Thesis Submission Information Deadlines for Thesis Submission Deadlines

Thesis Submission Information Deadlines for Thesis Submission � Deadlines for Graduation � Guidelines � Forms � ◦ ◦ Nomination of Examiners and Thesis Submission Form Thesis Non-Exclusive License Agreements Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Form Checklist Initial e-Thesis Submission � Oral Defence Form and Committee � Doctoral Oral Defence � Final e-thesis submission �

THESIS SUBMISSION - DEADLINES Theses may be submitted at any time. However, for each of the three annual dates for conferring degrees/convocation, there are deadlines for initial submission and for deposition of the final, corrected version of thesis. Thesis Evaluation Graduation Aug 16 – Dec 15 Summer Fall February Aug 16 – Dec 15 Dec 16 – Apr 15 Fall Winter June Dec 16 – Apr 15 Apr 16 – Aug 15 Winter Summer October Initial Submission Final Submission Apr 16 – Aug 15 Additional Session Initial and Final Submission in the same term Apr 16 – Aug 15 Aug 16 – Dec 15 Dec 16 – Apr 15 Summer None October Aug 16 – Dec 15 Fall None February Dec 16 – Apr 15 None June Winter **NOTE: Should the deadline date (Aug 15, Dec 15, Apr 15) fall on a weekend or a holiday, the effective deadline date will be the next working day.

Registration Status at Time of Submission • In order to submit a thesis for examination, the student must be registered in the appropriate degree program. Registration for any given year expires on the last working day in August. • All students must be registered and pay fees for the term prior to degree granting. Students in thesis programs will maintain their current registration status (i. e. Full-time or Additional Session status) for the term in which the initial thesis is submitted. • If the initial thesis submission and final thesis submission is not submitted in the same term, students in thesis programs will be registered in Thesis Evaluation status for all subsequent terms after the term of initial thesis submission until the term of final thesis submission, according to the table on the previous slide.

Guidelines http: //www. mcgill. ca/gps/thesis/guidelines Please visit the Guideline section of the GPS Thesis web page. This is where you will find info about:

General Requirements Once a thesis is submitted it exists in the public domain unless the candidate and thesis supervisor request to temporarily withhold a thesis from circulation. The student and thesis supervisor can make a request to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to temporarily withhold thesis from circulation (up to one year). A thesis must be written in English or French, except for those submitted by students in language Units. Mc. Gill University requires that all theses conform to the Mc. Gill University specifications for Master’s and Doctoral theses. It is recommended that students consult recently accepted theses from the department, available at http: //digitool. library. mcgill. ca/R/B 6 GKCYG 4 E 4 GV 9 MAJGDKYFP 9 S 7 CGT 68 FJ 2 TDIXXDF NF 8 K 64 VH 1 D-01236? func=collections-result&collection_id=1507

General Requirements Master’s Theses • A thesis for the Master's degree must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate the ability to carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner according to disciplinary norms. • An exhaustive review of work in the particular field of study is not necessarily required. Expectation for the level of original scholarship at the Master’s level varies with the discipline. • The thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.

General Requirements Doctoral Theses • A thesis for the Doctoral degree must constitute original scholarship and must be a distinct contribution to knowledge. • It must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner. • The research presented must meet current standards of the discipline; as well, thesis must clearly demonstrate how the research advances knowledge in the field. • Finally, thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.

Research Ethics Research involving human participants, animal subjects, micro-organisms, living cells, other biohazards, and/or radioactive materials must have had the appropriate compliance certification. Copies of any certificates of compliance must be retained by the supervisor and student in accordance with Mc. Gill’s policies on research ethics. Supervisors indicate on the Nomination of Examiners and Thesis Submission Form that thesis research has complied with all ethical standards. See the Ethics and Compliance webpage for further information about certification and training requirements.

Intellectual Property Any issues regarding intellectual property deriving from the research, leading up to thesis, or in the completed thesis itself should conform to Mc. Gill’s policy on intellectual property. In addition: • Students, supervisors, and any other collaborators must have written intellectual property agreements regarding thesis research. • These agreements must be consistent with the requirements of thesis examination and availability in the public domain. • Students must be aware of any limitations or approvals required for publication of the research, including the examination and publication of a thesis. Please Note: When previously published copyrighted material is presented in a thesis, the student must obtain signed permissions/waivers from the publisher(s). Permission must also be obtained from co-authors of manuscripts submitted or in preparation for inclusion in thesis; an email to that effect should suffice. The individual contributions of the student and other authors must be stated explicitly in the “Preface” to thesis.

