Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3341 - Bowling Green State University › Chapter 3341-3 - Graduate and Under-Graduate Policies › Section 3341-3-20 - Thesis/dissertation- graduate

Current through all regulations passed and
			 filed through July 1, 2024
(A)
								Policy statement
			 and purpose
This policy describes
				thesis/dissertation policies and procedures.
(B)
								Policy
(1)
									
			 Thesis/dissertation
A thesis is required under plan i for
				the degrees of master of arts, master of education, master of fine arts, master
				of food and nutrition, master of public administration, master of science, and
				master of science in criminal justice or master of technology management. A
				thesis may be required for the degree of master of music, depending on the
				field.
The thesis topic should arise out of
				the student's personal exploration in the field of study. The formal petition
				for approval of the thesis topic must clearly set forth the problem, the
				intended organization, and the methods of development of the thesis. After
				approval by the student's committee and graduate coordinator, the thesis topic
				must be filed with the student's department and the petition of topic approval
				submitted to the graduate college.
A preliminary draft of the completed
				thesis (defined as a manuscript that answers the stated problem) should be
				submitted to the thesis committee by the time a student files the application
				for graduation. The final draft of the thesis (defined as the thesis manuscript
				with content embodying all corrections requested by the committee) should be
				submitted to the thesis committee sufficiently prior to the date set for the
				final examination to allow for a rigorous and careful reading of the manuscript
				by the committee.
Doctoral students must submit a request
				for dissertation topic approval to the graduate college on the
				thesis/dissertation topic approval form. Approval of the topic by the graduate
				college admits the student to doctoral candidacy. To be eligible for candidacy,
				the student must have a GPA of 3.2 or higher, have completed any foreign
				language requirements, where required, and have passed the preliminary
				examinations.
The results of the final examination
				(e.g., dissertation defense) for the doctoral degree must be received in the
				graduate college by the published deadlines each semester. The graduate college
				expects that the official university copy of the submitted manuscript will be
				error-free and ready for publication on "OhioLINK.''Students who upload
				manuscripts that are not error-free are in danger of a delayed graduation
				date.
The graduate council approved the
				implementation of electronic submission of theses and dissertations beginning
				with Fall 2005 for all graduate programs. With the exception of theses written
				in the MFA program in creative writing, paper copies are no longer accepted by
				the graduate college.
Advantages of electronic
				submissions:
(a)
										Accessibility of research. More researchers will read
			 them - up until Fall 2005, BGSU theses were only available as one bound paper
			 copy on the library shelves. It can take six months for a thesis to reach the
			 library shelves after approval. While that one copy is checked out, no one else
			 can use it.
(b)
										Expanding the horizon of research possibilities through
			 use of video, audio and other multi-media tools.
(c)
										Development of
			 electronic publishing skills.
(d)
										Recognition for
			 authors, departments, faculty members and the universityas works are made
			 widely available.
(e)
										Reduction of cost to the student, the graduate college,
			 the library and the researcher.
(f)
										Decrease in
			 academic dishonesty based upon the ease of detection through electronic term
			 and phrase search capability.
This web site contains a resource for
				master's and doctoral students who are preparing electronic theses and
				dissertations for submission to the BGSU graduate college and OhioLINK ETD
				database.