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Instructions for the Preparation of Electronic Theses, Project Reports, and Dissertations (ETDs)

At the present time, ETDs must be submitted in Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format). Documents may also be submitted in html format, and some authors may prefer to have this version displayed on the Michigan Tech ETD Web site; however, a PDF version is required from everyone submitting an ETD. This temporary system may be redundant, but it has been adopted to ensure optimal protection of your work.

ETD’s must have adequate links and bookmarks to facilitate easy navigation throughout the document. Files without bookmarks and links will not be accepted.

If you choose to submit an ETD, we strongly recommend that you assume direct responsibility for reformatting the document into Adobe PDF and for checking the reformatted document for accuracy. Adobe Acrobat has an ETD Tutorial that may be helpful.

Contents of this document

• The student’s responsibilities
• Some requirements for ETDs
• Proprietary Content
• Formatting PDF versions
• Signatures
• List of files, naming of files, & multiple files
• List of file formats
• Linking files
• Copyright
• Formatting html Versions
• Approved multimedia enhancement formats
• Simple & complex objects
• Color vs. black-and-white
• Some general hints and guidelines for preparing ETDs
• UMI Publishing Guidelines
• ETD Hints and Guidelines from other Universities
• PDF Information and Hints from Adobe Acrobat
• Approved Formats for Optional Multimedia Enhancements

It is the student’s fundamental responsibility to—

• Prepare and submit an ETD version of the document as defended;
• Properly embed fonts;
• Test the ETD to ensure that fonts and graphics display clearly and properly on a monitor when accessed;
• Test all links to ensure that the ETD can be readily navigated whether it is composed of a single or multiple files; and
• Test to be sure that the printed PDF version will be clear and legible, including any figures or images.

Some requirements for ETDs

• Compression or password protection must not be used.
• All fonts used should be embedded in the document. If they are not, your work may not display properly when accessed, and the text may not be fully searchable.
• Either external or internal links to multimedia files are acceptable. If such elements are used, file formats should be identified in the abstract.
• Only selected multimedia file formats are automatically approved for inclusion (see list below).
• Paper copies of the Title Page and Abstract as well as paper copies of any reprint permission letters and any required third-party software licenses must accompany all dissertation ETDs and any theses which the author wishes to submit to UMI.
• ETDs may be submitted on CD or via Blackboard should be hand-delivered to the Graduate School Office.
• Any player, reader or application required to display, play, or read the document must be free ware or licensed third party software, available on the submitted removable digital media and fully licensed to be copied and installed on a reader's machine.
• The textual portion of the ETD must be submitted in PDF format. The text will be migrated to maintain availability into the future. Because of this, we require the portable document file (PDF) format. This format can provide consistent reproduction in a variety of formats, print or electronic, which HTML cannot provide.

Proprietary Content—A thesis, report, or dissertation may sometimes contain information of a proprietary nature. The Graduate School will generally honor a written request to hold a thesis or dissertation for a period of up to six months before releasing it for publication and archiving in the University Libraries. Prior written approval of the dean of the Graduate School is required.

Formatting PDF versions—Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) software essentially prepares a page-oriented electronic document. What you see on the monitor and what you print out on paper should be formatted in standard 8½ x 11” page size. Owing to this fundamental page orientation and also to keep requirements specific to ETDs as simple as possible, the student should maintain the same formatting for both the version to be printed and bound and the ETD, with a few exceptions...

Signatures—NO signatures are to be reproduced in ETDs because they would then be available on the Web. Therefore, the solid lines for signatures (but not the titles of the persons signing) should be deleted from the signature page.

• TYPE the author's name and the date on the abstract page;
• TYPE the names of the Advisor / Co-Advisors of the thesis or dissertation, the name of the department chair, and the names of the committee on the signature page.

List of files—Add a page containing an ordered List of files that comprise your ETD immediately after the list of figures (if you have figures), and just prior to the body of the text. The list should include the name of each file, the file type (.pdf, .gif, etc.), and the size of the file.

Naming of files—To avoid possible cross-platform problems and difficulties in future archival processes, the file names of all the files comprising an ETD must follow the DO+3 naming convention: abcdefgh.xyz. Use English letters and Arabic numbers only; no extra punctuation or diacritical marks or spaces are allowed. For example, JJSthes.pdf, not John Smith Thesis.pdf; Chapt2.pdf, not Chapter 2.pdf; Fig04.jpg, not Figure 4.jpg.

