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Dissertation Publication

This guide provides the step-by-step instructions for publishing your dissertation on ProQuest ETD.

Converting to PDF

When submitting a page-based manuscript of your dissertation or thesis, it must be submitted to ProQuest ETD in Adobe PDF format. When preparing your PDF, be sure to do the following:
  • Embed all fonts (further information is provided be low related to embedding fonts)
  • Make sure there is no password protection on the PDF
  • Ensure that security settings allow printing
  • Format as individual, single pages
Note: As part of their normal process, ProQuest ETD inserts an extra page in the front of every published manuscript.
  • If you use Word 2007 on Windows, that version of Word has no built-in PDF converter. However, Microsoft has a PDF Converter Plugin for download that the Library recommends highly.
  • If you use Word 2010 or Word 2013 on Windows, that version of Word has a PDF converter built-in, so you're ready to go.
  • If you use any recent version of Word on Apple's OS X, there's always been a PDF converter available, so you're ready to proceed.

Once you have a Word to PDF converter available, you can simply use Word's Save As function to save your document as a PDF.

Manuscript Specifications

Your dissertation or thesis will be produced in digital, print and microform or microfiche format. Your library may have a standing order for reduced (6" x 9") size bound copies.  Achieving a legible copy of acceptable quality in all of these formats and sizes requires a conservative approach to paper size and quality, fonts, font sizes, spacing, images and graphics.

Make sure all fonts are embedded. Manuscripts without embedded fonts can cause ALL punctuation and formatting to disappear when the document is printed from the digital file, and causes delays in our publishing process.


NOTE: Your institution may provide you with specifications for some or all of these details, in addition to specifications for required sections, organization, pagination, and others. In cases of variation, your institution's specifications supersede ProQuest ETD. Please adhere to either/both your institutional specifications and those that follow here to ensure the highest quality reproduction of your work.

Embedding Fonts

It is very important to embed the fonts used in your document into your Word file before you convert it to PDF. This will ensure that your document always appears exactly as you intended.  If you do not embed all of your fonts, and those fonts are not available on the reader's computer, Adobe Acrobat will make its best guess at what font it should use as a substitute. This can result in significant differences between your original document and what the reader sees (particularly with symbol fonts).

This guidance assumes you are writing your manuscript in MS Word on a PC. If you are using a Mac, similar guidance can be found at on the following webpage. Create your manuscript using a TrueType font—NOT ascalable font. See below for a list of recommended TrueType fonts and point sizes.
  • *Arial 10pt
  • Century 11pt
  • *Courier New 10pt
  • Garamond 12pt
  • *Georgia 11pt
  • Lucida Bright 10pt
  • Microsoft Sans Serif 10pt
  • Tahoma 10pt
  • *Times New Roman 12pt
  • *Trebuchet MS 10pt
  • *Verdana 10pt

The graphic below shows how the recommended settings should be set in Word 2007; they don't look remarkably different in Word 2010 or Word 2013. You access Word's options by clicking on the big round icon in the upper-left corner of the Word window and then clicking on the Word Options button in the lower right of the dialog box.

Be sure to choose "Embed only the characters used in the document" and "Do not embed common system fonts" as shown. Otherwise, you will embed all versions of every character in the fonts you use in your document, which will greatly and unnecessarily increase the size of the file.

 After converting your document, you should check it closely to determine whether any aspect of formatting became problematic during conversion.  You should resolve formatting problems in your Word document and convert to PDF again, remembering to embed fonts each time, before starting the submission process.  Once ProQuest ETD has accepted your dissertation for publication, they will assess a fee for you to make further changes in your archived document. 

*Web font. Designed for easy screen readability. Since many readers are likely to view and/or use your dissertation or thesis
onscreen, you may wish to improve the readability of your text by using one of these fonts.

Supplementary Materials

If supplementary materials—such as audio, video, and spreadsheets—are part of your dissertation or thesis, you can submit them as supplementary files during the online submission process. Upload them as part of the submission process, and provide a description of each supplementary file or files in the abstract of your graduate work.
  • Do not embed media files in your PDF.
  • Upload media files as supplementary files. During online submission, you will be asked to upload any supplementary files.
  • Describe files in your abstract.
  • Add a description of each supplementary file in your abstract.
Including supplementary materials with your submission may require additional paper documentation before we can complete the publishing process. For further information, see Sample Permission Letter for Use of Previously Copyrighted Material.
  • Reprint Permission Letters: If you are going to include multimedia material covered under someone else's copyright—an audio or video clip, a digital photograph, etc.—you must provide ProQuest ith written permission to include it.
  • Third Party Software Licenses (if needed): If you are including third party software with your submission, you must provide written permission to distribute it. Note that this is different than including a file generated by a particular program. For example, including a Microsoft Excel file(.xls) does not require including the software license.
Additional paper documentation, when required, can be mailed to ProQuest at:
Dissertations Acquisitions
ProQuest
789 E. Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346

The Signature Page

Part of a completed dissertation is the page at the beginning that displays the signatures of your dissertation advisor, committee members, and other academic officers of the university. These signatures affirm that both the content and format of your document have received final approval and that your document is ready for publication.