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Guidelines for Preparing Master's Theses in Arts & Sciences

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION on CUNY ACADEMIC WORKS

 

DEADLINE DATE (Per Semester):

Fall/Winter Semesters: January 5, 2024

Spring Semester: May 3, 2024

Summer Semester: August 2, 2024

 

PLEASE NOTE: All advisers' and readers' approvals must be done by this date -

CUNY Academic Works is the online research repository for the City University of New York. By depositing your work in Academic Works, it will receive wide visibility via search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, and Bing. You will receive a permanent URL to include on your CV, as well as monthly download reports telling you how often your work has been downloaded and read.

The following are the general requirements for the School of Arts and Sciences master’s theses submitted electronically through CUNY Academic Works. Candidates should check with their departments for information about any additional requirements specific to their degree program.

 

CHOOSING THE THESIS TOPIC, SUBMITTING DRAFTS

The degree candidate should consult her/his graduate advisor for the requirements of the graduate program with regard to choosing the thesis topic and submitting the first and final drafts.Readers will review only final approved thesis drafts through the online CUNY Academic Works portal (http://academicworks.cuny.edu/). For more details, see Step by Step Guide for Students. BOTH GUIDELINES FOR READERS AND STUDENTS ARE POSTED BELOW.

APPROVAL OF THE THESIS

The thesis should be read by at least two readers ( the thesis sponsor and a second reader). At least one of readers must be a fulltime faculty member.Readers’ approval of the thesis should be certified by their typed signatures on the title page of the thesis. When both readers have electronically approved a thesis through CUNY Academic Works, it will be electronically forwarded to the department graduate advisor. If the advisor is satisfied that the thesis has met the departmental and School requirements, she/he electronically approves the thesis. Once the program adviser and readers approve the thesis via CUNY Academic Works, the degree candidate may not make any revisions. For more details, see Step by Step Guide for Readers.

 

GUIDE FOR PREPARING THE THESIS

Thesis text should be typed using a legible font such as Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman. All margins of both text and illustrations must be one inch. The text is to be double-spaced, except for quotations of more than four lines, which will be set apart (single-spaced and indented). Footnotes and bibliography will be single-spaced, with double spacing between notes and entries. Pages, including pages of illustrative material, bibliography, and appendices are to be typed or scanned and numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.

No ink insertions are allowed. Striking over or crossing out an error is not permitted.

Illustrations, graphics, charts, and photographs must be scanned or produced with an appropriate computer program. Graphic materials must include a descriptive caption that includes the author and original source.  Generally, all graphic materials should be scaled to fit the electronic page size of 8 1/2 by 11 inches. If and when appropriate, other sizes can be accepted.The graduate program and the library liaison for CUNY Academic Works, Iris Finkel  should be consulted for technical guidance on uploading illustrations and permissions for copyrighted materials.

The content of the thesis should include the following, when applicable, in order as listed:

  • Title Page
  • Dedication (optional)
  • Acknowledgments (optional)
  • Table of Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • Title of Chapters
  • Appendices
  • References

In addition, for all electronic submissions, degree candidates should be prepared to upload into the online repository an informative abstract of no more than 50 words, a list of ten keywords, and a CUNY Academic Works submission agreement.

Also, for Date of Award in the meta-data section of CUNY Academic Works, students should enter the thesis deadline date listed above for that given semester. 

THESIS TITLE PAGE

The first page of the thesis must be a completed Thesis Title Page. The names of the first and second readers are typed onto the thesis title page. Original signatures should not be scanned onto the thesis title page. For date enter the month, day, and year that you upload your thesis to CUNY Academic Works. The links below displays a sample of completed electronic Thesis Title Page.

Sample 1 –title page-MA degree

Sample 2 –title page- MFA degree

*Please make sure to type in names of the readers and date*

 

FORMATTING AND STYLE

All theses deposited in the online repository must conform to an accepted style guide for publication and writing. References sections and in text citations must follow an acceptable style consistently and correctly. The Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, and the University of Chicago Press publish widely accepted style guides. The degree candidate should consult her/his graduate advisor for the style guide preferred by the discipline.

 

DEADLINE (with all approvals by readers/via CUNY AcademicWorks)

The graduate program will set its deadline for the final approval of the thesis. The deadline for the electronic deposit of the approved thesis via CUNY Academic Works is set by the Office of the Dean for the School of Arts and Sciences. The specific due date for each semester is posted at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/artsci/graduate-education.

Please note deadline dates for each semester are listed above. For any specific questions regarding the deadlines dates set by the Dean's Office, you may contact our main office 212-772-5121.

 

NOTICE OF FINAL APPROVAL

When the thesis has been accepted by the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, the thesis approval will be noted as a Milestone on the students' CUNYfirst transcript. Students should look at your transcripts for any new updates.

No Change Policy

Please note: No changes can be made to a thesis once it has been approved by the Dean and posted to CUNY Academic Works. 

 

Our office would also like to share the CUNY Guide for Academic Works for any further questions regarding this system.

CUNY Guide -Academic Works

 

Step by Step FOR READERS

Step by Step FOR Students

If you have any questions about master's theses, please contact your graduate advisor or the Dean's Office, School of Arts & Sciences, at (212) 772-5121.

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