Before you submit your thesis
Submitting your thesis is a significant milestone. Before you begin, it’s important to speak with your supervisor/s and complete a few key steps to ensure your submission proceeds in a timely and efficient manner.
Submission
Notice of intention to submit
Approximately three months prior to your anticipated submission date, you will need to notify the Graduate Research School of your intention to submit your thesis using the relevant form. Your Principal Supervisor will be advised of your date which will allow them to start nominating examiners.
PhD and MPhil candidates who commenced at UniSA prior to 1 January 2016 or who commenced at The University of Adelaide before 1 July 2022 will be able to opt into completing an oral examination as part of their thesis examination. This must occur before thesis submission.
Plagiarism checking
The use of iThenticate is compulsory prior to submission of a thesis for examination. iThenticate is a text matching software tool that compares documents submitted to an extensive database of web pages and scholarly content and produces a similarity score and report. It checks for originality and ensures non-original work has been cited appropriately. Graduate researchers must submit their thesis to the service and include the iThenticate report with their thesis submission.
Submission format
In the case of a conventional or publication format thesis, a single PDF file will be submitted for examination purposes.
In the case of a creative work and exegesis format thesis, the creative work must be documented in digital format, and the creative work and exegesis must be submitted as separate files.
For further information on requirements for the format and content of the thesis and the examination process see the Thesis Formats webpage and the Graduate Research: Thesis Examination Protocol.
Submission process
All graduate research theses are to be submitted online via myAdelaide. Once logged in:
- Select ‘Access the GR student portal’ link from the ‘My graduate research candidature’ section;
- Select ‘Thesis Management’ option;
- Select ‘Thesis Submission’ page where you will indicate the thesis format and whether an editor was used, and confirm a set of declarations. You can then upload a digital copy of your thesis along with your iThenticate report and any other supporting documents.
The graduate researcher will be notified once the area approver has approved the thesis for examination and the student’s candidature consumption will be stopped, along with any active scholarships.
If the thesis submission is not approved at any stage in the process, a discussion must take place between the graduate researcher, supervisory panel and, if required, area approver. Upon resolution of any outstanding issues, the graduate researcher will then need to resubmit an amended version of the thesis for approval.
If the Graduate Research School has received the approved nominated examiners at the time that the thesis is approved by the area approver, the thesis will be dispatched for examination along with all required documentation. If the examiner nomination has not yet been submitted by the principal supervisor and approved by the area approver, the Graduate Research School will not be able to commence the examination process until that approval is received.
Submission against the advice of the school
The Graduate Research School is unable to accept a thesis that has not been approved for examination by the relevant School. When the graduate researcher disagrees with the School’s advice about the readiness of the thesis for examination, it is expected that the dispute will be dealt with, in the first instance, at the local level by the Dean of School or delegate, such as Graduate Research Coordinator.
If the dispute cannot be resolved at the local level, the matter should be referred to the Pro Vice Chancellor – Graduate Research Training. The Pro Vice Chancellor will deal with the matter in consultation with the Dean of Research (or delegate) of the relevant College and the Dean of School or Graduate Research Coordinator concerned, if required.
Submission after candidature has lapsed
If the graduate researcher’s candidature has lapsed, thesis submission will only be permitted when the following conditions are met:
- the thesis has not departed from the field of study the graduate researcher was pursuing during candidature.
- the thesis is up to date for the time of submission.
- the principal supervisor and School are prepared to certify that the thesis is worthy of examination.
- the principal supervisor and School are prepared to support the graduate researcher through the examination process.
Exit survey
When you submit your thesis, we ask you to complete our Graduate Research Exit Survey prior to your conferral. This survey is a critical tool for you to reflect on your research journey and it directly contributes to improving the experience for future graduate researchers. Your feedback is essential for the University to identify what works well and where support can be strengthened. It also allows you to share confidential feedback if you have not felt comfortable providing that earlier. This survey helps drive meaningful improvements in supervision, training and graduate research student support.
The survey only takes a few minutes, and your participation ensures that student voices are accurately represented. If you are unable to complete the survey, please email the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Graduate Research Training) at pvcgrt@adelaide.edu.au to let them know.
