Submission of your final dissertation to the Office of Thesis & Dissertation Services must include the following items:

1. Dissertation
2. Advisor’s Approval to Submit form
3. Dissertation Information Sheet (this is a form sent to you by Vicky Turner, Doctoral Degree Coordinator, when your final defense is scheduled)
4. Survey of Earned Doctorates (for PhD students only)
5. Final Examination Report (this is a customized form sent to you by Vicky Turner, Doctoral Degree Coordinator, when your final defense is scheduled)
6. iThenticate similarity report with score <12% or including a brief explanation of a higher score (refer to advisor)

Please submit documents via email to OTDS@tamuc.edu. Your dissertation must be in Word format. The various forms should be scanned and emailed along with your dissertation. Please include in your email what type of computer you used (Mac or PC) and what version of Word you used to prepare your document. This will help us process your document more efficiently. 

NATURE OF THE DISSERTATION (11.04099.R0.23) 

3.1 A dissertation is designed both:           

3.1.1 To demonstrate the student's superior academic competence and scholarship, including the ability to carry out research in the field of specialization. 

3.1.2 To contribute significantly to the knowledge of that field. 

3.2 The topic, the methodology and the topic's significance must be judged by the criteria that constitutes acceptable research among practicing scholars in the discipline. 

3.3 A suitable dissertation topic must have the potential to do at least one of the following: 

3.3.1 Uncover new and significant facts or principles 

3.3.2 Test a significant theory still in doubt by collecting and interpreting relevant data 

3.3.3 Suggest previously unrecognized relationships 

3.3.4 Challenge existing truths or assumptions 

3.3.5 Afford further insights into little-understood phenomena 

3.3.6 Suggest new interpretations of known facts that can alter in some way the body of knowledge that constitutes the field.