Graduate School Thesis & Dissertation Manual

Graduate School Thesis & Dissertation Manual VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL BLAIR HOUSE 408 WEST FRANKLIN STREET P.O. BOX 843051 RICHMOND, VA 23284-3051 UPDATED AUGUST 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS THESIS AND DISSERTATION REQUIREMENTS I. PREPARATION OF THESIS/DISSERTATION A. Introduction... 3 B. Preparation of Thesis and Dissertation 1. Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD)... 3 2. Recommended Formats & Document Conversion... 4 3. Type... 5 4. Pagination... 5 5. Footnotes... 5 6. Endnotes... 6 7. Tables and Figures... 6 C. Arrangement of Contents... 6 1. ETD Approval form (Mandatory)... 7 2. Copyright page... 8 3. Title page (Mandatory)... 8 4. Acknowledgment or dedication page... 8 5. Table of Contents (Mandatory)... 9 6. List of tables, figures, abbreviations and symbols... 9 7. Abstract (Mandatory)... 9 8. Body of thesis or dissertation (chapters)... 9 9. Reference material or bibliography... 9 10. Appendices... 10 11. Vita... 10 D. Exception to Guidelines... 11 E. Binding Hard Copies of Theses and Dissertations... 11 F. Additional Requirements for students submitting Dissertations... 11 1. ProQuest.... 11 2. Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)... 12 II. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF DISSERTATION (CRITERIA FOR ACCEPTANCE) A. Requirements... 12 B. Thesis or Equivalent, Non-Thesis... 12 C. Dissertation... 13 D. Acceptance for Defense... 13 E. Final Approval... 13 III. DUE DATES FOR THESIS OR DISSERTATION... 13 IV. COPYRIGHT A. General Copyright Information... 13 B. Copyright Information When Submitting to ProQuest... 13 V. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY... 14 VI. APPENDICES Appendix 1: Thesis/Dissertation Checklist... 15 Appendix 2-A: Sample Copyright Page... 16 Appendix 2-B: Sample Title Page... 17 Appendix 2-C: Sample Acknowledgment Page... 18 Appendix 2-D: Sample Table of Contents... 19 Appendix 2-E: Sample List of Tables... 20 Appendix 2-F: Sample Abstract... 21 Appendix 2-G: Sample Vita... 22

THESIS AND DISSERTATION REQUIREMENTS I. PREPARATION OF THESIS/DISSERTATION A. INTRODUCTION The VCU Graduate School electronic thesis and dissertation manual serves as a guide for the preparation of graduate theses and dissertations for graduate students in all programs within the university. Electronic theses and dissertations make VCU student research and creativity available online as full-text documents and multimedia presentations for use by the university community and others involved in research. The thesis and dissertation manual provides a general set of guidelines approved by the University Graduate Council. However, the student s thesis or dissertation committee is the final arbiter concerning the thesis or dissertation's final acceptability. The committee's responsibility includes approving style and format, and technical and professional competency. It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with all of the rules and procedures which apply to thesis/ dissertation preparation and final committee approval. Students must follow the regulations of Thesis and Dissertation examinations as outlined in the VCU Graduate School Bulletin. The VCU Graduate Bulletin (catalog) website documents the official admission and academic rules and regulations that govern graduate education for all graduate programs at the university. These policies are established by the graduate faculty of the university through their elected representatives to the University Graduate Council. A checklist is provided in Appendix 1 to ensure that all thesis/dissertation procedures have been completed. B. PREPARATION OF THESIS AND DISSERTATION 1. ELECTRONIC THESIS/DISSERTATION Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) are digital representations of the traditional work by a graduate student in fulfillment of requirements for a graduate degree. An ETD can be a simple textual document converted to a standard electronic format, such as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or a complex combination of images and formats. VCU began accepting ETD's on a pilot and voluntary basis in 2002. As of fall 2009, students are required to submit their theses or dissertations electronically to the Graduate School through the VCU Digital Archives. Once the student s committee has approved the student s work, the student must upload the approved submission to the VCU Scholars Compass. There is a 2GB limit for the upload. Word documents are not accepted. If you submit a word document, your submission will be rejected, and you will have to repeat the process of submitting to the digital archives. PDF is the most common format students use, but refer to the section on Recommended Formats and Document Conversion in this manual for more information. When naming your file, please use your last name, an underscore, your first name, an underscore and your degree. For example Smith_John_MS.pdf Once you upload your file to the VCU digital archives and submit the signed ETD approval form to the Graduate School, you will receive a confirmation e-mail via your VCU e-mail account. Your e-mail will either confirm that the submission has been accepted or rejected. If the 3

