University Thesis and Dissertation Deposit Guidelines

Santa Clara University requires that all theses and dissertations that are submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree be published in electronic form. Doing so serves both to document the basis upon which individual students' degrees have been awarded and to share the results with the scholarly community and the public.

The requirements and submission process for graduate theses and dissertations are entirely determined by the graduate schools. For any questions about your graduate thesis or dissertation, please contact your advisor directly. The University Library provides an institutional repository, Scholar Commons, for graduate theses and dissertations. Questions concerning how to deposit your thesis or dissertation in the university repository should be directed to the University Library via our Ask-a-Librarian service.

University Thesis & Dissertation Policy

Theses and dissertations completed in partial fulfillment of a graduate degree at Santa Clara University must be deposited electronically with the University Archives and made publicly available by the Santa Clara University Library through the SCU Scholar Commons repository. Via the Graduate Student Thesis and Dissertation Publication Agreement, students grant the University a non-exclusive right to provide digital access to the thesis or dissertation.

Doctoral candidates must also submit a copy of their thesis or dissertation to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, with a completed ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Agreement Form. At the end of each quarter, individual department offices will deposit electronic copies of all theses and dissertations submitted that quarter to the University Library.

For Jesuit School of Theology (JST) degrees awarded by Santa Clara University, the University Library is responsible for making the electronic copy available. Because of its affiliation with the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), JST may require that one or more physical copies of the thesis or dissertation also be deposited in the GTU Library. For JST degrees awarded by the GTU, the thesis and dissertation depository requirements of the GTU apply.

Steps for Submitting a Graduate Thesis or Dissertation

1. The student completes their thesis or dissertation and obtains the required signatures, as determined by the student's department.
2. The student downloads and completes the Graduate Student Thesis and Dissertation Publication Agreement and submits the completed form, along with the PDF of the actual thesis or dissertation (with any accompanying files) to their graduate department.
3. Doctoral candidates must also submit a PDF to ProQuest.
4. The department office submits the PDF of the thesis or dissertation (and files) to the University Library.
5. Students, advisors, and departments wanting bound copies may order them from ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global.

The Library will make the thesis or dissertation (i.e. the PDF file) available through a persistent URL embedded in the library catalog record. If the thesis or dissertation is under embargo, metadata concerning the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation, including title, author, and an abstract of the work, will be available online. Once the embargo is lifted, all users will have access to the electronic version of the thesis or dissertation.

At their option, Doctoral candidates may have ProQuest register their copyright for the thesis or dissertation with the Library of Congress Copyright Office and/or may order personal bound copies of their thesis or dissertation from ProQuest; there are additional fees for these services.

To create the electronic manuscript, the student should convert the complete thesis or dissertation to a single PDF document (see below regarding supplementary files). The electronic manuscript is then delivered to the department office in accordance with their submission requirements along with a completed Graduate Student Thesis & Dissertation Publication Agreement. Please do not include a scanned signature on the title page of the PDF, but do submit one additional printed title page with the thesis advisor's original signature. The department office will verify that the thesis meets format requirements.

Embargoes

Authors may elect whether or not to embargo their complete thesis from being publicly available via the Internet for a period of six months, one year, or two years. The embargo option may be appropriate for a student who has a patent application in process or wants to delay access to the thesis for a limited amount of time to pursue commercial interests or other publication. Embargo requests must be approved by the academic advisor. Embargoes may be lifted early at the request of the author. Requests to embargo a dissertation that has already been publicly available will not generally be approved.

Under rare circumstances, an extension of an embargo beyond two years or a permanent embargo might be granted, but the responsibility for justifying the extension will rest with the student. Such requests must be made one month prior to the expiration of any previously granted embargo and must be addressed in writing to the Dean of the Graduate School, accompanied by a letter of support from the student's academic advisor. The decision whether or not to grant such an extension will rest with the Dean after consultation with the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. During any period of embargo metadata concerning the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation, including title, author, and an abstract of the work, will be available online. If you have any questions about whether you should embargo your thesis, please consult with your advisor.

Format Requirements

Individual programs may establish their own style guidelines for theses and dissertations, except that each thesis must include a title page and an abstract of 350 words or fewer. In addition to the above requirements, a thesis with accompanying files must include a list of submitted files indicating the file formats and software version used to create each file. Please refer questions related to style and format guidelines to your advisor.

The thesis may be accompanied by supplementary materials. There is no limit on the number of supplemental files that can be submitted. The following table outlines preferred file formats for different content types. If you anticipate needing to submit a file in another format, please check with your department.

The University Library no longer requires or supports print copies of theses and dissertations. Students, advisors, and departments wanting bound copies should order them from ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global.

For students wishing to bind their own print copy of their thesis, it is generally recommended that the left margins not be less than 1.5 inches (to ensure readability when bound), that the thesis include a title page and an abstract of 350 words or less, and that print copies be printed or copied single sided onto white, acid-free 20 pound or heavier paper.

Updated September 24, 2025