Thesis & Dissertation Proposal Process

Students should prepare their thesis/dissertation proposal using the format guidelines specified in the USU Publication Guide for Graduate Students and in the most recent version of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (style manual approved for the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services). In preparing the proposal, students should use the Guidelines for M.S. Plan A Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation Research Proposals. (Copies are also available through the Office of Research Services.)

Data collection is not to be started prior to formal committee approval of the proposal. After the proposal has been approved by all members of the student's committee, a copy of the proposal, and an original cover sheet with dated committee signatures must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies.

For studies involving research with humans or animals, after the proposal has been successfully defended and required revisions made, one copy of the proposal must be delivered to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Old Main 163, for review by the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Attach one completed copy of the Human Subjects Approval Form (IRB) or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Protocol Application for Live Animal Use in Research, Teaching or Training at Utah State University form.