Thesis and Dissertation

Thesis and Dissertation

ETDs (Electronic Theses and Dissertations)
Thesis and Dissertation
 

Thesis and Dissertation Requirements

The College of Graduate Studies coordinates the review and final submission process for ETDs (Electronic Theses and Dissertations), establishes the university’s thesis and dissertation deadlines, administers thesis and dissertation related policies, and provides support for all students, faculty, and staff.

Thesis and dissertation students planning to graduate within a semester must meet the following deadlines on the UCF Academic Calendar each semester:

Resources

We’re here to help you complete your thesis or dissertation! Graduating soon? Log into our Thesis and Dissertation Webcourse below. Need document help? See Formatting Help below. Have a question? Email editor@ucf.edu.

Thesis and Dissertation Webcourse

All thesis and dissertation students planning to complete their thesis or dissertation in the next three semesters (fall 2024, spring 2025, or summer 2025) must access the Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2024-2025 Webcourse for:

Formatting Help

During formatting help hours, students can meet with the ETD Graduate Ambassador in the Graduate Student Center (TCH 213) or online to receive assistance with the Microsoft Word Template and address any structural or formatting concerns they have with their thesis or dissertation document. Formatting questions can also be sent to ETDHelp@ucf.edu.

Fall 2024 Formatting Help Hours

Monday: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 12:30 – 2 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Please make your formatting help appointment through Calendly: https://calendly.com/etdhelp/drop_in

IRB Support

The Office of Research and the College of Graduate Studies offer office hours to students with an IRB Ambassador for help navigating UCF’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) application process.

The IRB Ambassador can offer assistance to students in the following ways:

Students should have their research proposal and study design complete and reviewed by their faculty advisor and thesis/dissertation committee members prior to meeting with the IRB ambassador for study application assistance.

Students can email IRB application questions to Zachary.Miller@ucf.edu or Schedule a Meeting.

Thesis and Dissertation Workshops

Thesis and Dissertation 101: Your Final Semester. This workshop is intended for thesis and dissertation students in their final semester. Attendees will learn how to meet all deadline requirements including submitting for format review, holding the defense, and submitting their final thesis/dissertation to STARS.

Thesis and Dissertation 101: Your Final SemesterThursday, September 1212 – 1 p.m.Click for Zoom registration

Thesis and Dissertation 101: Formatting Demo. Finishing your thesis or dissertation soon? Join us to learn how to compile your work into UCF’s official Microsoft Word Template so your electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD) is formatted to be compliant with UCF’s requirements and policies, including digital accessibility.

Thesis and Dissertation 101: Formatting DemoTuesday, August 2712:30 – 1:30 p.m.Click for Zoom registration
Thesis and Dissertation 101: Formatting DemoTuesday, September 1712:30 – 1:30 p.m.Click for Zoom registration
Thesis and Dissertation 101: Formatting DemoTuesday, October 112:30 – 1:30 p.m.Click for Zoom registration

Thesis and Dissertation 101: Getting Started. Attendees will learn essential information to help them prepare for beginning their thesis or dissertation. Topics include choosing and managing your advisory committee; how to find articles, databases, and other research resources; citation management; the human subjects research (IRB) process; copyright and publishing matters; and information on UCF Libraries resources.   

Thesis and Dissertation 101: Getting StartedWednesday, December 412 – 1 p.m.Click for Zoom registration

Additional Helpful Workshops

The following workshops are intended to help students learn more about the academic research and publishing processes especially for a thesis or dissertation:

Finding & Using Academic Sources. This session highlights time-saving steps to locate academic sources for upcoming course assignments and literature reviews. Learn how to locate peer-reviewed articles and related sources for topics, identify relevant subject-databases and background information, develop a plan for reviewing sources, and tips to maximize Google Scholar. 

Finding & Using Academic Sources Thursday, September 1912 – 1 p.m.Click for Zoom registration
Finding & Using Academic SourcesWednesday, October 1612 – 1 p.m.Click for Zoom registration

Can I Use That Image? How to Legally Use Images, Graphics, and other Copyrighted Materials. Can you use any image you find online in your presentation? Do you need to get permission to use a chart or graphic for your thesis or dissertation? These are just a few of the questions that we will explore in this session focused on the ethical and legal use of copyrighted images, graphics, and other visual materials. Attendees will learn about copyright basics with a specific focus on visual works and how to be good stewards of copyrighted content created by others. 

Can I Use That Image?: How to Legally Use
Images, Graphics, and other Copyrighted Materials 
Wednesday, October 232 – 3 p.m.Click for Zoom registration
Can I Use That Image?: How to Legally Use
Images, Graphics, and other Copyrighted Materials 
Tuesday, November 123 – 4 p.m.Click for Zoom registration

Optimizing Your Online Presence. This session covers evaluating your publishing impacts and managing your online researcher profile. Learn about methods and tools to obtain citation counts and impact data, metrics to assist in identifying key journals and notable researchers, and why it’s important to develop an online profile using sites, such as ORCID, Research Gate, Academia.edu, PIVOT, Plum Analytics, and Google Scholar.

Graduate Writing Groups

Are you getting stuck whenever you sit down to write your thesis or dissertation? Do you just need someone to help keep you accountable on your writing goals? Consider forming or joining a writing group!

The College of Graduate Studies and the University Writing Center are partnering to offer graduate student writing groups. We believe that community and accountability, along with setting achievable goals, play a significant role in completing major writing projects. Past participants have finished proposals, chapters, articles, and have even defended their dissertations!

Read to join a group?

For additional details, please see https://uwc.cah.ucf.edu/grad

Faculty and Staff Resources

Faculty and staff can join the free, self-paced webcourse, How to Help Grad Students: Thesis and Dissertation, to learn more about the thesis/dissertation process in order to better help graduate students. See our Training page for additional information.

Thesis and Dissertations Download Map

All UCF ETDs are displayed in the Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship (STARS). See UCF Graduate Theses and Dissertations in STARS for additional information. The following map displays downloads of ETDs from STARS.