Traditional or manuscript-based thesis? A thesis can be written and organized either in the traditional monograph style or the manuscript (article) based style. It cannot be a mixture of the two. Theses must conform to the requirements of Library and Archives Canada. Please note the following Thesis Specifications and Thesis Formatting sections to ensure compliance with the requirements of Library and Archives Canada. IMPORTANT: A manuscript-based thesis chapter (whether manuscripts are published or not at the time of thesis submission), including manuscripts on which two students are first co-authors, can only be included in thesis of one student. The supervisor and students will have to decide into which student’s thesis the manuscript can be included. The second student will have to write a traditional thesis. It may be easier if both students write a traditional format thesis, identifying individual contributions.

Traditional thesis format Title page � � � The title of thesis The student’s name and Unit* followed by "Mc. Gill University, Montreal" The month and year thesis was submitted The following statement: "A thesis submitted to Mc. Gill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of. . ” The universal copyright notice “©” followed by the student’s name and the year thesis was submitted

Traditional thesis format continued � � A detailed table of contents, including an index of figures and tables A list of abbreviations A brief abstract in both English and French Acknowledgements The student can acknowledge assistance (paid or unpaid) that has been given by members of staff, fellow students, research assistants, technicians, or others in the collection of materials and data, the design and construction of apparatus, the performance of experiments, the analysis of data, and the preparation of thesis (including editorial help). In addition, it is appropriate to recognize the supervision and advice given by thesis supervisor(s) and advisors, and any financial assistance provided in the form of studentships.

Traditional thesis format continued � � � Preface: In the case of collaborative work, there must be an explicit statement of the contributions of all parties, including the student, in the Preface of thesis. Original Contributions to Knowledge: For a Ph. D. thesis, the student must also include a statement clearly indicating those elements of thesis that are considered original scholarship and distinct contributions to knowledge. The student may also include a list of other publications/contributions that are not included in thesis A comprehensive review of the relevant literature Statement of rationale and objectives of the research (can be at the end of the literature review)

Traditional thesis format continued � � � Materials and Methods Results (as one or multiple chapters) If results are separated into multiple chapters, connecting text must be included between the chapters to produce a cohesive, unitary focus that documents a single program of research Discussion: Clearly state how the objectives of the research were met, limitations of the work, discuss implications of findings and how the work could be expanded. The discussion should not simply be a summary of the results. References

Manuscript-based thesis format As an alternative to the traditional thesis format, thesis research may be presented as a collection of scholarly papers of which the student is the author or co-author; that is, it can include the text of one or more manuscripts, submitted or to be submitted for publication, and/or published articles reformatted according to the requirements described below. Manuscripts for publication are frequently very concise documents. The thesis is expected to be a more detailed, scholarly work than manuscripts for publication in journals, and must conform to general thesis requirements. A manuscript- (or article-) based thesis will be judged by the examiners as a unified, logicallycoherent document in the same way a traditional thesis is judged.

Manuscript-based thesis format A manuscript-based thesis must: • be presented with uniform font size, line spacing, and margin sizes (see general thesis format); • conform to all other requirements listed under general thesis format above; • contain additional text that will connect the manuscripts in a logical progression from one chapter to the next, producing a cohesive, unitary focus, and documenting a single program of research - the manuscripts alone do not constitute thesis; • function as an integrated whole.

Manuscript-based thesis format There is no specified number of manuscripts or articles required for a Master’s or a Doctoral thesis, nor is prior publication or acceptance for publication of the manuscripts a requirement. Publication or acceptance for publication of research results before presentation of thesis in no way supersedes the University's evaluation and judgment of the work during thesis examination process (i. e. , it does not guarantee that thesis will be found acceptable for the degree). In the case of multiple-authored articles, the student must be the primary author. Multiple-authored articles cannot be used in more than one thesis. In the case of students who have worked collaboratively on projects, it may be preferable for both students to write a standard format thesis, identifying individual contributions.

Manuscript-based thesis format As with the traditional thesis, the manuscript-based thesis must contain: � � � Title page A detailed table of contents, including an index of figures and tables A list of abbreviations A brief abstract in both English and French Acknowledgements Preface stating the contributions of all parties, including the student. For a Ph. D. thesis, the student must also include a statement clearly indicating those elements of thesis that are considered original scholarship and distinct contributions to knowledge. The student may also include a list of other publication/contributions that are not included in thesis A comprehensive review of the relevant literature Statement of rationale and objectives of the research (can be at the end of the literature review) Discussion: Clearly state how the objectives of the research were met, limitations of the work, and discuss implications of findings and how the work could be expanded. The discussion should not simply be a summary of the results. In a manuscript-based thesis the discussion should not be a repetition of the discussions found at the end of each manuscript. References

General thesis format Length Normally, a Master’s thesis does not exceed 100 pages in length. GPS considers 150 pages to be the maximum (including title page, abstracts, table of contents, contribution of authors/preface, acknowledgements, bibliography/reference list, and appendices). A Doctoral thesis must be as succinct as is consistent with the sound scholarly exposition of the subject under investigation and disciplinary norms. There is no page limit, but unnecessarily long theses are viewed negatively since one of the norms of academic scholarship is concision.

