Guidelines for Writing and Submitting Theses and Dissertations

 

*Writing a thesis or dissertation takes time for a quality product -- therefore leave plenty of time at the end of project, the writing end, for review and comments.If you decide that you can crank out five drafts in a week, each one followed by editing and comments of the committee, the project will undoubtedly not be successful

 

*You should assume that it will take at least two days, and preferably a week, turnaround time for comments

 

*You should maintain constant contact with your chair and committee members regarding their schedules -- your assumptions about the speed at which things might take place could be dramatically affected by the absence of committee members at conferences, workshops, illness, etc...

 

*Since there is often some confusion about the order of the process, let me review it:

 

*the student selects a chair of the committee, and after receiving his or her approval, either solicits from the chair or offers to the chair potential names of committee members.

 

*the student prepares a proposal which is first edited and approved by the chair, and then it goes to the other committee members.The proposal can be prepared prior to the completion of the committee selection, but the committee will need to be selected prior to proposal approval.

 

*After proposal approval (ideally), the student conducts the actual research

 

*the student writes the thesis or dissertation, maintaining contact with the other committee members regarding their progress, and soliciting comments and help when necessary.However, the thesis or dissertation draft must be approved of by the chair before it is time for the other committee members to offer their approval.This is not to say that the other committee members might not be reading drafts of the manuscript, but ultimately it must be approved by the chair before it moves forward to the next steps.

 

*Once all approvals have been received, a defense date is set upon consultation with the committee.It is the student=s responsibility to find a time when all committee members can meet.Ideally, that time will not be at 5:00 PM the last day it can be done within university guidelines.

 

*Committe members vary on their preferences of manuscript submission.For me, please submit hard copies only - papers sent electronically will not be accepted unless previously arranged through discussion

*Papers may be deposited in my mailbox in either the Research Laboratories of Archaeology office (Alumni Hall 108) or the Department of Anthropology Office (Alumni Hall 301) or the envelope that is on my office door (Alumni Hall 201-C)
 

*If this is a revision, please submit the previous drafts with the new draft so that I can consult the old drafts and comments
 

*Editing and comments take time -- pleaseleave at least two days, and preferably more than a week
 

*Related to the above, make sure you understand the schedule of your editors; they may be out of town or otherwise engaged at the time of your submission, necessitating longer submission times

 

*Please use 10-12 point type

 

*Use a spell check on the word processor prior to submission


 

*Please do not submit a manuscript with the preface AI know this is a really rough draft@ -- if it is that rough, it isn=t ready to submit

 

*Please use a style guide or a particular journal style for reference and manuscript style