Submit your Thesis

All graduate students must submit the final version of their thesis online using uO Research within 30 days of their defence.

You must have email confirmation from your Academic Unit before submitting your thesis to uO Research.

Step 1: Before submitting to uO Research

uOttawa students
  • Log into uoZone
  • Submit your thesis for your Thesis Supervisor's and Academic Unit's approval by using the service request "Approval of the final version of the thesis"
    • Optional embargo request - If you need to delay online access to your thesis, you must also complete and sign an Embargo Request Form (PDF) and submit it with your thesis using the same service request as above. See below for details about thesis embargoes.
  • You will receive an email from your Academic Unit confirming that your service request has been approved.
  • Proceed to Step 2 : Prepare your Thesis

If you submit your thesis to uO Research before receiving email confirmation from your Academic Unit and before preparing it according to Step 2, your thesis will be returned to you until these steps are complete.

Saint Paul students

You must email the completed and signed forms to Etudes.Sup-Grad.Studies@ustpaul.ca:

Step 2: Prepare your Thesis

Library and Archives Canada’s Theses Canada program requires that theses be formatted and named as outlined here below so that they may be included their online collection.

See the uO Research Thesis Collection for examples of formatting, pagination, file naming, etc.

Title Page:
  • Include your full name as it appears in uoCampus. Contact the Registrar through InfoService if you would like to change how your name appears in uoCampus.
  • Include a copyright statement indicating the year of your online submission to uO Research.
  • Example: © Maria Garcia Hernandez, Ottawa, Canada, 2018
  • Download a formatted title page template.
Pagination:
  • Make sure your document has no blank pages.
  • Leave the page number off the title page but count it as a page.
  • Start the next page with a Roman numeral two (ii).
  • Number each of the following pages with consecutive Roman numerals (iii, iv, etc.).
  • Then, at the first page of the first chapter, switch to Arabic numbers and make this page 1.
  • Continue numbering all the subsequent pages using Arabic numbers.
  • Make sure that you update your table of contents and that each section corresponds with the document pagination.
File Format:
  • Create a single PDF file for your thesis
  • We highly recommend that you convert your document to PDF/A format to ensure long-term preservation.
  • Additional files in other formats that support the thesis file (e.g. multimedia, datasets, etc.) can be included as supplementary files at the file upload stage of the submission process. Visit the Library and Archives Canada website for file format recommendations for datasets, images, audio, and video.
  • Use the naming convention guidelines outlined below for your supplementary files.

If you have documents that cannot be converted into a PDF or multiple files that cannot be converted into a single PDF document, email ruor@uottawa.ca.

File name:

Name the thesis PDF file according to the following convention: Lastname_Firstname_Year_thesis.pdf.

  • Your thesis file name must include your full name as it appears in uoCampus. Contact the Registrar through InfoService if you would like to change how your name appears in uoCampus.
  • Do not include spaces and do not use diacritics, punctuation, apostrophes or symbols except for underscore (_).
  • If your name has diacritics, please exclude them for the file name.
  • If you have multiple names, please separate them using the underscore (_).
  • For the year, enter the year of your online submission to uO Research.
  • Example: Garcia_Hernandez_Maria_2018_thesis.pdf
  • For supplementary files include the file type and extension instead of "thesis.pdf"
  • Example: Garcia_Hernandez_Maria_2018_video.mp4
Personal Information:

Remove all personal information from your thesis file in order to to protect your privacy and the privacy of others:

  • Remove any signatures and student numbers.
  • Remove personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, including uOttawa student email addresses, and personal mailing addresses.

This does not apply to business or professional phone numbers, email addresses, or mailing addresses.

Accessibility:

Accessibility is a university community responsibility. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) requires the University of Ottawa to make all content on its websites including electronic documents, available in accessible format.

Accessible PDFs are formatted in such a way that assistive technologies, like screen readers and screen magnifiers, can accurately translate the information to the user so it can be accessed and read by everyone, including those with disabilities.

We strongly encourage you to submit your thesis as an accessible PDF. Learn how to create accessible PDF documents.

Copyright Compliance:

If your thesis file contains copyright-protected content owned by third parties, you need to obtain written permissions from the copyright owners and supply copies of these permissions upon request by the University. This includes any stand-alone item such as an image, photo, table, graph, diagram, figure, map, poem, or graphic reproduced in your thesis.

If your thesis includes articles that you have previously published or have been submitted for publication, you must obtain written permission from co-authors (if applicable) and verify which version of the articles can be reproduced without permission from the journal.

Consult the Copyright Office website for more details on copyright and your thesis.

Creative Commons (optional):

As the copyright owner of your thesis, you can make it available openly under a Creative Commons (CC) licence. A CC licence is a simple and legal way to give permission to others to use your work as long as they respect the conditions of the licence. You are still the copyright owner, but you are making it easier for others to build upon your research. Learn more about Creative Commons Licensing for your thesis.

Step 3: Submit your Thesis

After receiving email confirmation from your Academic Unit that your service request in Step 1 has been approved follow the steps below:

  1. Log in to uO Research with your uoAccess credentials.
  2. From the "My Workspace" page, click "New Submission" or select an unfinished submission.
  3. Select the "Thesis, 2011 -" collection from the dropdown menu. Saint Paul students should select the "Saint Paul Theses" collection.
  4. Fill out the description form with the information required.
  5. If you have an approved embargo request, select an embargo period.
  6. Upload your thesis file.
  7. Optionally, choose a Creative Commons licence.
  8. Review your submission and make corrections, if necessary.
  9. Read the non-exclusive distribution licence carefully and then grant the licence to complete the submission process.

