Formatting Regulations

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS), guided by the Graduate Council, establishes the format regulations for theses and dissertations (T/Ds) at UMKC. Degree candidates must adhere to the formatting regulations outlined in the "University of Missouri-Kansas City Guide to Formatting Theses and Dissertations" which is available on the SGS website. While adhering to the formatting guidelines, students can use a citation style that is typical in their field, approved by their supervisory committee, and communicated to the SGS. Students must indicate their chosen citation style on their Preliminary Approval form. 

Supervisory Committee Review and Approval of T/Ds

Approval of the T/D begins with the degree candidate's supervisory committee. The candidate's supervisory committee shall ensure that the scholarly content and style of the T/D is in keeping with recognized standards of the chosen discipline(s). By reviewing the T/D and completing the Preliminary Approval form, the supervisory committee chair indicates they find the T/D is acceptable pending satisfactory defense by the candidate at the final examination. 

School of Graduate Studies Review and Certification of Acceptance of T/Ds

All graduate students are required to submit a copy of their T/D to the SGS for format review and certification of acceptance. The deadline for submitting the T/D to the SGS is posted on the SGS website. Generally, it is approximately six weeks before the end of the fall or spring semesters and four weeks before the end of the summer session. Prior to the published deadline for the term in which the degree candidates expect to graduate, they must submit the following to the SGS:

• Electronic copy of the T/D ,
• Signed Preliminary Approval of T/D by Supervisory Committee form,
• MOspace Non-Exclusive Distribution License agreement.

T/Ds normally will not be accepted for review for graduation during the current term unless they are received in the SGS by the published deadline.

All T/Ds must be reviewed by the professional staff of the SGS for conformity to the campus formatting standards. Candidates are required to make all necessary formatting corrections and resubmit the T/D to the SGS by the semester deadline posted on the SGS website.

After the T/D defense, the candidate must submit a corrected final draft electronically to the SGS, and the candidate's advisor should send the final evaluation/report forms from all committee members. The professional staff of the SGS will review the T/D for certification of acceptance. If the T/D has significant formatting problems, it will be returned to the candidate without further review or certification. The candidate will be required to make all necessary formatting corrections and resubmit the T/D to the SGS. If this happens, the candidate's graduation may be delayed. Enrollment in an additional term of continuous graduate enrollment may be required.

The SGS will hold the certificate of acceptance until all appropriate revisions are made and rechecked by the SGS professional staff. Upon final approval, SGS will provide the candidate with the certificate of acceptance and instructions for submitting the final copy to ProQuest. After a student completes their submission to ProQuest, it is checked by the SGS staff. If it is the correct file and the submission is complete, it can be accepted. The SGS staff finish the certification process—to show a student completed the T/D requirement for graduation—by finalizing the certificate and submitting it and the T/D report of results/final evaluation forms to the Office of the Registrar for processing.

Deposit of T/Ds with the Library

Upon submission to ProQuest, the T/D is transmitted to the University of Missouri system institutional repository, MOSpace, where the document is made available via the world wide web. Students will pay a fee if they choose to have ProQuest handle the copyright registration process for a T/D. Submission to ProQuest must be accomplished by the deadline posted on the SGS website.