submission is rejected, the e-mail will alert you to the reason for the rejection and provide you instructions for resubmission. The uploaded electronic submission cannot be accepted into the digital archives until the Graduate School receives the signed ETD approval form with the proper signatures and information filled out on the form. Read the Arrangement of Contents, ETD Approval Form in this manual for more information. An online video tutorial can be found on the VCU Libraries website. Click on the Show Me How tab: http://guides.library.vcu.edu/content.php?pid=160670&sid=1358707. 2. RECOMMENDED FORMATS & DOCUMENT CONVERSION Recommended formats for electronic theses and dissertations Text PDF or PDF/A (.pdf) Image TIFF (.tif) JPEG (.jpg) JPEG2000 (.jp2) GIF (.gif) Video MPEG-4 (.mp4) Audio WAV (.wav) AIF (.aif) MPEG-3 (.mp3) Recommended formats are chosen because they are the formats most likely to remain viable in the future. They meet the highest preservation standards and are most likely to be sustainable in the future. The VCU Scholars Compass, maintained by the VCU Libraries, will accept other formats but cannot guarantee that files in every format, particularly proprietary ones, will be able to be accessed in the future. VCU Libraries commits to bit preservation for all file formats. This means that the actual bits of each file will be preserved. There is no guarantee, however, that those bits will continue to be functional over time. DOCUMENT CONVERSION TO PDF FORMAT We strongly recommend that you embed all fonts in your PDF document. There are a number of options for converting your document into PDF. Microsoft Office 2007 has the ability to save files as PDF with the Microsoft save as PDF add-in. Adobe Acrobat Professional is available in the following on-campus locations: James Branch Cabell Library, Media and Reserve Services, Third floor Tompkins-McCaw Library, Multimedia Collaboration Room Sanger Hall, Room B3-012 Hunton Hall Learning Center In addition, all of the public computers in the VCU Libraries (Cabell Library, Tompkins-McCaw Library and Hunton Hall Learning Center) have OpenOffice and dopdf, both of which can be used to save documents as PDF. Many firms on the Web offer PDF conversion services and software. Here is a sampling of options: Adobe Online Service CutePDF dopdf Ghostscript PrimoPDF PS2PDF.com 4

3. TYPE The standard font size is 12 point, and a standard typeface such as Courier, Times Roman, Arial or Tahoma should be used. Nonstandard typefaces, such as script, are not acceptable. Italics are permitted for mathematical expressions and scientific names of genera, species and the like. If students anticipate publication of their theses or dissertations, they should consider the medium of publication likely to be used when preparing the thesis or dissertation manuscript. For example, lettering on original graphs and drawings should be large enough so that it can be reduced effectively for publications. The text of the manuscript should be double-spaced. Long tables, long quotations (defined as 100 words, or as stipulated within the student's discipline and applied consistently), footnotes and multi-line captions should be single-spaced. Students are encouraged to provide sample pages of their theses or dissertations to their advisors and graduate program directors, if appropriate to ensure that manuscript requirements are met. Margins around the text on a page should be one inch. All tables and figures should conform to the margin requirements. 4. PAGINATION Every page on which any text, figure, table or drawing appears should be counted and numbered. The title page and the abstract are counted but not numbered. All numbers are placed without punctuation at the bottom of the page and centered. The preliminary pages are numbered consecutively in lower case Roman numerals placed in the upper right-hand corner. The first page to be numbered will be the first page following the title page and should be numbered ii. The text and reference pages are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, beginning with 1 on the first page of the text. GUIDELINES FOR CHANGING FROM ROMAN NUMERALS TO ARABIC NUMERALS Your manuscript must be submitted as one file. So, to create different formats of page numbers or to restart page numbering in the document, you will need to divide your document into "sections," and then change the page number format for each section. (Note that specific steps will vary for different versions of Microsoft Word.) i. If you have not already done so, insert a section break where you want to change the page numbers. To do this, click where you want to insert a section break. On the Insert menu, point to Break, and then click the type of section break you want to insert. ii. With the cursor in a particular section, go to the Insert menu and choose Page Numbers. iii. Choose the page number options you want (click Format and change the page number format), and click OK. iv. Repeat that for each section in the document. For more help with pagination, visit the following website: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx 5. FOOTNOTES Footnoting practices differ widely among disciplines. Students should follow the practice most commonly used in their disciplines, or the instructions of their thesis or dissertation advisors following approved departmental policy. 5

