Submit your thesis

Intention to Submit

You must consult your supervisor before submitting a thesis for examination. You should complete the Notification of intention no less than two months before you plan to submit your thesis:

Intention to Submit form

It is crucial that you complete the form in good time before you expect to submit. You do not need to be over exact in calculating your submission date, provided that you adhere to your deadline for submission.

All PGRs who started on or before 31 March 2021 and will submit from 30 December 2020 onwards will have the option of submitting a short Covid impact statement to give contextual information about the effect of the Covid-19 restrictions on their research project/thesis. 

Students who are also members of staff

PGRs who are also members of staff employed at Grade 7 or above should be aware that they will have to pay a fee when they submit their thesis for examination. This is to cover the need to appoint two external examiners (see the Policy on Research Degrees for full details). This fee is payable through the online store and must be done so prior to submission.

Final checks

Before submitting your thesis you should check carefully that it is the version you wish to be examined, and that it contains no accidental errors or omissions. Please note that it is not normally possible to retrieve your thesis from PGR Administration once it has been submitted.

Your thesis should be presented in accordance with the University’s requirements, and may not be accepted for examination if it does not. Read how to format your thesis carefully, and in good time before your submission.

You can see your submission deadline in your e:Vision account.

Deadlines on non-working days

If your deadline falls on a non-working day (a weekend, English Bank Holiday, or University closure day), you may submit on the next working day.

Time of deadline

You must submit by midnight (UK time) on the day of your deadline (or the next working day, where relevant - see above). 

However, please note that there will be no administrative or technical support outside of normal working hours. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to submit before 5pm on the day of your deadline, and if you decide to submit after 5pm, you do so at your own risk.

Since uploads of large files can take time, we also recommend that you allow at least 30 minutes for the upload process. Please note: the absolute deadline is midnight, and if the upload is started before midnight and completes after midnight, it will be counted as late.

Please note that the following will not be considered as acceptable grounds for a late submission:

a) you submit the wrong file type or a corrupted file;

b) you did not allow sufficient time (at least 30 minutes) for the upload process; or

c) you claim technical issues on behalf of the University without proof of an error message / system failure on the University network.

There is no flexibility with the deadline, and submissions received at any point after midnight (ie date-stamped the following day) will be counted as late and will normally result in an automatic fail.

You need to submit your thesis to PGR Administration via the University's Deposit drop-off service.

HOW-TO: Electronically submitting your thesis

What happens once I have submitted my thesis for examination?

PGR Administration will forward your thesis to your examiners. If you are a PhD, MPhil or EngD student, your department will then contact you, if it has not already done so, to arrange the oral examination. An oral examination may also be required for MA or MSc (by Research) students; your department will be able to advise.

If you are resubmitting your thesis following a revise and resubmit outcome ('referral'), please see the relevant section below.

If you receive a revise and resubmit outcome at your first examination, you will need to submit a revised version of your thesis and other documentation to PGR Administration by the deadline given in the correspondence you receive formally confirming the outcome of your examination.

In addition to your revised thesis, you must submit a document which details how the revised thesis addresses the points raised by your examiners in the corrections/revisions form. The examiners may specify, in the corrections/revisions form, a particular format for this response (eg an annotated thesis).

If not, then the format of the document is at your discretion and should be chosen to best reflect the changes made. The document should be sufficiently detailed (including examples where relevant) to show clearly where and how all the points in the corrections/revisions form have been addressed.

A re-examination fee is payable through the online store in advance of submission. Your thesis will not be accepted for
re-examination until this fee has been paid.

The month/year of submission remains the month/year in which the thesis was first submitted for examination.

You need to submit three documents: 

1. A version of your thesis with tracked changes*; 
2. A ‘clean’ version with all corrections accepted; 
3. And a document summarising the corrections you’ve made. 

All three documents should be submitted as .pdf files and named using the following format:

<Student Surname>_<Student Number>_<Description>.<File Extension>

Eg

File 1: Smith_123456789_CorrectedThesisTracked.pdf

File 2: Smith_123456789_CorrectedThesisClean.pdf

File 3: Smith_123456789_CorrectionsSummary.pdf

N.B. Where files need to be split across multiple drop offs due to size, use “_1”, “_2”, at the end of the file name to differentiate between files, eg Smith_123456789_CorrectedThesisTracked_1, Smith_123456789_CorrectedThesisTracked_2, etc. 

*When saving a tracked .doc(x) document to .pdf, ensure that 'Document showing markup' is selected under 'Options' - this should be the default setting. 

Final checks

Before submitting your corrected thesis you should check carefully that it is the version you wish to be reviewed, and that it contains no accidental errors or omissions. Please note that it is not normally possible to retrieve your thesis from PGR Administration once it has been submitted.

Your thesis should be presented in accordance with the University’s requirements, and may not be accepted for examination if it does not. Read how to  carefully, and in good time before your submission.

Submission must take place within three months (for MPhil/PhD/EngD students) or within one month (for MA/MSc by Research students) of the date on which you were notified of your corrections by PGR Administration.

Late submission constitutes failure of your degree. In cases where exceptional circumstances exist, you may apply for an extension to your submission deadline in advance of your deadline; a pending extension request is not sufficient.

