How will ETDs affect the thesis or dissertation review process?
The electronic format can facilitate communication among members of the dissertation committee and the student. Electronic distribution of drafts allows multiple readers to markup and comment within one copy of the work simultaneously, regardless of the readers’ physical location, and to see others’ comments. It also allows the student to collate the comments of all readers within one document. Students wishing to do this should send the electronic version of their thesis or dissertation to their committee members and request that they use Track Changes to do collaborative editing before submitting the final version to the online ETD system. Printed versions of the textual components of an ETD should always be made available to committee members at their request.
