Preparing your thesis for submission requires you to make sure you have met the requirements for presentation, and had your final draft edited. You are also required to include an iThenticate report in your online submission to ensure academic integrity.
A research student should expect the examination process to take between 2-3 months from the dispatch of thesis to examiners to Research Examinations receiving the examiner reports. The period under examination can be a particularly anxious time for students and we take care to manage the process as efficiently as possible to minimise long waiting periods. Research Examinations also has well-established procedures to deal with overdue examiner reports.
The thesis submission process is managed online via the Thesis Management tile in your Research Student Portal. When you submit your thesis for examination it must be approved by your Principal Supervisor and Dean of Research (or delegate) before the examination process may commence (nominated examiners also need to be approved). Following Dean of Research (or delegate) approval of your thesis submission for examination, your candidature consumption will be stopped and any active scholarships will be ended. For more information on consumption and fees please refer to Fees and Enrolment.
To enquire about the examination process, please email: research.examinations@unisa.edu.au
The examination checklist provides comprehensive details of the areas of responsibility and processes for preparing to submit. It should be read in conjunction with Procedure AB-58 P6 Research Degrees Thesis Preparation and Examination.
Examination checklist for supervisors and students (PDF 163kb)
You will receive an email once you reach 75% of your candidature and are considered in the completing stage of your degree. When you are 1-3 months from lodging your thesis for examination you are expected to discuss your proposed submission date with your supervisory team.
You are then able to update your intent to submit page in your research student portal (this will be an approximate date allowing flexibility of about 2 weeks either side of the date that is indicated).
Your Principal Supervisor will be notified via email once you have provided an intended submission date.
Providing an intended submission date is not a mandatory requirement, however it is recommended as a reminder for you and your supervisors to begin discussion around the examination process and timelines.
Intent to Submit User Guide (PDF 696kb)
Ahead of submitting your thesis you need to discuss with your supervisors whether your thesis meets the requirements for a thesis containing published research, as per Section G in Guideline AB-58 AD7 Presentation of the Research Degree Thesis or Exegesis (consolidated).
If your thesis meets the criteria for a thesis containing published research, you need to have a Statement of Authorship form for each paper. The form must be signed by each co-author so it's important to make sure you allow enough time to do this.
Completed forms must be inserted as an Appendix to your thesis.
If you are doing a Professional Doctorate by Research, refer also to the Guidelines for examiners of the professional doctorate by research (Word 48kb) - criteria and examination procedures.
To submit your thesis for examination you need to follow this process in conjunction with your Principal Supervisor.
Thesis Submission for Examination User Guide (PDF 862kb)
PhD students commencing from 1 January 2016 will be required to undertake a defence of the thesis as part of their thesis examination. Research degree students who commenced prior to 1 January 2016 can elect to defend their thesis as part of the examination process. If you are considering this option you should discuss this with your supervisor in the first instance.
If you have elected to defend your thesis, you are also required to provide at least three months notice prior to submitting your thesis by contacting research.examinations@unisa.edu.au.
The defence of the thesis, also known as a viva, provides research degree students with an opportunity to discuss their research directly with international experts and to establish stronger ties and networks across their field of study.
The UniSA defence of the thesis has been modelled on structures that operate at universities in England and New Zealand. It will deliver a single thesis examination result following external examination of the written thesis and a defence of the thesis by the research student.
The key steps involved in the thesis defence are:
For further details on the defence of the thesis process visit this page (you must be logged into LearnOnline) or contact research.examinations@unisa.edu.au
Research Examinations will advise you and your supervisors once your thesis has been dispatched to both examiners and will also provide an expected date for the receipt of your examiner reports. Please note that this is an approximate date and may change, dependent upon your examiners' workloads and other extenuating circumstances.
Research Examinations monitors the examination timelines. If the report has not been received by the anticipated due date, the examiner will be contacted with an overdue reminder. Research Examinations will maintain contact with examiners until their report has been submitted. You and your supervisor(s) will remain informed of the examination process and will be advised of any expected delays.
After your oral defence, or where there is no oral defence once both examiner reports have been received, Research Examinations will send you your results via email to your student email account. This will include the examiner reports and the processes and timelines relevant to your examination results.
Your final submission, and revised thesis submission if required, will be completed via the student research portal following the same processes as the thesis submission for examination.
The post examination checklist provides comprehensive details of the areas of responsibility and processes for preparing to submit your final thesis for the conferral of your degree, or your revised thesis for re-examination.
Post Examination Checklist for Students and Supervisors (PDF 44kb)
You are entitled to appeal your results through the Research Degree Examinations and Quality Panel (Panel) to have your thesis re-examined once only, provided that the required evidence is submitted to the satisfaction of the Panel. Refer to section D of Procedure AB-58 P6 Research Degrees Thesis Preparation and Examination for the grounds for appeal and to familiarise yourself with the processes. The meeting schedule and information to assist in the preparation of an appeal can be found here.
Refer to the completion due dates for Research Degrees Committee to determine the closing dates for each conferral round. These are firm deadlines so careful attention should be paid to ensure all requirements are met for inclusion in a round.
Your thesis must be submitted online and approved by your Principal Supervisor, Independent Reviewer (if applicable), RDC (if applicable) and Dean of Research (or delegate) prior to the closing date. Ensure you allow sufficient time for the approval process to be completed (7 - 10 working days should be allowed).
All other documentation, including an approved Author Consent Form, Citation of no more than 900 characters (with spaces) and recorded Unique Student Identifier (USI), must also be provided by the closing date.
Please take note of the deadline for all outstanding conditions to be met. This includes checking Parchment details and clearing Bad Financial Standing (BFS), which must be satisfied prior to this date in order to be approved for conferral.
After conferral, you will be formally notified via email of your conferral within a week following the scheduled date.