If footnotes are used, they are placed on the pages they annotate and should be separated on the page from the text by a line extending two inches from the left margin. If the discipline requires footnotes, then the footnotes are to be indicated by a superscript and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. The first line of the footnote is to be indented. If the footnote is more than one line in length, typing is to be single-spaced. When more than one footnote is used on a page, footnotes should be separated by a double space. The specified margins and font must be maintained when footnotes are used. If a footnote continues onto the following page, the numbering remains the same. 6. ENDNOTES As with footnoting, students who use endnotes should follow the practice most commonly used in their disciplines, or the instructions of their thesis or dissertation advisors following approved departmental policy. If endnotes are used, they are placed on a separate page or pages, indicated by a superscript and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. The specified margins and font must be maintained when endnotes are used. The endnotes page or pages are placed after the last page of the essay and before the bibliography. The pages of the essay, the endnotes, and the bibliography are numbered consecutively using Arabic numbers. 7. TABLES AND FIGURES The word table designates tabulated numerical data used in the body of the thesis or dissertation and in appendices. The word figure designates all other nonverbal material, such as illustrations, charts, graphs, maps, photographs, drawings and diagrams. Tables and figures are numbered in separate series. Each table and figure, including any in the appendix, must be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals in its own series. The captions for figures and tables must be identical with those used in the list of tables and the list of figures in the preliminary pages. Table titles are typed above the table and figure titles are typed below the figure. C. ARRANGEMENT OF CONTENTS The thesis or dissertation typically includes the following parts arranged in the order given below. Students must follow the department s guidelines for content and formatting. 1. ETD Approval form (Mandatory) THIS FORM IS NOT INCLUDED IN SUBMISSION TO VCU DIGITAL ARCHIVES. 2. Copyright page 3. Title page (Mandatory) 4. Acknowledgment or dedication page 5. Table of Contents (Mandatory) 6. List of tables, figures, abbreviations and symbols 7. Abstract (Mandatory) 8. Body of thesis or dissertation (chapters) 9. Reference material or bibliography 10. Appendices 11. Vita 1. ETD APPROVAL FORM (MANDATORY) THIS FORM IS NOT INCLUDED IN SUBMISSION TO VCU DIGITAL ARCHIVES. The function of the ETD approval form is to enable the student s director, committee and the dean of the school, or the dean s representative, to indicate that the work satisfies the thesis or dissertation requirement for the particular degree. 6

The thesis/dissertation title on the ETD approval form must be the title that is approved at the thesis/dissertation defense. The title on the approval form must be the same title that is submitted to the VCU Digital Archives. If the title on the ETD approval form does not match the title that is submitted to the VCU Digital Archives, the submission will not be approved. Approval Number When filling out your ETD approval form, you must also check the approval number box. Your options are IRB, IACUC, Exempt and Not Applicable. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at VCU is charged with reviewing all research protocols involving humans to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. The IRB must review and approve all activities that meet the definition of both 'human subjects' and 'research' before work may begin. Specialized training is required for individuals conducting research involving human subjects. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is a self-regulating entity that, according to U.S. federal law, must be established by institutions that use laboratory animals for research or instructional purposes to oversee and evaluate all aspects of the institution's animal care and use program. If you have questions about what option is applicable to you, consult your thesis/dissertation chair or contact the Office of Research for further assistance. Embargo When filling out your ETD approval form, you must also check the release option of your ETD to the Web. If you choose to have a delayed release of your thesis/dissertation, you must attach a justification for the embargo to your ETD approval form. Typical reasons for selecting a delayed release of the ETD include proprietary work and future publishing rights. Based on the justification provided, the Graduate School reserves the right not to accept the embargo terms. The release option you select on your ETD approval form must match up with the release option you select when you upload your thesis/dissertation to the VCU Digital Archives. Submitting the Form: The ETD approval form must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than the deadline listed on the academic calendar for the semester in which the student is graduating. Submit the form to: VCU Graduate School Box 843051 408 West Franklin Street, Room 113 Richmond, VA 23284 Time extensions are not allowed. When planning to meet the Graduate School deadline, keep in mind that it can take several days for the ETD approval form to be signed by your school/college dean and reach the Graduate School. All information on this form must be filled out completely, and all signatures must be original when submitted to the Graduate School for the Graduate Dean s signature. 7

The original approval form is kept in the student s file at the Graduate School once it is signed by the Graduate Dean. If students would like signed copies for their records, they must request copies or include an extra form for the Graduate Dean to sign and return. Once the ETD approval form is received in the Graduate School, the Graduate School is then able to review and accept the thesis/dissertation submission to the VCU Scholars Compass. Your electronic submission will not be reviewed or accepted until the ETD approval form is received at the Graduate School. The ETD approval form is NOT included in the online submission to the VCU Digital Archives. The review by the Graduate School is not for errors - we do not provide editing services - the review is strictly to ensure that the document has been uploaded properly. It is the student s responsibility to obtain all signatures before submitting the approval form to the Graduate School. Electronic theses and dissertations that do not have the approval form completed/signed by the student s entire committee, school or college dean and the dean of the Graduate School will not be accepted by the Graduate School. 2. COPYRIGHT PAGE Copyright is vested upon creation of any original work. Although it is not required, students may indicate copyright with a separate sheet following the prescribed copyright form. A Copyright signals to readers that you acknowledge your legal rights and that you are the copyright owner. It also tells the year you first published the project. View sample 3. TITLE PAGE (MANDATORY) The title page is counted as page i, but the number is not typed on the page. The title should be centered with the first line of the title beginning two inches from the top of the page. Words are underlined in the title only when they themselves are titles or when they are scientific terms that customarily are underlined. The title should use descriptive words that will ensure electronic retrieval. Use word substitutes for formulae, symbols and superscript. The partial fulfillment statement should begin two lines below the title. The final line of the title page shows the date that the thesis/dissertation was approved by the committee. It is typed at the bottom margin, 1¼ inch from the bottom of the page. The student s name and degree information and the thesis or dissertation director s name, title and department should be situated evenly within the remaining space. View sample 4. ACKNOWLEDGMENT PAGE An acknowledgment page expressing the student s recognition of and appreciation for any special assistance is optional, but customarily included. If it is used, the word Acknowledgment should be centered without punctuation two inches from the top of the page. The text of the acknowledgment should begin on the fourth line below. This page should be numbered as ii. View sample 5. TABLE OF CONTENTS (MANDATORY) The contents page should be headed Table of Contents, with the heading centered without punctuation two inches from the top of the page. The listings begin at the left margin four spaces below the heading. The table of contents lists all material following the table of contents page. The titles of chapters, parts or sections must be listed and worded exactly as they appear in the body of the thesis or dissertation. The page number for the start of each part is listed flush against the right margin on the same line as the last word of the division heading. Any space 8

