Submitting your thesis
Submitting your Thesis
Introduction
You have now finished writing up your thesis and are ready to submit – well done!
Please remember that the submission of your thesis is a formal process, just like sitting an examination. You need to take some time to familiarise yourself with the process you will need to follow when you are ready to submit your work. If you don’t submit in the correct way, and with the appropriate documents, it may be classed as a non-submission which could result in your withdrawal from the programme. If you are in any doubt as to the submission requirements, please speak to your School PGR Admin Team.
Covid-19 Impact Statement
The University realises that the Covid-19 pandemic (including consequent closures of campus and national and international lockdowns) has directly or indirectly impacted the work of many of our PGRs.
To acknowledge this, we have introduced Covid-19 Impact Statements that will allow you to describe any restrictions or difficulties experienced in undertaking your research as a result of Covid-19, and to provide details of any alternative arrangements made to complete your work.
It will allow you to provide a contextual overview to support your examiners’ understanding of any changes to the originally planned research activities, due to unforeseen circumstances caused by the pandemic.
Please see the Covid-19 Impact Statement Guidance for further information. A copy of the Covid-19 Impact Statement form can be found further below.
When you are ready to submit
At the point of submission, you must ensure you:
- Upload a PDF copy of the complete thesis to Turnitin. It is important to note that the thesis should only be uploaded to Turnitin once it is ready to be submitted as a final version, as it cannot be removed. If you need to submit a compressed version to Turnitin owing to file sizes, and you provide the School with a non-compressed version to send to the examiners, you must make this clear in your submission declaration.
- Complete and send the appropriate submission paperwork (see below) to your School PGR Admin Team by email.
- Submit any accompanying materials that need to be examined alongside the thesis to your School PGR Admin Team by email. If you have material that cannot be submitted via email (either because the file size is too large or because of the format of the material), please contact your School PGR Admin Team for advice. Please also make sure you make reference to any accompanying material in your submission declaration, to ensure your full submission is shared with the examiners.
If you do not submit in line with the University's requirements or submit on time, this may be classed as a non-submission and you risk being withdrawn from your programme For questions regarding the submission process, contact your School PGR Admin Team.
Forms
All relevant forms relating to the submission of your thesis, can be found in the table below.
Item |
Description |
|---|---|
| Research Degree Submission Forms |
This set of forms includes: Research Degree Coversheet and Candidate Declaration (to be completed by the PGR); Repository Form (to be completed by the PGR) - Although a copy of the thesis will be placed in the University's online repository at the point of award, section 10 of this form allows PGRs to place an embargo on their thesis so that it will not be available to the public for a period of time; Research Degree Supervisor Declaration (to be completed by the main supervisor) - Please note that this document is not 'permission' to submit, nor confirmation of suitability to submit. Thesis submission remains solely at the discretion of the PGR. It is the PGR's responsibility to ensure these forms are completed, with a handwritten signature where possible. |
| Turnitin submission receipt | To submit your thesis, please see the Turnitin Guidance section of the handbook. You will automatically receive a confirmation email to your University student account when you have successfully uploaded your work to Turnitin. A copy of this needs to be provided with your submission. |
| Joint authorship declaration | This must be completed by the PGR if submitting for the award of PhD by Publication. An email from a co-author confirming the percentage contributions will be accepted in place of a signature. |
| Covid-19 Impact Statement Form | This form should be completed by any students who wish to contextualise the way in which they have had to adapt their research in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. |
How to submit your Thesis
All versions of your thesis being put forward for final examination (either initial submission or after any amendments have been made), must be submitted to the PGR Thesis Submission Area in Turnitin, as part of the submission process.
Before submitting your thesis to Turnitin, please ensure you have read the guidance below:
- You can upload a copy of your thesis to the draft Turnitin submission area which can support you to identify where your work should be referenced or has been poorly paraphrased. The draft Turnitin area can be found on your School BrightSpace page – see your supervisor if you are unsure how to find this.
- Your work should be uploaded in pdf format.
- If you need to submit a compressed version to Turnitin owing to file sizes, and you provide the School with a non-compressed version to send to the examiners, you must make this clear in your submission declaration.
- Both the submission to Turnitin and the and the submission paperwork, form part of the University's requirements for submission. If you fail to supply either of these by the deadline, your work could be classed as a non-submission and withdrawn from your course.
- Once you have uploaded your thesis to Turnitin, no further changes to the work can be made. You should ensure that any proof-reading and supervisory review of the work is made in good time to meet your submission deadline.
- You must not submit a copy of your thesis direct to your examiner/s.
All other submission paperwork and accompanying files should be emailed to your School PGR Admin Team.
If you require any support with submitting your thesis, please speak to either your supervisor or your School PGR Admin Team.
What happens next?
Once your school PGR admin office has received your thesis and all the required paperwork, it will come to the central Registry Team who will oversee the examination phase. We will keep in touch with you throughout this process, starting with confirmation of when we receive your work. Please remember, if you do not have an examination team in place when you submit, your thesis cannot come to Registry as we are unable to start the process without the examiners in place and formally appointed.
The first stage of the examination process for all awards is a review of the Turnitin originality report. We will not send out your work to the examination team until the internal examiner has confirmed there is no cause to suspect research misconduct.
Under no circumstances should you contact the examination team direct before the examination; in the period between the first examination and any resubmission, if you need clarification of required amendments you should speak to Registry who can contact the examiners on your behalf.