Multiple files—We recommend that you name files so that a computer will sort them in some logical manner. For example, each file name can begin with a 1- or 2-digit number, depending on how many files you have, to ensure they will sort logically: 01Abstr.pdf, 02Prelim.pdf, 03Lists.pdf, 04Chap1.pdf, …, 09Append.pdf, then any optional external multimedia files, and so forth.

List of file formats—If multimedia elements are used in the document, UMI requires a list of the file formats used to be included in the abstract. If applicable, add this listing to the Abstract prior to the author name and date. For example: Multimedia Elements Used: JPEG (.jpg); Apple Quick Time (.mov); WAV (.wav).

Linking files—Many people recommend submitting the full text of an ETD as a single PDF file. For longer ETDs, one very large file can become cumbersome to work with. If you choose to submit your ETD as a set of PDF files, you must include (and test) sufficient navigational links so that the reader can readily move from one file to another without having to close out one file in Acrobat and then open the next PDF file.

Copyright—In any work, copyright implicitly devolves to the author of that work whether or not you state so. Copyright arises automatically when a work is first fixed in a tangible medium such as a book or manuscript or in an electronic medium such as a computer file or email. To make your ownership of the work clearer, however, the Graduate School recommends that a copyright notice be placed centered at the bottom of the abstract title page and the document title page: for example, Copyright © John J. Smith 2001. Because of the high visibility of an ETD, we recommend that you place this or a similar copyright statement (e.g., Copyright 2001, John J. Smith) at several unobtrusive places in the body of the thesis, report, or dissertation—the bottom line on the last page of each chapter is one possible location.

Formatting html Versions—Clearly, physical formatting requirements for ETDs in html format make less sense than for PDF format because html is not a page- and print-oriented system; it is a more truly electronic approach. The six formatting exceptions listed above for ETDs in PDF format, however, also apply for html versions.

Approved multimedia enhancement formats—Multimedia objects include tables, complex equations, graphs, diagrams, digital pictures, digital video, digital audio, virtual reality, and even computer software that you have developed.

Please note that when UMI prepares and sells a paper copy of your dissertation, only the printable portion is provided to a customer. An ETD must be carefully prepared with this in mind.

The ETD must be written so that all of the important information is contained in the body of the basic PDF and html documents. For example, images can be inserted into the document in PDF format, with links to higher-resolution or enhanced GIF or JPEG versions.

Inclusion of enhanced multimedia elements in the basic PDF or html document is optional. Owing to the large number of formats available for various multimedia enhancements, the fact that they quickly rise and fall in popularity, and the difficulty inherent in long-term archiving and migrating of these formats as softwares evolve and change, only selected multimedia elements are automatically approved for inclusion in ETDs. These are shown in the list at the end of these instructions. The list of approved formats will undoubtedly change as time goes on.

A word of caution: There is some higher level of long-term risk associated with the inclusion of multimedia enhancements. The University will make every attempt to migrate the file formats listed below indefinitely, but their preservation cannot be guaranteed. There are essentially three levels of commitment the University has made in regard to the long-term archiving of ETDs: (1) A very strong commitment to migrate the body of the work in the basic PDF or html format, much the same as that for the paper copies that have been submitted for decades. We will do everything possible to ensure long-term availability. (2) A strong commitment to migrate the added multimedia elements in the formats that have been approved. (3) Little or no commitment to migrate any non-approved multimedia formats. These are included at the author's risk. A student who wishes to include an optional multimedia enhancement in a non-approved format must submit a written request for permission to do so to the Graduate School before submitting the document.

Simple & complex objects—Most simple objects like tables, graphs, and diagrams can be embedded in your ETD using your word processor.

• Put the object at the point of reference or “ float” it to the top or bottom of the page or to the top of the next page.
• Give the object a concise, descriptive title, for example,

Figure 1.4. Example Multimedia Object (GIF, 32k)

More complex multimedia objects require special treatment. They either do not fit naturally on a page or the file size is too large to fit reasonably within a document. For complex objects, do the following:

Place the type and number of the object, along with a concise, descriptive title, centered on a line by itself. In parentheses, include the media encoding (e.g., JPEG) and file size (e.g., 1.5 Megabytes).

