Graduate School Format Review & Policies

The NDSU Graduate School reviews the formatting of your disquisition as a penultimate step before it is published. Our goal is to ensure that the formatting of your disquisition matches the standard of quality present in its content and meets federal guidelines for digital accessibility; as a professional document, it's important that the formatting of your disquisition contributes to the readability--and citability--of your work.

All other steps required for graduation must be completed before the format review can begin (see: Master's, Doctoral). As you prepare to graduate in your final semester, be mindful of your submission deadlines.

The Format Review Process

Before you submit your disquisition to the Graduate School and begin the format review, your pre-submission requirements must be met and your disquisition should meet the formatting and construction requirements set out in our guidelines. Microsoft Word templates are available for you to use. Once you submit your disquisition, the Disquisition Coordinator will review it based on the Graduate School Format Guidelines and will send you a memo with any required changes.

On average, students require three reviews to complete the process. If you need assistance making your corrections, we encourage you to work with the Center for Writers and Instructional Design Center or use the help pages of our formatting wiki.

The Graduate School does not review disquisitions for their written content; as such, your disquisition must be complete, with all content edits finalized, before you begin the review process. If you make significant changes to the content of your disquisition after the initial review, your review will be delayed, and you may be required to restart the review process entirely, including paying the processing fee again.

Timelines & Deadlines

The volume of submissions increases dramatically near the submission deadline, and review turnaround time can exceed a week. Students require an average of three reviews to complete the format review process; therefore, we encourage you to begin the format review process early in your final semester and to allocate sufficient time to complete the process after you've submitted.

End-of-semester deadlines can be found on our front page and the NDSU Academic Calendar.

Help is Available: Review Meetings and Disquisition Workshops

In addition to the resources available to you on our website, we highly recommend attending a workshop or meeting with a consultant (or both!) before or during your format review. On average, students require three reviews to complete the process, whereas students who have attended a workshop or meeting with one of our consultants require one fewer review.

One-on-one meetings are available through the Center for Writers' scheduling portal and the Instructional Design Center's meeting request form. Please note there is a high demand for appointments after the semester’s submission deadline has passed, and availability may be limited. During a meeting, we will work with you directly to help you format your document and can answer any questions you may have regarding the format review process.

The Instructional Design Center also offers frequent workshops on formatting your disquisition. In the final month of a semester, the Center for Writers and Instructional Design Center co-host weekly walk-in workshops to help troubleshoot formatting issues; announcements with further details are made through the graduate student listserv and myNDSU.

Style Manuals

We highly encourage you to employ the style manual that is used in your field, such as MLA, APA, Chicago, IEEE, etc. However, in instances where the Graduate School guidelines conflict with the style manual for your discipline, the Graduate School guidelines take precedence. In instances where the Graduate School guidelines do not provide direction, such as how to format a table or figure, follow the style manual that is used in your discipline.

If you need help or more information about how to use style manuals, you can make an appointment with a graduate consultant at the Center for Writers through our scheduling portal. Additional resources are available on the front page of our website.

Copyright

Whenever possible, we encourage you to create and use your own figures, tables, and other content. However, you can include copyrighted material in your disquisition as long as you respect the rights of the copyright holders—even if it's your own published work. If you need to reproduce copyrighted material in your document, the process for obtaining permission is usually simple and straightforward.

  • Use of Copyrighted Material – You are responsible for the appropriate use and attribution of copyrighted materials in your disquisition. To better understand ownership, fair use, and your rights and protections, please refer to Copyright and Your Dissertation or Thesis by Kenneth Crews. For example, block quotes most often fall under fair use and do not require permission to reproduce them, whereas reproducing even a single image from a journal article does not fall under fair use.
  • Respecting Copyright – Reproducing copyrighted material without express written permission violates copyright law. Furthermore, some copyright holders require a specific form of acknowledgment or attribution within the document alongside the reproduced material. If you wish to reproduce material found in academic journals, you can often obtain a license to reproduce these copyrighted materials for free using an automated system from the publisher's website; for example, major publishers will have a link to "request permission" or "get license" on an article's webpage. Materials that have been published in open access formats often require the license the content was published under be included with the reproduced content (e.g. Creative Commons). If written permission to use copyrighted material is required, you are responsible for obtaining permission.
  • Copyright and Your Previously Published Work – If you include your previously published work as part of your disquisition, you need to ensure that the publisher has not placed restrictions on your right to reproduce or redistribute this work. This information can usually be found in the publisher’s author guidelines or in the publication contract or transfer agreement. While it's likely that you will have retained permission to reproduce your own work in your disquisition, there may still be additional requirements about how that work is reproduced or published, such as how or where it is attributed.
  • Protecting Your Own Copyright – You do not need to register for copyright to hold the copyright; your copyright is created automatically as soon as your work is published, and only in rare cases do we recommend filing for copyright when you submit your disquisition. If you received a stipend, salary, or financial support from NDSU, there may be restrictions on your ability to file for copyright for your disquisition (NDSU Policy Manual, Section 190). Additionally, if you received funding from sources outside of NDSU, you may have other restrictions on your ability to file for copyright for your disquisition imposed by your funding agency.