General thesis format Appendices are useful to present supplementary or raw data, details of methodology (particularly for manuscript-based theses), consent forms, or other information that would detract from the presentation of the research in the main body of thesis, but would assist readers in their review. All material in appendices will be open to examination.

General thesis format Script and Page Format A conventional font, size 12 -point, 12 characters per inch must be used. Line spacing must be double or 1. 5. Left and right hand margins should be 1 inch. Pagination Positioning of page numbers is optional. Pages with figures or illustrations may be numbered in sequence or left unnumbered. The chosen procedure must be used consistently throughout thesis. Pagination must be carefully checked for correct sequence and completeness.

General thesis format Footnotes, references and appendices • These should conform to a scholarly style appropriate to the discipline. • Footnotes may be placed at the bottom of the page or as endnotes at the end of each chapter. • Consistency of formatting for footnotes and references is required throughout thesis. o Note: Handbooks such as the MLA or APA handbook may be consulted formatting styles. These are available at the Reference desk of the Mc. Lennan Library. Additional materials Slides, tapes, etc. are to be avoided if possible and can be included only if the student authorizes the reproduction of thesis without them.

General thesis format Figures, illustrations, photographs and digital images • Figures, tables, graphs, etc. , should be positioned according to the publication conventions of the discipline. Charts, graphs, maps, and tables that are larger than the standard page should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Overlays must be meticulously positioned in the text. • Where graphs, illustrations, photographs, etc. fill an entire page, these pages can be numbered in sequence or left unnumbered (see Pagination above). Legends or captions accompanying such full-page graphics must be presented on a separate page. • The use or adaptation of any published figure, in the introduction, or inclusion of a previously published manuscript, requires permission of the publisher. Follow the instructions on the publisher’s website and indicate in the figure legend or at start of published chapter that permission to reprint was granted by the publisher.

Forms Required With Initial E-thesis Submission ◦ Doctoral Thesis Nomination of Examiners Form ◦ Master’s Thesis Nomination of Examiners Form ◦ Thesis Non-Exclusive License Agreements ◦ Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Form The following forms must be duly signed, scanned, and submitted to GPS with your initial e-thesis submission. Please ensure all necessary signatures have been obtained before submission.

Nomination of Examiners and Thesis Submission Form Student information Exact Thesis Title Supervisor information/Co-supervisor information (if applicable) Thesis Advisor Committee (Committee who has been following you since the beginning of your degree) • *Internal Examiner (for Doctoral Examinations only) • *External Examiner • Conflict of Interest Checklist for External Examiner (all answers must be NO to the questions) • • *These fields state that “The Unit” has established that the internal and external examiner are willing to serve. In this case, “The Unit” is the Supervisor and Student” Please ensure all necessary signatures have been obtained before submission and ensure that a copy of this form is submitted to Joelle Denomy-Hasilo The naming convention for nomination form must be as follows: Student id#_ last name_ first name_ unit name_ nomform. pdf Example: 260123456_Smith_John_Anatomy & Cell Biology_nomform. pdf

Thesis Examination General Information • A Master’s thesis must be evaluated by a single examiner • A Doctoral thesis must be evaluated by two examiners - one internal and one external • Supervisors may not serve as examiners of their own Master’s or Doctoral students • For Doctoral theses, following the successful examination of the written work, there is an oral defence

Master’s Thesis Examiner For a Master's thesis, the examiner must be a scholar of established reputation and competence in the field of thesis research. The examiner may be from inside or outside the University. Units* may nominate a member from within the Unit who is not in conflict of interest (see conflict of interest checklist).