between the last word of the title of a part and the page number can be filled with a dot leader. View sample 6. LISTS OF TABLES, FIGURES, ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS The format for the list of tables and the list of figures is the same as for the table of contents. The list of abbreviations or symbols should follow the form normally used in the student s discipline and approved by the school dean. View sample 7. ABSTRACT (MANDATORY) The abstract is an essay summary of the thesis or dissertation a statement of the experiment or problem, the procedure followed, the results and the conclusions. The abstract of a doctoral dissertation should follow scrupulously the instructions given here, since it will be published in Dissertation Abstracts International without revision or editing. The maximum length for a dissertation abstract is 350 words; for a thesis, it is 150 words. It should be a succinct account, allowing readers to make an accurate decision as to whether the full contents will aid their review. The heading Abstract is centered two inches from the top of the page. The title of the dissertation, typed in all capital letters, begins at the left margin four lines below the heading. The student s full name and degree are typed two lines below the title. The partial fulfillment statement, which should follow exactly the pattern of the partial fulfillment statement on the title page, is typed two lines below the student s name. Virginia Commonwealth University should be typed two lines below the partial fulfillment statement, followed by the year in which the degree is granted. The name, title and department of the major director, again following the pattern of the title page, are typed two lines below the name of the institution. The body of the abstract, typed and double-spaced, begins on the fourth line below the major director information. Include pertinent place names, full names of people and other proper nouns that are useful in electronic retrieval. Diagrams, charts, tables or other illustrated materials and formulas or equations must not be included in the abstract. Display symbols, as well as foreign words and phrases, clearly and accurately. Include transliterations for characters other than Roman and Greek letters and Arabic numerals as well as accents and diacritical marks. As with the title page, the abstract is assigned a number, continuing the consecutive Roman enumeration begun with the title page, however the number is not typed. View sample 8. BODY OF THESIS OR DISSERTATION The text or body of the thesis or dissertation is to be typed and double-spaced using one side of each page. Chapters will begin a page. The heading for the division should be centered without punctuation two inches below the top of the page, the next beginning four lines below the heading. The pages of the text are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals from the first page of the text through the bibliography and the vita. 9. REFERENCE MATERIAL OR BIBLIOGRAPHY The reference section should begin with a cover sheet headed Bibliography, List of References, Literature Cited or other heading, as determined by the discipline, centered without punctuation. This page is counted and numbered in Arabic numerals. The heading is repeated on the first page of the bibliography itself, two inches from the top, centered and without punctuation. The list of sources begins four spaces below the heading. The sources themselves frequently are arranged in alphabetical order by the author s last name or the first major word of the title of anonymous publications, but some disciplines may suggest a different grouping of sources. The precise content of the entry should be determined by the 9

discipline, but the intent is to provide all of the information necessary for the reader to locate and consult the sources. Regardless of the form used, each citation should include the title of the article, author s name, the journal in which it is published, the volume number and year, and pages. Format of literature citations should conform to those used by the major journals in the investigator s specific field. Entries should be double-spaced with single spaces within entries. Because the thesis and dissertation is considered professional contributions, students should follow the method of annotation used in their disciplines. Most scientific journals publish instructions to authors on required manuscript style and format. The three style manuals listed below are commonly used and can be helpful references. When contradictions arise, however, the style manual approved by the school normally takes precedence. Campbell, William Giles, and Stephen Vaughan Ballou. Form and Style: Theses, Reports, Term Papers. Latest Edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Latest Edition, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Latest Edition. Except where specifically contradicted by the Graduate School s thesis and dissertation manual, students should follow the style manual used in their disciplines. 10. APPENDICES The appendix provides a place for supplementary material. Tables too detailed for text presentation, technical notes, schedules, forms, case studies and illustrative material are common appendix materials. Each category of material should be given a separate number or letter following the same consecutive sequence. Appendices can be titled descriptively at the discretion of the author, however, if one is titled, all must be. The heading Appendix (followed by a letter or number) should be centered two inches below the top of the page. If a descriptive title is used, it is centered two lines below the heading. Text or illustrative material begins four lines below the title. Each page of an appendix is numbered in Arabic numerals. 11. VITA The vita is a brief biographical sketch of the writer, giving date and place of birth, statement of present citizenship, education (institutions attended), degrees and honors, accomplishments, the titles of publications, teaching or professional experiences and any other relevant data. This section should be headed Vita, with the word centered two inches below the top of the page and the text beginning four lines below. The page is numbered in Arabic numerals. View sample D. EXCEPTION TO GUIDELINES The thesis/dissertation manual provides a general set of guidelines approved by the University Graduate Council. However, the student's thesis/dissertation committee is the final arbiter concerning the thesis/dissertation s final acceptability. The committee's responsibility includes approving style and format, and technical and professional competency. 10