Be sure to submit each multimedia object file you have linked when you submit your PDF file.

Note that many complex multimedia object types have a simple object version (often called a “thumbnail”) that is a reduction of the picture or one frame of video. If possible, we recommend that you include this reduction in the main document along with a PDF link to the complex object.

Quality of graphics

• Poor quality image scans are unacceptable.
• Digital reproductions of images (computer scans) should be sufficiently legible on screen when zoomed in on and / or produce legible laser print copies a00 dpi. The committee and student may decide the necessary level of detail, so long as the above requirements are met.
• Poor quality screen fonts are unacceptable, usually produced by improper document conversion.

Color vs. black-and-white

• Images and illustrative text in an ETD may be in black-and-white or color. Keep in mind that maximum clarity for microfilming and duplicating is attained when there is good black-and-white or color palette contrast.
• Color photographs should be used when they are essential for understanding the methods or results of the research.
• If color photographs are used, appropriate labels must be provided to assist the readers of reproduced copies, which are made in black-and-white.
• Do not use only different colors to distinguish multiple lines in a plot or figure. Use lines that are segmented in various ways or data points of different shapes.

Some general hints and guidelines for preparing ETDs

Color—Color can add vitality to an ETD. Remember, however, that an ETD is a scholarly document. Please, no orange text on a lime-green background unless this is intrinsic to the creative nature of the work itself. Note that problems can be encountered when colored material is printed on a black-and-white printer or copier; some colors may no longer be distinguishable, especially if the printer/copier is set to a high-contrast mode. Some colors may be so light as to be illegible after printing or in a photocopy. In particular, when UMI prepares a microform or paper version of your ETD, colors are lost; the readability may also be lost.

Bells-and-Whistles— Avoid use of flashing text, animated areas, and “dramatic” sound clips (tadaa!) in your ETD unless they are intrinsic to the nature of the work. Some adornments can certainly have a dramatic effect and catch the reader's attention, but these cannot be used as a substitute for, nor overshadow the content of, the document. An ETD is fundamentally a scholarly document.

Put it all in the text—It is especially important to include all of the critical information in your thesis or dissertation in the body of the text in the case of an ETD. This imposes a somewhat increased burden on the author who chooses to use multi-media to explain or summarize in words all the important material in the work. For example, for a linked image file do not simply say, “Figure 2 shows the changes in…” Note or summarize what the important changes are. For an audio or video file, summarize the broad, important features of what would be displayed or heard. For data and calculated quantities in a linked spreadsheet that the reader can manipulate, it might be desirable to duplicate some or all of the information or embedded equations in a table or appendix in text format.

Navigational aids—To assist the reader in readily navigating your ETD document, you must build sufficient internal navigational aids into your work. This can be done by adding internal links to the first page of each chapter, to other major parts listed in the Table of Contents, to each figure and table from the List of Figures/Tables, etc. Use of Adobe Acrobat's “Bookmarks” feature is a particularly easy way to include navigational links.

If you have used any one of several modern word processors, including Microsoft Word, to create your document, if you have used your word processor’s style sheet consistently in formatting your document, and if you have had it generate the table of contents and lists of figures, Acrobat can automatically generate links and bookmarks.

The creator of a PDF document can add additional bookmarks in an existing PDF document, to another PDF document, or to a Web page. We encourage the use of all available options in Adobe Acrobat Exchange. Your ETD will be easier to view and browse and will encourage users to navigate through your entire ETD. Some of these include...

• Adding Links from the Table of Contents (required)
• Adding Links to the Table of Contents
• Adding Bookmarks (required)
• Adding Thumbnails
• Adding Yellow Stickies
• Adding Links to the List of Figures and Tables
• Inserting Multi-media Objects
• Linking to Internal and/or external Multimedia Objects
• Adding Hyperlinks

Helpful submission hints

• Check your PDF files for missing pages, poor font translation, and other anomalies.
• Check the content and style of abstracts, tables of contents, and lists of tables and illustrations. Be sure that all information contained in your contents pages is accurate (e.g., that Chapter 2 begins on page 35 if that is what is specified in your table of contents).
• Make sure that all materials in your appendix are readable and in an approved style.
• Check to be sure that all your pages are numbered correctly.
• Be sure that your document has been adequately proofread and is in a good state of finish. Remember that your document represents the University, your department, and your advisor, as well as you and your work.

