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The manuscript prepared by each student should be ready for binding when it comes to the Graduate School. Except for the Dean of the Graduate School, all signatures must be properly completed on the acceptance pages and the doctoral abstract.

The Graduate School then conducts a final editorial review of each master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation to ensure that the general requirements of this manual and the student’s style guide have been met. However, the primary responsibility for reviewing a thesis or dissertation has always belonged to the student and the thesis or dissertation committee.

The Graduate School’s review focuses on grammar and format rather than the scholarly content, which is the responsibility of the student and committee.

The Graduate School reviews the following key areas:

• organization of the pages - preliminaries are all present and in the correct order;
• format - print font, margins, and page numbering are all correct;
• paper quality - both copies of the manuscript must be unbound and printed on 100% cotton fiber paper of at least 20-lb weight;
• grammar and spelling - the Graduate School will review the manuscript for spelling errors and to ensure that the sentences and use of English are grammatically correct;
• references - bibliographies will be reviewed to ensure that all references and quotations are included and correctly formatted;
• abstract - this will be read to ensure that it satisfies the Graduate School requirements for length and content;
• acceptance page - all required signatures are present and original;
• table of contents, list of figures, list of tables - these will be reviewed to ensure that wording is consistent between table/list and main body of the manuscript; and
• microfilming contract, survey, and receipts - the Graduate School will ensure that all necessary forms have been completed and signed, and that all necessary payments have been made.

If, in reviewing a manuscript, the Graduate School compiles three pages of corrections, the thesis or dissertation will be returned for a more thorough editing and proofing by the student and the committee chair.