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A thesis or a dissertation is the outcome of a substantial effort. Its content and style will reflect on you, faculty members who have guided your work, and on the University of Washington. Learn more about completing your Thesis / Dissertation
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A candidate must present a dissertation demonstrating original and independent investigation and achievement. A dissertation should reflect not only a mastery of research techniques, but also ability to select an important problem for investigation, and to deal with it competently.
Normally, a dissertation is written in the English language. However, if there are circumstances that warrant a dissertation be written in a foreign language, approval must be received from the Dean of the Graduate School via petition.
The Graduate School publishes online Format Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations and it is recommended that students read and familiarize themselves with the requirements before they begin to write a dissertation. A dissertation must meet these format requirements before being accepted by the Graduate School. Thesis/dissertation advisers are available in the Graduate School regarding specific questions not covered in the guidelines.
Part of the obligation of research is publication of the results and, in the case of doctoral research, this means microfilm publication of the dissertation. This is a Graduate School requirement, in addition to any previous or planned publication of any or all of a dissertation, and provides worldwide distribution of the work. A candidate signs a publication agreement when a dissertation is presented to the Graduate School. Publication in microfilm does not preclude other forms of publication.
The following required fees for microfilming a dissertation are paid at the Cashier’s Office, 129 Schmitz Hall. An itemized tuition statement indicating payment of the fees must be presented to the Graduate School when submitting the final documents. All fees are subject to change.
Total Mandatory Fees - $95
Optional copyright fee, an additional $65 (available only when an entire dissertation is microfilmed)
Optional open access, an additional $100 (available only when an entire dissertation is microfilmed)