E. BINDING HARD COPIES OF THESES AND DISSERTATIONS Since VCU now requires electronic submissions, students who desire author, or personal, bound print copies of their work will select a binder for the work and pay for the binding themselves. The library no longer provides binding services. Commercial binders for binding personal copies of theses and dissertations are posted below. The list includes establishments that can bind copies for students, but it is not an endorsement of the sources. Blue Ridge Book Conservation www.ortonbindery.com Cat Tail Run Bindery www.cattailrun.com Wythken Printing http://www.wythken.com/ Long s-roullet Bookbinders, Inc. http://longs-roullet.com/thesesdisser.htm Thesis on demand www.thesisondemand.com Uptown Color www.uptowncolor.com Note: ProQuest offers binding services as part of its submission process. F. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS SUBMITTING A DISSERTATION Students submitting a Dissertation must follow the instructions below for submitting to ProQuest and completing the Survey of Earned Doctorates. 1. PROQUEST ProQuest (formerly UMI) provides publishing and preservation services for theses and dissertations worldwide. The company s thesis and dissertation databases have been designated a Library of Record by the U.S. Library of Congress and will be kept in perpetuity. DISSERTATION VCU requires that all doctoral dissertations be published with ProQuest. Please note that submitting to ProQuest does not satisfy the university s requirement of submission. You must submit to the VCU Scholars Compass separately in order to fulfill this requirement for graduation. ProQuest does not charge a fee for dissertations using its Traditional Publishing option. Dissertations are submitted directly by the student through UMI/ProQuest s ETD Administrator site for VCU. ProQuest s publishing services include the creation of a microfilm master of the dissertation and the preparation and listing of the abstract in Dissertations Abstracts International. The DAI subject databases are widely available to scholars through their professional societies, libraries and research centers. THESIS VCU does not require master s theses publication with ProQuest; however, the service is available to those desiring it. ProQuest does not charge a fee for theses using its Traditional Publishing option. Theses are submitted directly by the student through UMI/ProQuest s ETD Administrator site for VCU. 11

ProQuest s publishing services include the creation of a microfilm master of the thesis, and the preparation and listing of the abstract in Master s Abstracts International. OPTIONAL SERVICES ProQuest offers optional services to authors for a fee, including Open Access, copyright registration, and binding, but those services are not required. More information about ProQuest s services can be found at the ETD Administrator site. Please note: If you have chosen to embargo your work, you will find that UMI/ProQuest only offers up to a two-year embargo. Your VCU embargo selection will override the ProQuest embargo when your ETD is approved by the VCU ETD administrator. 2. Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) must be completed no later than the submission of the ETD approval form to the Graduate School. In order to complete the survey, visit the following link: https://sed.norc.org/survey You will be asked to provide your name, institution, department, graduation month and year, and an e-mail address. An e-mail with login information to access the online SED will be sent to the address provided after you complete the registration, enabling you to stop and then return to the survey without losing your previous responses. More information about the SED can be found at http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/sed. II. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF DISSERTATION A. REQUIREMENTS The thesis or dissertation requirements may differ for individual schools and departments. Graduate students must check with the appropriate individuals in their schools to determine specific requirements and to review the degree requirements as listed in the VCU graduate and professional study bulletins. B. THESIS OR EQUIVALENT, NON-THESIS Master s degree candidates may have a thesis requirement or its equivalent in the form of a research project, performance, exhibit or other production. In some programs master s degree candidates may elect a non-thesis option. In such cases, the program may allow a candidate to change from the thesis to the non-thesis option, or vice versa, once. Such action requires written approval of the department head and the faculty advisor and/or the student s advisory committee. C. DISSERTATION All Doctoral candidates are required to prepare dissertations and must also complete the additional requirements. D. ACCEPTANCE FOR DEFENSE Students are encouraged to take an original copy of their theses or dissertations to the chairs of their committees to have the copy checked for format errors before reproducing the documents. Copy is prepared according to standards approved by the students programs/schools. 12