Doctoral Thesis Examiners The Doctoral external examiner must be a scholar of established reputation and competence in the field of thesis research. They must be from outside the University, hold a doctorate or equivalent and have no other conflict of interest (see conflict of interest checklist). The external examiner will not typically attend the final oral thesis defence. The Doctoral internal examiner is expected to be knowledgeable in the area and topic of thesis, though not necessarily to the same extent as the external examiner. The internal examiner also serves to ensure that Mc. Gill norms are observed with respect to quality of thesis. The internal examiner is usually a Mc. Gill faculty member (but not the supervisor) affiliated with the Unit where thesis originates, but they may also be nominated from other Units at Mc. Gill. The doctoral internal examiner need not satisfy the conflict of interest required of the external examiner (but must not be in conflict of interest according to Mc. Gill’s conflict of interest regulations). As such, a member of the student’s supervisory committee may be named as the internal examiner. The internal examiner must attend the final oral thesis defence.

Nominating Examiners In anticipation of thesis examination, the supervisor must complete the Nomination of Examiners Form. The student, supervisor(s) and the Unit must agree on the names listed for internal and external examiners. Units should have specific procedures for selection of names. An academic from the Unit, according to internal procedures, must confirm that the examiners are willing to serve prior to submission of the nomination of examiners and thesis submission form. The student submits the signed form with thesis to GPS (cc’ing the GPC). In exceptional circumstances, a student may elect to submit a thesis without the supervisor’s signature. In such a case—which is strongly discouraged—Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies should be consulted in advance of the submission and a letter of explanation from the student must accompany the form. The following documents can be referenced to help guide you through this process: • Procedure to secure an external examiner • Email template to contact an external examiner • Role of internal examiner

Thesis Non-Exclusive License Agreements Mc. Gill and Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) considers graduate theses important sources of original research, and make theses available in electronic form. As a thesis student you hold the copyright of your thesis. With your initial e-thesis submission, you are required to sign two nonexclusive licenses, one with Mc. Gill and the other with Library and Archives Canada. The Mc. Gill license permits Mc. Gill University to make your thesis available to interested persons in electronic form through Mc. Gill’s repository e. [email protected]. Gill. The license with Library and Archives Canada permits your thesis to be visible and accessible by creating bibliographic records available through the Theses Canada Portal. For more information, please consult the Library and Archives Canada website. Please note that these forms are fillable, but must be signed before submission Mc. Gill_Non-Exclusive_License (MNL) Form Student id#_ last name_ first name_ unit name_ MNL. pdf Example 260123456_Smith_John_Anatomy & Cell Biology_MNL. pdf Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Form Student id#_ last name_ first name_ unit name_ LAC. pdf Example 260123456_Smith_John_Anatomy & Cell Biology_LAC. pdf

Initial e-Thesis Submission Theses must be submitted as a single PDF from your official Mc. Gill email address to the following: • Masters students: mastersthesissubmission. gps@mcgill. ca • Doctoral students: doctoralthesissubmission. [email protected]. ca • Subject line: Initial e-thesis submission • The naming convention for the initial e-thesis file must be as follows: Student id #_ last name_ first name_ unit name (can be abbreviated) thesis. pdf Example 260123456_ Smith _John_ Anatomy & Cell Biology_thesis. pdf • If students are having difficulty in sending the PDF please contact thesis office at thesis. [email protected]. ca Students should also provide a PDF copy to each Supervisor or Co-supervisor and to the Unit* (cc Joelle Denomy-Hasilo on the email to thesis office) for distribution to oral defence committee members prior to the defence. Should any examiner require a hardcopy, the examiner should contact GPS directly. Students will receive a confirmation receipt of submission.

Oral Defence Committee Members of the Doctoral defence committee must hold a doctorate or equivalent. The Pro-Dean is appointed by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and serves as the chair of the committee, but is not a voting member. The committee is designed to ensure a majority of members have not been closely involved with thesis. The oral defence committee normally consists of five voting members. However, if three members are closely involved with thesis, a seven-member committee will be required (see definitions below): 5 Member committee: • • • Academic Unit Representative (Chair or delegate) Supervisor Internal Examiner Internal Member (or Co-supervisor as appropriate) External Member 7 Member Committee: • • Academic Unit Representative (Chair or delegate) Supervisor Internal Examiner Internal Member (or Co-supervisor as appropriate) External Member Closely involved with thesis If a member of the oral defence committee served on a student’s advisory committee or had any meaningful input into the body of work represented in thesis, the member is considered closely involved with thesis. Not closely involved with thesis If a member of the oral defence committee did not serve on a student’s advisory committee nor had any meaningful input into the body of work represented in thesis, the member is considered not closely involved with thesis

What’s the difference between the Internal/External “Examiners” vs. the Internal/External “Members”? ? What is she talking about? ? I already gave her those names!! I’m confused!!!

