Submission Guidelines for Honors Theses

Read the Departmental Thesis and Departmental Honors Manual for information about preparing and formatting your manuscript.

Before submitting an honors thesis to UTC Scholar, please be sure that all necessary permissions have been cleared. You retain the copyright to your paper and grant us the nonexclusive right to publish this material, meaning that you may also publish it elsewhere.

  1. When should I submit?
  2. What do I need know when I am ready to submit?
  3. What are my intellectual property rights?
  4. What am I agreeing to when I submit?
  5. Do I maintain copyright of my work?
  6. How do I choose a Creative Commons License?
  7. How do I submit?
  8. What happens after I submit?
  9. How do I make revisions?
  10. How do I acquire a bound copy?

When should I submit?

Once your honors thesis is accepted (i.e., approved by your project director and examining committee) you must submit your honors thesis in electronic form to UTC Scholar.

What do I need know when I am ready to submit?

Before you submit, make sure you have the following information and files ready. Most of the information you'll need can be found on the title page of your thesis or dissertation.
  1. Title
    The title of your honors thesis.
  2. Abstract
    The abstract of your thonors thesis.
  3. Department
    Your major department, e.g. English.
  4. Degree
    The degree you are earning by completing this honors thesis, e.g. B. A.
  5. Keywords
    Keywords, tags, or phrases that describe the content of your honors thesis.
  6. Date
    The date you'll be receiving your degree, e.g. May 2019.
  7. Rights
    The Creative Commons License you want for your honors thesis. More information about choosing a Creative Commons license may be found below .
  8. Date Available
    If your work is patent- or publication-pending, set a date in the future for the full text of your honors thesis to be available.
  9. Upload Full Text
    Have an electronic copy of your honors thesis, preferably in Microsoft Word (DOC), (DOCX), or (RTF) format, ready.
  10. Additional Files
    Have electronic copies of any supplemental materials, such as audio and video files or datasets, on hand. View the full list of acceptable file formats.

What are my intellectual property rights?

According to the Statement of Policy on Patents, Copyrights, and other Intellectual Property adopted by The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees on October 19, 1984 and amended on June 19, 2003, "a student must, as a condition of a degree award, grant royalty-free permission to the University to reproduce and publicly distribute, including by electronic and digital technologies now known or developed in the future, on a non-commercial basis, copies of the thesis or dissertation."

What am I agreeing to when I submit?

In accordance with the Statement of Policy on Patents, Copyrights, and other Intellectual Property you must agree to our Non-Exclusive Distribution License

Do I retain copyright of my work?

Yes. All UTC Scholar authors retain all copyrights and may submit their work to other publishers or repositories. UTC maintains the right to preserve and provide access to your work.

How do I choose a Creative Commons License?

When you submit research, you’ll be asked to select a Creative Commons License. Read information about each license.

How do I submit?

  1. Make sure your paper is in an acceptable format. We can accept papers in Microsoft Word (DOC) or (DOCX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or Adobe Acrobat (PDF).
  2. Create a new account by clicking on My Account and clicking on the Sign up button. If you already have an account, sign in and skip ahead to step 5.
  3. Complete the user account form. Be sure to enter your UTC email address and choose a password you will remember. Click Sign up.
  4. After you've created your new account, you will see a page directing you to check your email. Check your email and click on the link in the email. This will take you back to UTC Scholar.
  5. Once you’ve successfully logged in to UTC Scholar, click Submit Research.
  6. Choose Theses and Dissertations.
  7. Check the box to agree to to the Non-Exclusive Distribution License for Theses and Dissertations.
  8. Fill out the form and upload your file. Required fields are indicated by a red flag.
Now you are ready to SUBMIT RESEARCH.

What happens after I submit?

After you submit your honors thesis, we will create an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of it and publish it on the site. You will be notified by e-mail when your thesis has been posted.

How do I make revisions?

If the submission has been submitted, but not yet posted, you may revise it via your My Account page:
  1. Locate your submission on your My Account page, and click the title.
  2. Click Revise Submission from the list of options in the left sidebar.
  3. Enter your changes in the Revise Submission form, and/or upload your revised submission.
  4. Describe the changes made in the “Reason for Update” box.
  5. Click Submit at the bottom of the page to submit your changes. (You only need to modify the portion of the form that corresponds to the changes you wish to make.)
Once a submission has been posted to UTC Scholar, only substantive edits (corrections to errors of fact) will be considered, and must be submitted to the Honors College at DHON@utc.edu. Non-substantive edits such as corrections to punctuation or spelling will not be made after your submission has been posted to UTC Scholar.

How do I acquire a bound copy?

You may acquire a spiral bound copy from the UTC Copy Center for a binding fee of $3. Alternatively, you may purchase a hard bound copy from the UTC Bookstore for a fee of $36. Inquire at the Copy Center and Bookstore for more information.