Following general acceptance of a document s format, style and readiness for final defense by the advisory committee, the final defense is scheduled. The final defense examination schedule is distributed by the student s advisory committee to the university community. E. FINAL APPROVAL At the time of the defense, a thesis or dissertation must be approved by members of a student s advisory committee with no more than one negative vote. A committee member s approval is given by signing the approval form for thesis and dissertation and final oral defense (ETD Approval Form). A disapproving committee member should elect to provide a written dissenting opinion to be sent to the Graduate School. III. DUE DATES FOR THESIS OR DISSERTATION The student s faculty committee will determine the dates of the oral defense and submission of drafts to the committee. Ordinarily, one week will elapse between the final oral examination, making final typing corrections and submitting the final copy to the dean for signature. The student should allow for this period in planning to meet the university deadlines posted on the academic calendar. Some programs/schools require that degree completion forms be submitted with the thesis or dissertation. A program/school may set an earlier date. Students should be aware of all forms necessary for graduation required within their schools. Submission of the thesis or dissertation to the dean s office means it has been defended successfully as judged by the student s committee and graduate program director/department chair. IV. COPYRIGHT A. GENERAL COPYRIGHT INFORMATION For an overview of copyright issues as they pertain to research, refer to Copyright Law & Graduate Research: New Media, New Rights, and Your New Dissertation by Kenneth D. Crews of Indiana State University. B. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION WHEN SUBMITTING TO PROQUEST All dissertations submitted for degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University will be sent to ProQuest for microfilming and for publication of the abstract in Dissertation Abstracts International. This publication is considered the authoritative source for concise summaries of current graduate research. ProQuest will have the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute dissertations in and from microform, the nonexclusive right to reproduce and distribute dissertations in and from an electronic format, and the nonexclusive right to reproduce and distribute the abstract in any format in whole or in part. These rights do not prevent authors from granting other publishing rights. Publication rights are reserved to the author, subject to the provisions of research contracts, patent agreements, or other similar agreements made by the author with the thesis or dissertation director, the university, the funding agency or other involved parties. University members shall retain all rights relating to publication, preparation of derivative works, distribution and classroom use of works which they have prepared on their own initiative, including both papers published in scholarly journals or books, theses and dissertations, provided the university does not possess rights of ownership as described below. Registering copyright with ProQuest simply provides a standing in court should the author choose to sue for unauthorized use of the work. That s the only protection of the additional $65 13

fee. It is recommended for works with marketable (i.e. profitable) products such as surveys, formula, models and original art. Copyright protects the author s work and is advised for dissertations. ProQuest will act as the author s agent with the Library of Congress Copyright Office. The copyright fee includes application in the author s name, submission of the application fee and required deposit copies of the work at the Library of Congress. Authors receive a certificate of copyright registration from the copyright office three to four months after the abstract appears in Dissertation Abstracts International. Authors will receive ProQuest s author prices on all copies of their work. If sales of an author s work equal seven or more copies in one calendar year, authors receive a 10 percent royalty on total sales for that year. Payments are made annually. Authors are advised to keep a current address on file with ProQuest so royalty payments can be made promptly. Information on the number and format of sales will be indicated on the check stub. ProQuest is unable to identify individuals who purchase works from them. USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL By signing the ProQuest Agreement Form, authors certify that any previously copyrighted material used in their work beyond fair use is with the written permission of the copyright owner and that ProQuest will not be held responsible for any damages that may arise from copyright violations. Copies of permission letters from copyright owners must be attached to the ProQuest Agreement Form. The permission letters must state that the copyright owner is aware that ProQuest may supply single copies on demand. If permissions are not supplied, copyrighted materials will not be filmed. The Fair Use Statute is found in the United States Code, Title 17, Section 107. It states that the fair use of a copyrighted work, including reproduction of it, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work is fair use, the factors to be considered include: 1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2) the nature of the copyrighted work; 3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and 4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished does not limit fair use. V. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY This Policy shall apply to all University Members, and all University Members should read this Policy. http://www.research.vcu.edu 14

APPENDIX 1 VCU Graduate School THESIS/DISSERTATION CHECKLIST Dissertation/Thesis defended by last day of classes or by date set by department or school. Corrections completed and final copy prepared. Submission of Thesis/Dissertation to the VCU Digital Archives -Naming your file: Please use your last name, an underscore, your first name, an underscore and your degree. For example Smith_John_MS.pdf. -Have your abstract and keywords ready. -If you have more than one file, please click on the add another file button instead of repeating this process more than once. ETD Approval form signed by all committee members, graduate program director/department chair, school dean or designee and turned into Graduate School for Graduate Dean s signature. Make sure all information on both pages including approval numbers and release option (embargo) are filled out. Additional checklist items for students submitting a Dissertation Submit your Dissertation to UMI/ProQuest.* Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). *IF YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO EMBARGO YOUR WORK, YOU WILL FIND THAT UMI/PROQUEST ONLY OFFERS UP TO A TWO-YEAR EMBARGO. YOUR VCU EMBARGO SELECTION WILL OVERRIDE THE PROQUEST EMBARGO WHEN YOUR ETD IS APPROVED BY THE VCU ETD ADMINISTRATOR. 15

