Mastering Your Thesis: Formatting, Copyright, and Submission Made Easy

1. Fill out the Electronic Theses, Dissertations, and Research Projects Form
   • Group Projects: All group members must submit a submission form. Only one person needs to attach the project to a form.
2. Attach ONE FILE to the form that contains the committee page, table of contents, main text of your work, bibliography and so on. 
3. Upload PDF, Word document (.doc/docx), or open source format (.rtf) to form.
4. Email digitalcommons@lmu.edu if:
   • Your file is too large to attach upload it to a cloud-based service such as Google Drive or Dropbox and email a link.
   • You need to submit any supplementary files such as Power Point presentations, audio-video, image or other files as an attachment.

If you have any questions regarding the guidelines, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.edu.

Authors have options to provide accessibility to their work:

• Option 1: Provide open access to thesis on the internet 
  • Allows your thesis to be freely available for viewing or downloading by anyone with access to the internet.
• Option 2: Campus-Only Access to Thesis
  • Thesis only available to those physically on Loyola Marymount University’s campus 
  • Suggested for creative works

If you make your thesis open access, will journals or publishers still consider publishing your work?

Most publishers consider theses as “student work” that will undergo extensive revision before publication. However, publisher policies pertaining to open access theses vary. Be sure to review a journal or publisher’s policies beforehand. If you plan on publishing your thesis in a different form, consider selecting an embargo.

If you have any concerns about these options, please contact scholarly communications librarian, Jessea Young.

An embargo is a delayed release of your thesis.

Authors have the option to select embargos of:

• 6 months
• 1 year
• 3 years

During an embargo, there will be no access to the full-text of your work for the specified period of time. The work will still be listed and indexed in Digital Commons, but the full text will not be accessible until the embargo expires. The title, author, keywords, and abstract will be displayed even if you have restricted access to the full-text copy. 

Need to extend your embargo?  No problem, email digitalcommons@lmu.edu to request an extension.