Deadlines on non-working days

If your deadline falls on a non-working day (that is: a weekend, English Bank Holiday, or University closure day), you may submit on the next working day.

Time of deadline

You must submit by midnight (UK time) on the day of your deadline (or the next working day, where relevant - see above). 

However, please note that there will be no administrative or technical support outside of normal working hours. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to submit before 5pm on the day of your deadline, and if you decide to submit after 5pm, you do so at your own risk.

Since uploads of large files can take time, we also recommend that you allow at least 30 minutes for the upload process. Please note: the absolute deadline is midnight, and if the upload is started before midnight and completes after midnight, it will be counted as late.

Please note that the following will not be considered as acceptable grounds for a late submission:

a) you submit the wrong file type or a corrupted file;

b) you did not allow sufficient time (at least 30 minutes) for the upload process; or

c) you claim technical issues on behalf of the University without proof of an error message / system failure on the University network.

There is no flexibility with the deadline, and submissions received at any point after midnight (i.e. date-stamped the following day) will be counted as late and will normally result in an automatic fail.

You need to submit your corrected thesis to PGR Administration via the University's Deposit drop-off service. Full instructions can be found in the following guide (although note the file naming requirements are for submitting your thesis for examination - see the 'What do I need to submit?' section above for the naming conventions required for submission of corrected theses).

HOW-TO: Electronically submitting your thesis

What happens once I have submitted my thesis for review?

PGR Administration will forward your corrected thesis to the examinar responsible for reviewing your corrections (normally the internal examiner). Your examiner will check that you have completed your corrections to their satisfaction and then notify PGR Administration. On receiving confirmation of satisfactory completion of corrections, PGR Administration will invite you to formally deposit your thesis with the University. The instructions about depositing your thesis can be found in the section below, but please do not follow them until you have been formally invited to deposit. 

You must upload one electronic copy of the thesis to White Rose Etheses Online. The electronic copy shall be in pdf format (or other format acceptable to the University and appropriate to the medium). PGR Administration will advise you of any required amendments to the layout.

Depositing your digital thesis

The name of your department or centre must be used on title page. The name must appear exactly as follows:

You should not include 'Department of', 'School of' or 'Centre for'

• Archaeology
• Arts and Creative Technologies
• Biology
• Business and Society
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Conservation Studies
• Economics and Related Studies
• Education
• English and Related Literature
• Environment and Geography
• Health Sciences
• History
• History of Art
• Language and Linguistic Science
• Law
• Mathematics
• Medieval Studies
• Philosophy
• Physics, Engineering and Technology
• Politics
• Politics, Economics and Philosophy
• Post-War Recovery Studies
• Psychology
• Railway Studies
• Sociology
• Women's Studies

After you have met the requirements for depositing your thesis, you will receive formal notification of the award of your degree from PGR Administration. Your degree cannot be awarded until you have met these requirements. 

All theses deposited by candidates for research degrees after examination, in printed or electronic form, are available for consultation and for reproduction (subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement).

The following applies to all theses deposited on or after the 1 September 2021. For any queries about theses deposited prior to this date, please email pgr-examinations@york.ac.uk. Further information may be found in the Policy on Research Degrees.

A thesis may be withheld or made available in redacted form for the following reasons:

• intent to publish;
• commercial sensitivity;
• data protection compliance;
• issues of national security
• issues of health and safety;
• third-party copyright infringement, or;
• exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

See guidance on redaction and embargo issues and how to redact your thesis. Guidance on uploading and requesting an embargoed or redacted thesis can be found in the Depositing your thesis guidance document.

With the approval of their supervisor(s), (following all appropriate considerations, including any potential intellectual property issues and with reference to Research Data Management expectations and guidelines) a thesis may be embargoed, subject to a valid reason as set out above, for a maximum period as set out in the terms and conditions of the party responsible for funding the PGR's research, if agreed by all parties at the outset. The PGR and their supervisor(s) are jointly responsible for adhering to the funder’s terms and conditions.

If there are no funder terms and conditions, then a thesis may be embargoed, subject to a valid reason as set out above, for:

(i) up to 12 months from the date of Award with the approval of the PGR and their supervisor(s),
(ii) between 13 and 36 months (36 months being the maximum) from the date of Award with the approval of the PGR, their supervisor(s) and the Graduate Chair.

Extension to an embargo

An extension which takes the total period of embargo to a maximum of 12 months can be approved by the PGR and their supervisor(s); an extension which takes the total period of embargo to 13-16 months must also be approved by the Graduate Chair. Lifting an embargo in advance of the set date requires the consent of the PGR and their supervisor(s). 

Permanent embargo

A thesis may be permanently embargoed in the following circumstances: (i) contractual agreement with an external sponsor; (ii) issues of national or personal security, or (iii) when requested by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research for a breach of the Code of Practice on Research Integrity. All requests for permanent embargo must be made to PGR administration, who will put these to the Standing Committee on Assessment for consideration.

Redaction

With the approval of their supervisor(s), subject to a valid reason as set out above, a PGR may deposit a redacted version of the thesis, with the examined (unredacted) copy held by the University. Redaction for third-party copyright infringement will be indefinite unless notification of clearance is received. If you wish to submit a redacted thesis, please contact PGR Administration in advance of deposit.

For any queries regarding embargo or redaction, please email pgr-examinations@york.ac.uk.