APPENDIX 2-A SAMPLE: COPYRIGHT PAGE Sigmund P. Parsons 2011 All Rights Reserved 16

APPENDIX 2-B SAMPLE: TITLE PAGE (Title) A thesis (or dissertation) submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of (list degree, for example, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Social Work) at Virginia Commonwealth University. by (Student s name in full, Student s degrees with Institutions and dates) Director: Thesis/Dissertation director s name, Title, and department Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia Month, Year 17

APPENDIX 2-C SAMPLE: ACKNOWLEDGMENT PAGE Acknowledgment The author wishes to thank several people. I would like to thank my wife, Kathy, for her love, support and patience during the past eight or so years it has taken me to graduate. I would like to thank my parents for their unending love and support. I would also like to thank Dr. Anderson for his help and for his direction with this project. Last but not least, I would like to thank City Stores, Inc. and my manager John Bellinger for allowing me to use this subject for my thesis. 18

APPENDIX 2-D SAMPLE: TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables... vii List of Figures... x List of Abbreviations... xii Abstract... xvi Introduction... 1 A Rationale for This Study... 4 Objects... 6 Literature Review... 7 Aflatoxin Literature... 7 Introduction... 8 Chemical Structure... 9 Acute Toxicity... 12 Chronic Studies... 17 Rat Pathology Resulting From Aflatoxin... 24 Cellular Responses to Aflatoxin B 1... 25 Subcellular Responses to Aflatoxin B 1... 26 Additional Problems Caused by Aflatoxin B 1... 34 Problems of Aflatoxin Occurrence, Control, and Prevention... 35 Future problems Associated With Aflatoxin... 36 Estradiol Literature... 39 Induction of the Hamster Kidney Tumor... 39 Estrogen-Induced Carcinogenesis... 41 Liver Template Activity... 50 Hormonal Carcinogenesis... 50 Experimental... 53 19

APPENDIX 2-E SAMPLE: LIST OF TABLES List of Tables 1. Summary of Special Data on Aflatoxins...11 2. Susceptibility of Various Species to the Acute Action of Aflatoxins...13 3. Comparative Lethality of Single Doses of Aflatoxin B 1...15 4. Weight Gain, Duration, and Tumor Incidence of Rats Fed Diets Containing Casein of Dried Beef and Petroleum Solvent-Extracted Peanut Mean...19 5. Weight Gain, Duration, And Tumor Incidence of Rats Fed Diets Containing Dried Beef and/or Methanol-Extracted Peanut Meal...20 6. Rat Hepatoma Incidence After Administration of Purified Aflatoxin in the Diet..22 7. Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Other Liver Lesions Induced in Male Fischer Rats by Aflatoxin B 1 Contaminated Diets...23 8. Incorporation in vitro of C-14-Leucine Into Liver Slices Rats Poisoned With Aflatoxin B 1...28 9. In vitro Effect of Aflatoxin B 1 on the Incorporation of C-14-Orotic Acid-6-14-C Into the Liver Slices...29 10. Effect of Aflatoxin B 1 on the In vivo Incorporation of Orotic Acid-6-14 Into the Nuclear RNA of the Liver Cell...30 20

APPENDIX 2-F SAMPLE: ABSTRACT Abstract Title of Dissertation (ALL CAPITAL LETTERS) By (Student's Full Name, Degree) John H. Doe, Ph.D. A thesis (or dissertation) submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of (list degree, for example, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Social Work) at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 20. Major Director: Thesis / dissertation director's name, title and department (Abstract, typed and double-spaced, starting at this point, continuing on text page, if needed.) 21

APPENDIX 2-G SAMPLE: VITA Vita Kelly Angelica Smith was born on May 26, 1970, in Lancaster County, Virginia, and is an American citizen. She graduated from Jefferson High School, Kilmarnock, Virginia in 1986. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Hollins College, Hollins, Virginia in 1990 and subsequently taught in the public schools in Roanoke for three years. She received a Master of Arts in English from University of Richmond in 1993. Important Elements to include in a Vita for accurate Cataloging: Your full legal name Date and place of birth Work experience relevant to research with dates of employment and employer All Degrees and awarding institution and year received 22