Electronic Dissertations and Theses Submission: Frequently Asked Questions

After you have passed your oral defense and received approval from your program office and you have finished reading through this FAQ page, then you will want to submit your dissertation to ProQuest. This should happen before the Library Submission Deadline for Graduation, Monday, May 6th.

Most authors will want to choose the Traditional Publishing Agreement. It's free and offers authors the chance to receive royalties from their work. 

Also, most authors will want search engines to be able to find their work. If your work is findable, it is citable. 

Proquest offers you the option of delaying the release of your dissertation for a period of six months, one year, or two years. Some authors choose to do so because they are seeking to publish their dissertation and they are concerned that publishers will not take their work if it is readily available in Proquest or an open access repository. While delaying release may offer some small benefit in this regard, many publishers are not concerned with availability because publishing will usually involve substantial massaging to convert a dissertation into a monograph. Availability also provides other significant benefits such as the ability for other researchers to find your work and cite you, which can improve an author's reputation. 

You might feel like none of the categories directly reflect your area of study. Under Subject Categories, most graduate candidates select one of the following options based on which is closest to their specific program: Clergy [0319], Comparative Religion [0618], Counseling Psychology [0603], Language [0679], Linguistics [0290], Pastoral Counseling [0397], Pedagogy [0456], Philosophy [0422], Philosophy of Religion [0322], Religion [0318], or Theology [0469]. You should select the closest fit for the category you would want your work to appear under when it is searched. 

Similarly, you should choose keywords from your work that you would want your work to appear under when they are searched. 

The costs associated with electronic submission will depend on the options selected. Traditional Publishing is free, while Open Access Publishing costs an additional $95. Foregoing copyright registration is free, while Copyright Registration is an additional $55. Each student will be required to purchase a complimentary bound copy of their work for their Major Professor, and the EdD program requires a copy for the EdD Program Office. Hardbound copies that are 8.5" by 11" cost $56. Additional personal copies can be purchased through the ProQuest website, but these are optional for students. 

Bound copies are made after publishing has been completed (typically 4-6 weeks), and take an additional 5 weeks for domestic delivery. ProQuest ships using FedEx ground, and no signature is required.

Students can contact ProQuest for address change or questions by writing them at disspub@proquest.com. 

Once a submission is submitted to ProQuest, publishing takes 4-6 weeks; authors will be notified by email when publishing is complete. 

Students can contact ProQuest for address change or questions by writing them at disspub@proquest.com. 

Graduate candidates are to purchase a complimentary copy of their dissertation for their Major Professor. The EdD program also requires an additional copy to be purchased for the program office. The number of additional personal copies is up to the graduate candidate’s discretion.  

Registering copyright is a personal decision. By virtue of you writing your work, you already hold copyright over it. The only benefit that registration really provides is the ability to sue in the case of someone infringing upon your work. If you think the likelihood of infringement is low, you might decide that registration is not worth the cost or effort. If you think the likelihood of infringement is high, it might be wise to register. 

1. Greater visibility helps improve your reputation in your field. Many scholars today do their initial searching on a topic online. Scholars seeking to build their reputation need to make their work accessible in forms actually used by potential colleagues and employers. 
2. Scholarly communication happens very quickly today. Internet availability is much more beneficial than the long delays and added costs that accompanied library processing and lending of print theses/dissertations.
3. Your thesis/dissertation will become part of a growing international collection of ETDs through the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
4. Because your work, and the fact that it is your work, will be easy to find, it will be much harder for anyone to appropriate your research without giving you credit.
5. Research shows that scholarship available on the internet through open access is cited more often, and is cited sooner, than work that is available only through a subscription or the loan of a print copy.
6. Multimedia objects, including color images, hyperlinks, audio, video, spreadsheets and databases, even virtual reality worlds can be easily incorporated into your dissertation and can readily be made available to all of your readers.
7. A stable URL for your work can be included in a CV and sent by e-mail to colleagues and to hiring committees. Because our database is OAI compliant, your work also will be found by major search tools.
8. Open access more fully embodies the goal of the thesis/dissertation to be a public contribution to scholarship. On the internet your work can reach an audience whose interest in it may have been unforeseeable. New possibilities for interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary research, and the formation of unexpected research collaborations, are created by open access to scholarship.

Please note that once your submission has been processed, you will not be able to update the number of personal copies you would like to order. At that point, you would have to work with Customer Service at ProQuest to order more copies. Please be sure of the number of copies you would like to order (with at least one courtesy copy for your major professor, and a copy for the Program Office, if you are in the EdD program) before completing the submission form. 

If you are in the EdD program, please order two 8.5x11 inch hardcover copies of your dissertation (one for your committee chair and one for the EdD office) and have them sent to the EdD Office at the address below. If you are an EdD student and desire any personal copies of your dissertation, you will need to make a second order. This can ONLY be done by contacting ProQuest customer service at disspub@proquest.com AFTER your submission is complete and APPROVED.

Doctor of Education Studies

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

244 N. Wingate St.

Wake Forest, NC 27587

If you are in the PhD, DMin, or ThM programs, please use your personal address and distribute the copies as instructed. If you are only ordering a hard copy for your Major Professor, you can send this directly to the professor. 

Students in the EdD program should choose the Hardcover 8.5x11" copy from the printing options for their dissertation. Students in other programs may choose the printing options they prefer.

Students can submit their dissertation, thesis, or project at http://www.etdadmin.com/sebtsph.d-d.min.