UMI Publishing Guidelines—The University sends a copy of all doctoral dissertations, but not master's theses or project reports, to UMI to be “published”: UMI prints the abstract in Dissertation Abstracts International, and sells copies of the dissertation to the public in paper, microform, and electronic format. At this time, UMI will accept ETDs only in Adobe PDF.

UMI makes available a brochure entitled “Publishing Your Dissertation” that contains, among other items, a “Doctoral Dissertation Agreement Form” and some helpful hints on preparing your dissertation.

Every Michigan Tech doctoral student receives a copy of this document attached to their D5/Degree Schedule. Single printed copies are available from the Graduate School Office (4^th Floor, Administration Building), by calling UMI (800-521-0600 x 7020), or by using UMI's electronic order form: http://www.umi.com/umi/dissertations/.

ETD Hints and Guidelines from other Universities

A number of universities have been accepting ETDs for several years now and have developed extensive Web sites with information about and instructions for preparing them. We urge you to review some of these Web sites.

Virginia Tech has been the national leader in ETDs. They were the first university to require that all students submit >ETDs, beginning in 1997. Their ETD Web site (http://etd.vt.edu/) is extensive. It includes a tutorial on how to configure Microsoft Word to thesis format requirements, which includes actual pictures of on-screen menus and dialog screens. West Virginia University was the second educational institution to require that all students submit an ETD. After only one year’s pilot project, it became mandatory in Fall 1998. They accept ETDs only in PDF format. Their Electronic Theses and Dissertations page http://www.wvu.edu/%7Ethesis/ contains extensive information including a link to their Preparing and Submitting ETDs page.

The University of Texas-Austin now requires that all doctoral students who will graduate after the Spring 2001 Semester submit an electronic dissertation. Their Electronic Dissertations page http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/etd/index.html includes links to reasonable tutorials on creating PDF documents from Word, WordPerfect, and postscript documents whether you are using Microsoft Windows or Macintosh. It also includes instructions for handling images, tables, and graphs in PDF.

The University of Georgia’s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation page ( http://www.gradsch.uga.edu/For_Students/Enrolled_Students/etd.html ) includes a link to an interesting site from which you can download free Alladin Ghostscript software that they claim can create a PDF document in Windows, Macintosh, or Unix systems as easily as Adobe Acrobat. They also advise installing GSView software, which is the graphical interface for Ghostscript, after the latter is installed.

PDF Information and Hints from Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Systems Incorporated is the company that produces and sells Adobe Acrobat, the proprietary software used to produce documents in PDF. Free technical information is available on the Adobe Web site, including:

• Acrobat tips for educators
• Acrobat Q & A http://www.adobe.com/products/adobemag/archive/qaacro.html

A distinction needs to be made between the full Adobe Acrobat suite, which permits the preparation and editing of PDF documents (and must be purchased), and the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which only permits the reading and printing of documents already in PDF format (and is available free for download onto your computer).

Approved Formats for Optional Multimedia Enhancements

Images

• PDF (.pdf) use Type I PostScript fonts
• CompuServe GIF (.gif)
• JPEG (.jpg); also requires the TIFF file
• TIFF following versio.0 or later, including CCITT G4 (.tif)
• CGM Computer Graphics Metafile (.cgm)
• PhotoCD
• Adobe Photoshop (.ppd)
• Post Script (.eps)
• PowerPoint (.ppt)
  (Recommend a minimum resolution o00 dpi for images of pages with text, and suggest that imbedded images be available in several possible resolutions)

Video

• Apple Quick Time (.mov)
• Microsoft Audio Video Interleaved (.avi)
• MPEG (i.e., MPEG-1, MPEG-2) (.mpg)

Audio

• AIF (.aif)
• CD-DA
• CD-ROM/XA (A or B or C)
• MIDI (with timing information) (.midi)
• MPEG-2 (.mpg)
• WAV (.wav)
• SND (.snd)

Special

• Spreadsheet - Excel (.xls)
• AutoCAD (.dxf)
• ArcView (GIS)

Referring

• "Handles" such as URNs (URLs do not last very long and are discouraged)
• ISBN, ISSN