriction on the length of the abstract. Page numbering begins with the abstract. Refer back to FRONT MATTER for details.

Table of Contents

The table of contents is essentially a topic outline of the thesis. It is compiled by listing the headings in the thesis. You may choose to include first-level headings, first- and second-levels, or all levels. Keep in mind there usually is no index in a thesis, and thus a fairly detailed table of contents can serve as a useful guide for the reader. The table of contents must appear immediately after the abstract and should not list the abstract, the table of contents itself, or the vita.

Be sure the headings listed in the table of contents match word-for-word the headings in the text. Double check to be sure the page numbers are shown. In listing appendices, indicate the title of each appendix. If using display pages, the number of the display page should appear in the table of contents.

Back Matter

The back matter (or the end matter) of the thesis may include some or all of the following items:

Refer to the Honors Thesis Project Guide for assistance with the design and implementation of your thesis project.

Sample Thesis Pages

Template samples for title and signatory pages:

Sample TOC and Academic Vita (PDF) (.doc)

Getting Answers to Questions

Additional information about theses can be found in the SHC Student Handbook and in the Honors Thesis Project Guide. Scholars who have questions about the honors thesis submission process can contact our office at 814-863-2635, or via e-mail to Roberta Hardin at rhh1@psu.edu.