At any point while submitting an item, you can stop and save your work by clicking "Cancel/Save". You can resume your submission at a later time by logging in.

Step 4: Monitor your submission

After you complete your submission, the Library will review it to ensure it is prepared in accordance with the instructions outlined in Step 2. Please check your uOttawa email regularly for messages concerning your submission. The average processing time for a thesis file is 3 to 5 business days.

If there are corrections to be made:

  1. You will receive an email from uO Research with details of the corrections.
  2. Make the required corrections to your thesis file.
  3. Log into your workspace in uO Research.
  4. Under Unfinished Submissions, open your thesis submission by clicking "Open" followed by "Resume".
  5. Navigate to the upload screen.
  6. Remove the old file and replace it with the corrected file.
  7. Finish your submission.

When your submission is approved, you will receive an email from uO Research with the permanent URL for your thesis. Within 24 hours a DOI will be assigned to your thesis. You may use the permanent URL and DOI to link to your thesis on your curriculum vitae or personal website.

FAQ

How will people find my thesis once it's submitted?

As an open repository, uO Research is continuously indexed by Google and other major search engines. Anyone with internet access and a web browser can search, view and download your thesis.

uOttawa participates in Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) Theses Canada program for electronic theses. A copy of your thesis will be made available through their online collection.

If you wish, you can make your thesis available in the ProQuest Dissertation and Theses database. To do so, you must must enter into a separate agreement with ProQuest. More information can be found on their website here.

How do I request an embargo?

The University of Ottawa encourages public dissemination of and unrestricted access to graduate research.

However, you may wish to delay online access to your thesis by requesting an embargo for reasons that may include:

  • Publication of your thesis as a book
  • Sensitive nature of the content
  • Patent application

An embargo is subject to the approval of the thesis supervisor, the academic unit and the faculty, and is for a limited time period.

If you are uncertain about requesting an embargo, consult your supervisor.

To request an embargo, you must complete the Embargo Request Form (PDF) and submit it with your thesis using the service request “Approval Final Version of the Thesis” via uoZone. Once the service request is approved, you can then deposit your thesis online through uO Research.

Notes:

  • You can embargo your abstract by selecting this option on the form and then leaving the abstract field blank when submitting your thesis.
  • Once approved, an embargo is irrevocable.
  • An embargo cannot be applied retroactively.
How do I convert my thesis file to PDF-A?

You can convert your document to a PDF/A using Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat.

Word
  • Click on the "Save As" option and select PDF from the dropdown menu.
  • Under Options, click the "PDF/A compliant" checkbox
Adobe Acrobat
  • Click on the "Save As" option and select PDF/A from the dropdown menu.
MacOS or LaTeX

Save As PDF/A is not supported however, you can save as PDF and then convert to PDF/A using Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat is available through the Library’s workstations. Please visit the Library’s Computers and technology webpage for more information.

How do I make my pdf file accessible?
Step 1: Creating an accessible document

First you must ensure your original text document incorporates accessibility features. Some important elements to consider in making your document accessible include:

  • Using headings and other formatting tools such as bulleted lists help to preserve the reading order of the document so that someone using a screen reader can easily navigate the document.
  • Adding alernative text for any visual content allows screen reading software to read a description of your visuals.
  • Using a minimum font size of 12, avoiding decorative fonts, and ensuring adequate spacing helps to increase the text’s readability.
  • Making sure that your document has sufficient contrast between the text and background to increase the content’s readability.
  • Running the Accessibility Checker helps to see if your document complies with Accessibility best practices.

For more information and additional resources, please consult Microsoft’s Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities webpage.

Step 2: Converting your document to an accessible PDF

Consult the links provided below on how to convert your documents into an accessible PDF format.

Step 3: Checking your PDF’s accessibility

Sometimes accessibility elements may be removed during the PDF conversion process. It is a good idea to run a final check on your PDF for accessibility using one of the tools listed here:

Consult the University Ottawa's Accessibility website for more information and support for creating accessible documents

What is a Creative Commons (CC) licence and how do I apply one to my thesis?

A CC licence is a simple and legal way to give permission to others to use your work as long as they respect the conditions of the licence. The licences are a combination of the following conditions:

  • Attribution (BY)
  • Share Alike (SA)
  • Non Commercial (NC)
  • No Derivatives (ND)

See About The Licences on the Creative Commons website for more details about each licence and their conditions.

If you choose to apply a CC licence to your thesis, it will cover the content for which you own the copyright. If you reproduced content for which you do not own the copyright or content under other open licences, your own CC licence will not apply to that third-party content.

To help you choose a Creative Commons licence for your thesis, consult the CC licence Chooser.

During the submission process, you will be given the option to add a Creative Commons (CC) licence by choosing among these options:

  • CC0: select this option to waive your copyright and place your work directly in the public domain
  • Creative Commons: select this option and answer these two questions to apply your chosen licence:
    • Is commercial use allowed?
    • Are modifications allowed?
  • No Creative Commons licence: select this option if you do not want to apply a CC licence nor CC0

Your chosen licence with a link to the licence terms on the Creative Commons website will display on the item page once your thesis is accepted into uO Research.

You can indicated your chosen licence on your thesis title page as follows, under the copyright notice:

Unless otherwise indicated, this [thesis or dissertation] is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons [add chosen licence conditions] 4.0 International licence [link to the licence].

  • Download an example title page with Creative Commons licencing information.
  • How do I get a personal bound copy?

    If you would like to have a bound copy, you may contact:

    Merriam Print
    252 Laurier Av. East
    613-567-5050
    print252@gmail.com
    http://www.merriamprint.com/thesis.html

    Contact