Submit your thesis

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

• 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 and International Relations
• Politics, Economics and Philosophy
• Post-War Recovery Studies
• Psychology
• Railway Studies
• Sociology
• Women's Studies

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. 

PGRs who are also members of staff (not including GTAs)

If you are an academic, research or teaching member of staff (excluding GTAs and those on Marie Curie training positions) you must pay a fee when you submit your thesis for examination. This is to cover the appointment of two external examiners (see section 12 of the Policy on Research Degrees for full details). This fee is payable at the online store 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. You must submit by midnight (UK time) on the day of your deadline (or the next working day, where relevant, see above).

Late submission will result in a fail

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.

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.

It is your responsibility to ensure on-time submission of the correct documents

There is 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.

Uploads of large files can take time and be problematic, so you must allow at least three hours 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 document (eg an incomplete and/or earlier draft of your thesis);

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

c) you did not allow sufficient time (at least three hours) for the upload process; 

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

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.

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 six or three months (for MPhil/PhD/EngD students), or within two months (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. 

A re-submission 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.

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 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. The examiners may, in addition, require a ‘tracked changes’ version of your thesis.

You will normally need to submit three documents:

1. A 'clean' version with all changes accepted.
2. A document summarising the revisions you have made.
3. A version of your thesis with tracked changes. When saving a tracked document to PDF, ensure that 'document showing markup' is selected under 'options' - this should be the default setting.

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_RevisedThesisClean.pdf

File 2: Smith_123456789_RevisionsDocument.pdf

File 3: Smith_123456789_RevisedThesisTracked.pdf

NB 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_RevisedThesisTracked_1, Smith_123456789_RevisedThesisTracked_2, etc. 

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

Final checks

Before re-submitting your 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 re-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 twelve months (for MPhil/PhD/EngD students) or within three months (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 your thesis (and additional documents) 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 corrupted file

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

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 re-submit your 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 re-submission of theses).

HOW-TO: Electronically submitting your thesis

What happens once I have submitted my thesis for re-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 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.

Within six weeks after submission of the revised thesis, examiners may decide that an oral examination is not required. It is the responsibility of your internal examiner to communicate by the end of this period whether or not a second oral examination is needed.

You must upload one electronic copy of the thesis to White Rose eTheses Online (WREO). The electronic copy should 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

All theses deposited after examination are available in full for consultation and for reproduction (subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement) unless permission is granted for embargo and/or redaction.

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

1. intent to publish;
2. commercial sensitivity;
3. data protection compliance;
4. issues of health and safety;
5. unlicensed reproduction of third-party copyright material (copyright guidance is provided by the Library);
6. exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

A request for embargo or redaction may be made by you and/or your supervisor(s) and/or your funder, subject to a valid reason.

Any embargo period (counting from the date of the Award) should be as short as reasonably possible, ideally no more than 12 months. Where you have been in receipt of any UKRI money, the maximum embargo period is normally 12 months and a convincing case must be made for the approval of any longer embargo.

An embargo of up to 12 months (total period, including any extensions) can be approved by you and your supervisor(s). An embargo of between 13 and 24 months (total period, including any extensions) requires the additional approval of the Graduate Chair. An embargo of between 24 months and five years (total period, including any extensions), requires the additional approval of the Dean of YGRS.

You and your supervisor(s) are jointly responsible for adhering to any embargo or redaction terms agreed with the funder at the outset and/or facilitating reasonable requests from the funder for embargo or redaction once the thesis is finalised. 

Please read the policy on embargo and redaction for full details.

Practical guidance on uploading and requesting an embargoed or redacted thesis can be found in the Depositing your thesis guidance document and how to redact your thesis.

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

The University of York Library may incorporate metadata available on White Rose eTheses Online into public access catalogues to increase the visibility of the collection on the web.

If some of your research data is archived and shared in a data repository, you should record the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for your archived dataset in White Rose eTheses Online (WREO).

This action will enable others to access any related research data deposited and shared elsewhere.

The DOI (or, alternatively a URL) can be added in the Related URLs field: 

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The Research Data Management Guide provides guidance on archiving and sharing research data and the citing data section includes information on DOIs.