Copyright Resources

  • Copyright Center

    A centralized place for U.S.-based copyright-related information for teaching, research, and publication from the NDSU Library.

  • Copyright, Creative Commons and Fair Use Guidelines

    From the office of the Vice President for NDSU Agriculture

  • Copyright.com

    If you have reproduced images (or other material) from a published article, you will likely need to obtain permission for that content, such as a license. This process is free; use the link above to search for the article and request permission for your disquisition. Major publishers will also have links to obtain permission (licenses) directly on article webpages.

Co-authored Materials

If co-authored materials are included in your disquisition, a clear and complete description of your contribution must be included. No co-authored materials can be included in the disquisition if your contribution is modest, even though you may have been included as a co-author. The mandatory description of your role must be placed in a footnote, indicated at the chapter heading in which the co-authored material appears.

See an example of the mandatory note.

Previously Published Materials

The Graduate School encourages you to use materials you've submitted for publication or those that you've already published as an integral component of your disquisition.

When including previously published materials in your disquisition, you are still required to submit a document in a format that is consistent with the Graduate School Format Guidelines and respect any copyright restrictions to redistribute or reproduce your work.

Research Compliance (IRB, IACUC, and IBC)

The NDSU Policy Manual calls for ethical practices in research. See Section 348.

  • For information on research involving human subjects (IRB), see Section 345 of the policy manual.
  • For information on research involving animal welfare (IACUC), see Section 346 of the policy manual.
  • For information on research involving biosafety (IBC), see Section 347 of the policy manual.

After your supervisory committee has finalized your research design, you must submit the appropriate forms to the IRB, IACUC, or IBC for review. You must receive research approval before you begin the research.

If your research involves the use of human or animal subjects or biohazardous substances and you do not have the requisite IRB, IACUC, or IBC approval, your disquisition will not be accepted by the Graduate School. IRB, IACUC, and IBC approval cannot be obtained retroactively.

At the time of your final defense, all students must submit the IRB/IACUC/IBC Compliance Notification form to the Graduate School, regardless of whether you used human or animal subjects in your research.

Note: For the security of your personal identity, do not include in your disquisition the IRB/IACUC/IBC Compliance Notification form or any other paperwork containing your student ID number or other personally identifying information, such as your phone number or email address.

Editing

As the author of your disquisition, you alone hold the final responsibility for ensuring your document is compliant with the Graduate School Format Guidelines. You are welcome to consult with or hire an outside editor to review your disquisition, such as for content or proofreading. Hiring an editor is not required for submission to the Graduate School or the format review process.

File Format

Disquisitions must be submitted as a single PDF (.pdf). Disquisitions that are submitted in other file types (including .doc, .docx, and so on) will not be reviewed until they are submitted as a PDF.

We recommend that you write your document in Microsoft Word. You are welcome to use a different software program; for example, LaTeX submissions require roughly one fewer review than average, but if you are not familiar with the markup language, you may have difficulty trying to correct complex issues during the format review. As the author of your document, you are solely responsible for the content and formatting of your document.

If you need help with using Microsoft Word, contact the Instructional Design Center (IDC). You can use the walk-in consulting service located in QBB 150, or you can find resources on their website. You can also review our “Navigating the Format Review Process” video playlist on the GPS Academy YouTube channel. The playlist contains eight videos: one about the format review process, six that are a “Word Crash Course” demonstrating formatting tips, and one is an overview and demonstration of using our Word templates.

Center for Writers

Email: ndsu.cfw@ndsu.edu Phone: (701) 231-7927 Campus location: Library 16 Contact Page Manager