Since Fall 2020, all GSD Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations are submitted through ProQuest.

GSD Masters Thesis Submissions

To start the submission process, please visit the ProQuest ETD site. Once there, you will see "Welcome to the ETD Administrator @ Harvard Graduate School of Design" banner, where you can begin the process of submitting your thesis. The "My ETDs" tab will guide you through the submission process. You will log in using your GSD email address. If you have any questions about the submission process, please ask your academic department administrator.

Items Needed for Submission

  
  • A PDF copy of your dissertation/thesis. This must be a single file. If your manuscript is in Word or RTF format, you must convert it into a PDF.
  • Abstract
  • Optional Supplementary files (images, data, etc.) that are an integral part of the dissertation/thesis, but not part of the full text.
  • Advisor and other Committee Members' Names
  • Subject Categories: 1-3 that best describe your dissertation/thesis' subject area. These categories are fixed subject categories.
  • Keywords: You will have the option to then add additional tags that you think would enhance discovery and access to your thesis.
  

Options to Consider

  

You will be presented with two ProQuest publishing options. Harvard University recommends that you choose Traditional Publishing. With this option, theses will be available online as open-access publication through Harvard’s institutional repository (IR), DASH. You also have the option of putting an embargo (delaying the access to your full theses). We do not recommend this unless you have patents or other significant reasons to deny public access to your theses (e.g., personal safety of individuals described or mentioned in your thesis). The attached document explains the reasoning behind this recommendation.

You will be presented with the option of registering your copyright. After uploading your thesis/dissertation and submitting information about it, you will be presented with the option of having ProQuest register it with the US Copyright Office. Harvard University does not recommend this option. You already hold the copyright by having authored your thesis and putting it in tangible form, and you will avoid paying a fee to ProQuest for that service.

If you have any questions about these options, please ask the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication: osc@harvard.edu

  

GSD Dissertation Submissions

Doctor of Design Dissertations

  • Guidelines can be found on the GSD website
  • The submission process is similar to the Masters Thesis Submissions

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertations

  • Please follow policies and procedures established by Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), which can be found on the FAS website