Format Review and Submission

Accessibility Features

As of Spring, 2023, all theses and dissertations will need to incorporate the following accessibility features to align with the university’s accessibility policy.  When you submit your final document to OhioLINK you will be verifying that accessibility features have been applied.

Graduate School Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Accessibility Plan

• PDF file includes full text
• PDF accessibility permission flag is checked
• Text language of the PDF is specified
• PDF includes a title
• Images, figures, and tables have descriptive captions and/or alt tags explaining content

Document Conversion

After making the required corrections, the student must convert their document into an embedded-font PDF. The student can use any proprietary PDF conversion software.

Digital Accessibility Guide for Dissertations and Theses

Final Submission

Final document should be submitted by 8 a.m. on the deadline day.

1. Go to OhioLink ETD (Electronic Theses and Dissertations) submission site
2. Create a user ID and password
   1. With your user ID/password, you can access the ETD center to review your document submission pages as often as necessary until you submit your final document.
   2. Your draft is maintained on the site up to 30 days. After 30 days, drafts are automatically purged.
3. Select “Publishing Options”
   1. Indicate your choice for copyright (typically, all rights reserved)
   2. Indicate whether you want to request a delay in access to your document. You must also submit a Delay of Final Document form on GRADFORMS.
4. ProQuest/UMI Options: Doctoral students select "Upload my paper to UMI." Master's students select "Do not upload my paper to UMI."
5. Submit your document

Post-Submission Review

The Graduate School reviews all submitted documents and will contact graduate students if changes are needed or if the document has been accepted as meeting graduation requirements.

If changes are required, the student must log back into their OhioLINK account, delete the original submission, upload the revised document, and submit. The final document must be approved by the Graduate School by 5 p.m. on the document deadline day to meet degree requirements.

Documents are not viewable on OhioLink until they have been reviewed by the Graduate School. During a high-volume semester, this process can take a few months.

Delay Access to Final Document

If a student wishes to delay access to their final document, they must complete a Delay of Final Document form on GRADFORMS. A reason for the delay must be given, and the form must be electronically approved by the advisor. Submit this form by the deadline for the submission of the final approved document. While a delay is applied to a student's document, the document title and abstract will be publicly available once the student's OhioLINK submission is published by the Graduate School. If an extension of the delay is required, the student must request one in writing from the Graduate School before the original delay expires. The maximum length of a delay is five years.