Pre-defence format checking is required for the following types of research documents:
- Doctoral dissertation and Master’s thesis (all programs except M.F.A.), and Master’s creative writing project (English);
- Master’s major paper (all programs) and Political Science Internship paper.
Note: effective November 2024, students will be required to submit to graduate studies for format checking BEFORE the final oral defence.
Deadline to submit for pre-defence format checking:
The candidate is to provide a copy of their formatted pre-defence document to the graduate studies office for format checking:
- at least two weeks prior to the intended oral defence date - for Master’s thesis or major research paper. Refer to the Master's Timeline tracker (new Nov. 2024) for guidance.
- at least four weeks prior to the intended oral defence date - for a Doctoral dissertation. Refer to the PhD Dissertation timeline for guidance.
How to submit to graduate studies for format review:
- ensure your document is prepared in compliance with the format requirements and populate the format checklist
- within the pre-defence Deadline specified above, submit your (1) formatted thesis document as a PDF file attachment along with (2) the populated format checklist and (3) intended defence date, via email to thesis@uwindsor.ca with a cc to your graduate secretary/program office.
The graduate studies thesis office will review your document for compliance and will provide formatting feedback via email within 3-5 business days. Documents are reviewed in order of submission and you will be notified by email after your document has been reviewed. Any formatting issues must be resolved before the final document upload/deposit.
Following a successful final oral defence, candidates will obtain final Committee approval and complete the post-defence submission ("Deposit") - refer to the Deposit instructions.