Submission Procedures

Before Submitting Your Dissertation

  • Obtain any needed permissions to include material in your dissertation for which you do not hold the copyright.
  • Apply to graduate.
  • Satisfy the degree requirements of your department and division or school.
  • Proofread your dissertation and ask your department to review the edited version and provide a signed copy of the Departmental Approval Form. You will be submitting the approved version of your dissertation, and you will not be able to make revisions or upload additional files unless the Dissertation Office requests modifications to your submission.
  • Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

Submitting Your Dissertation

  • Go to Knowledge@UChicago.
  • Click on Submit.
  • Choose Doctoral Dissertation.
  • Log in with your CNetID, and then complete the form.

Once you submit your dissertation, it will be reviewed by Dissertation Office staff. Please contact us with any questions.

Submission Form

Creator Information

Author & University/institution name*

  • Enter your name in Last name, First name order.
  • In the University/institution field enter “University of Chicago”
  • In the Identifier field enter an ORCID ID in the form of a URL, beginning with https://orcid.org/…
  • Choose ORCID in the Identifier Type drop-down menu.

Division*

  • Select the Division(s) and/or School(s) from which you will receive your degree.

Department

  • Select the academic department and/or academic committee within the Division(s) from which you will receive your degree.
  • This field is required if you selected a Division in the field above.
  • Do not enter a program within a School.

Center or Institute

Do not complete this field.

Advisor*

  • Enter advisor names in the natural order (Firstname M. I. Lastname). Do not include titles or degrees.

Committee Members

  • Do not repeat advisor names in this field.
  • Enter names of committee members in the natural order (Firstname M. I. Lastname). Do not include titles or degrees.

Item Information

Title*

  • Enter dissertation titles in title case. This means you must use both upper and lower case. Title case is used in the convocation program. See The Chicago Manual of Style for examples.
  • Use HTML tags as needed for formatting.
    • The tags for italics are: <i>...</i>
    • The tags for subscript are: <sub>...</sub>
    • The tags for superscript are: <sup>...</sup>

Abstract*

  • Your abstract should be approximately 300-500 words long.
  • Use HTML tags as needed for formatting.
    • The tags for separate paragraphs are <p>...</p>
  • If your abstract includes dollar signs, remove them and enter the word dollar or dollars instead. If there are two dollar signs ($) in the abstract, the text between them will be rendered as a single MathJax entity and look different than the rest of the abstract.

Date*

  • Enter your degree date as yyyy-mm. For this academic year, you will enter either 2024-08, 2024-12, 2025-03, or 2025-06.

Keywords (required)

  • Each keyword should have its own entry. Do not enter a list of keywords as one entry even when they are separated by semicolons. Enter at least two (2) keywords and a maximum of six (6).

Related Resources

Do not complete this field.

Language

  • Leave the default value as is unless the dissertation is written in a language other than English.

Degree Type*

  • Choose J.S.D. or Ph.D. from the drop-down menu.

Notes

Do not complete this field.

Resource Acknowledgements

Funding Information

  • This section is optional as not all students receive funding for their dissertation research.
  • Funder abbreviations should be spelled out. For example, NIH is National Institutes of Health, NSF is National Science Foundation.
  • Funder Identifier entered as a URL. For example, UChicago's ROR ID is https://ror.org/024mw5h28. This section is only necessary when the funder is UChicago.
  • Funder Identifier Type. For example, ROR if ROR entered above.
  • Fund Number is the number assigned to the fund awarded. May be the same as the Fund Identifier.
  • Fund Identifier is the unique identifier assigned to the fund awarded.
  • Fund Title is the name of the fund. For example, the Pulitzer Prize.

Other Resources

Do not complete this field.

License Information

Creative Commons (CC) License

Copyright Statement (required)

  • This should be entered in the following format:
    © [year] [firstname lastname], i.e. © 2025 James Bond.

I Grant the Distribution License*

  • “I agree” must be selected in order to submit to the repository.

Identifiers

Generate new DOI*

  • Check this box to generate a persistent identifier for your dissertation.

Other identifiers

Do not complete this field.

Notes

Administrative notes

Do not complete this field.

File Uploads

Upload all required files before submitting your dissertation. If you forget to upload a file, contact the Dissertation Office for assistance. Do not create a new submission.

Dissertation PDF (required)

  • Upload the dissertation file first and describe it as "Dissertation" in its description field. Attach the file in PDF format and choose either Public or Embargo Date under Access. If you choose Embargo Date you may enter any date before 2026-12-14, which is two years from the date of your graduation. More information about Embargo Procedures is available from the Dissertation Office.

Departmental Approval Form (required)

  • Each dissertation needs an approval form, signifying that the dissertation has been approved for upload. Upload a copy of the completed Departmental Approval Form, signed by the department chair or dean of the professional school. Joint or dual degrees require signatures from both programs. The Access level for this type of file will be “Restricted to Admin Use” and the Description “Approval Form.”

Supplementary Files

  • If a dissertation has a supplementary file, upload the supplementary file using the descriptor “Supporting information” in the description field.

Permission for Content Use (required if permissions needed)

  • If your dissertation includes material protected by copyright, and your use exceeds fair use, then you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. Documentation permitting re-use of the content must be attached to the record. Many journals permit authors to include their previously published article as a chapter in their dissertation. If the information is posted on the journal's website, you can save the relevant page as a pdf. These types of files can be "Restricted to Admin Use," described as “Permissions,” and be zipped into one file.

Manage File Metadata

Uploaded files will appear in this section.

Cancel | Save | Submit

You may Save rather than Submit if you would like to continue your submission later. After you Submit, you will not be able to make changes or upload additional files unless the Dissertation Office requests revisions. Do not create a second submission after submitting your dissertation. If you have a question about your first submission, contact the Dissertation Office.

We try to review your dissertation within two weeks. Our response time depends on staffing levels and the number of dissertations awaiting review.

Wait to Hear from the Dissertation Office

Check your email every day. We will let you know if you must revise formatting or upload additional files. We may have other questions. Please respond promptly so we can continue processing your dissertation. You are responsible for making any changes the Dissertation Office requires.

When we approve your dissertation submission, we will notify you. After this notification, your dissertation will appear in Knowledge@UChicago.