What’s the difference between the Internal/External “Examiners” vs. the Internal/External “Members”? ? Internal and External Examiners: • These people were chosen as examiners on your Nomination of Examiners form. They will read and submit a written evaluation to thesis office which will then be forwarded to the Oral Defence Committee when they are complete. The student will not see these reports until after the defence. The Internal Examiner will be present for the defence but not the External Examiner. Internal and External Members: • These people will read your thesis, be present at thesis defence, but will not have a written evaluation to complete. They are nominated to complete your Oral Defence Committee.

Setting up the Oral Defence When the Doctoral student initially submits thesis to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, an Oral Defence form is sent to the Unit* so that it can set up the oral defence committee and notify the Thesis Unit as to its membership and date of the oral defence. The Unit should arrange the defence and return the completed form, electronically, to GPS with a minimum four (4) weeks notice prior to the defence date. The Unit is responsible for confirming the defence date and providing PDF copies of thesis to every oral defence committee members. Should an oral defence committee member require a thesis hardcopy, the Unit should request one from the student. The Unit should refer to the following guidelines when inviting external examiners to the oral defence. GPS will secure a Pro-Dean who will chair the oral defence as a representative of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. GPS will inform the Unit and provide the Pro-Dean with a PDF copy of thesis, and the examiners’ reports.

Oral Defence Form and Committee About a week after your initial email, the Graduate Program Coordinator (Joelle) will receive your Oral Defence Form from the Thesis Office. On this form, a tentative date will be given as to when we can start scheduling the defence. You will then receive an email that looks similar to this:

Doctoral Oral Defence Procedure The oral defence proceeds in three parts: 1. without the student, ensuring that • The Committee is complete • The Defence will follow the Unit’s normal procedures for the order of questions, time allotted for each question and for subsequent rounds, and for the reading of the external examiner’s questions 2. The Pro-Dean chairs the “Public Session” (frequently held in another room) • Attendance by the public is under the control of the Pro-Dean, who must ensure good order throughout the examination • The Pro-Dean introduces the student • The student provides a 20 -minute summary of his/her thesis • The Committee asks questions as determined in the private session (usually 60 -90 minutes) • The Pro-Dean invites questions from the audience, taking Unit practice into account 3. The Oral Defence Committee meets privately (as briefly as possible) and without the student to evaluate thesis and defence. Normally, a consensus is reached; however, the Pro-Dean may call for a formal vote.

Final Thesis Submission The student must submit the final version of thesis electronically to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies within one month of the defense or by the deadline date for convocation posted on the web, whichever is sooner. The student will then be eligible to graduate. Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will inform the supervisor by email that thesis has been submitted and will provide instructions for how to approve the electronically submitted thesis or to indicate to the student that further amendment is required. It is the supervisor’s responsibility to ensure that the corrections to thesis have been made and that the submitted thesis conforms to requirements. Final e-Thesis submission is required for the final, corrected copy of thesis to GPS. Please note: You can submit your final e-thesis at anytime, but a final e-thesis will NOT be considered submitted to GPS until it has been approved online by the supervisor(s). Students are strongly encouraged to upload their final e-theses for online supervisor approval well in advance of the Deadline for Submission of Final Copies; otherwise the final e-thesis may be approved too late for the intended date of graduation.

e-Thesis For Students http: //www. mcgill. ca/gps/thesis/e-thesis/students On this page, you will find: • • • e-Thesis submission regulations & instructions Name & Title changes e-Thesis archive Complete step-by-step instructions Troubleshooting • When your supervisor(s) approves the e-thesis, an automatic e-mail will be sent to you. Once all supervisors have approved the e-thesis, GPS will review it and either approve or reject it. • If GPS rejects your e-thesis, you will receive an e-mail from GPS stating which changes need to be made. • If you would like, you can track the progress in Thesis Status by logging back into the e-Thesis Submission form on Minerva and viewing supervisor decisions. Once your thesis has been approved by GPS, however, you will no longer have access to the form.

All the links you’ll need! GPS Thesis: Main thesis webpage Guidelines: General requirements, Prep of a thesis, Initial e-thesis submission, Thesis examination, Doctoral defense, Final thesis submission Requirements: MSc Theses, Doctoral Theses, Research Ethics, Intellectual Property Preparation: Thesis Components, Length, Appendices, Thesis Format, Manuscript-Based Thesis Initial Thesis Submission: Initial Thesis Submission Deadlines, Initial e-Thesis Process, Forms for initial submission Initial Thesis Checklist Examination: General info, Thesis Examiners, Nominating examiners, Conflict of interest, Evaluation Oral Defence: Doctoral Oral Defense Committee, Doctoral defense procedure, postponement Final Thesis Submission Thesis Deadlines E-Thesis Student Instructions: