Master's Thesis or Capstone Project

You are about to embark on one of the most important aspects of a master’s degree, the preparation of a master’s thesis or capstone project. The thesis or project will provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate the ideas, research skills, and creative abilities you have gained during your graduate work.

As with your previous master’s coursework, the first place to begin this new endeavor is with your department. The most important person in your department at this time will be your thesis or project advisor. You should select an advisor who is a good match with your research interests and with whom you have a good academic and working relationship. The selection and definition of a research topic and methodology is a key element for completing a successful thesis. Your thesis or project advisor is the person who will help you do this and who will guide you through the content and research requirements of the thesis or project.

The university recognizes two types of theses, University Theses, and Departmental Theses, and one type of Capstone Project.   Your program will specify which one you should complete, or perhaps provide an option of any of the three.   University Theses must comply with university guidelines regarding formatting, while your program will define the format required for a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project.

If you are completing a University Thesis, the Office of Graduate Studies will assist you with the style and format of your thesis. This University Thesis Writing Guide and the Thesis Format One-Pager present the requirements to follow when you write your thesis. Reading and following these guidelines will help you to prepare a thesis that will be in conformance with university standards and thus acceptable for format and style. If you are completing a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project, and your department does not provide a specified format for your thesis or project, you may wish to follow the University Thesis format guidelines in order to produce a thesis of professional quality.   Questions of content and academic quality are determined by the thesis or project advisor in your department.

if you are completing a University Thesis, after you have read the Thesis Format One-Pager and the University Thesis Writing Guide, please email thesiseditor@csueastbay.edu if you have any questions concerning style and format not covered in these pages. If you are completing a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project, please contact your program coordinator with any questions.   I encourage you to clear up any questions before the preparation of your final draft. 

Congratulations on your graduate work to date and best wishes on your thesis or project.

Sincerely,

Kevin Brown, Ph.D.
Director of Graduate Studies 

A University Thesis is a formal presentation of an objective, critical investigation. It is to be written in a formal, scholarly manner in standard English. The quality of both the presentation and content of the finished thesis is a major consideration in its acceptance by the University. 

A University Thesis demonstrates originality, clear purpose, appropriate organization, critical analysis, independent thinking, and accurate and complete documentation. Style, language, and punctuation must be consistent. Description, cataloging, compilation, or other simple procedures are not adequate.

The Office of Graduate Studies will assist students completing University Theses with the required format and style.

Following the guidelines in The University Thesis Writing Guide will help you to prepare a thesis that will be in conformance with University standards and thus acceptable for format and style. You also have available to you the Thesis Format One-Pager to be used as a quick reference tool. 

For questions, email thesiseditor@csueastbay.edu.

A Departmental Thesis is very similar to a University Thesis in terms of objective and content.  The main distinction is that the format of a departmental thesis is specified by your department rather than the university.  As a result, Departmental Theses do not undergo format review by the Office of Graduate Studies.

A Capstone Project is a significant undertaking in either a fine or applied art or a professional field. Projects should provide evidence of originality, independent thinking, and appropriate form and organization. Students are required to describe their project in a written abstract that addresses the project’s significance, objectives, methodology, and conclusions. In some cases, the student may be required to present an oral defense.

For questions, please contact your program coordinator or thesis or project advisor.

For both types of theses, the Thesis Advisor in your department can answer questions regarding content or academic quality.  The Project Advisor or Instructor of your project class can answer similar questions regarding Capstone Projects.

1. Consult with a graduate advisor. Learn about your graduate program and the requirements for preparing a thesis or project.
2. For University and Departmental Theses, form a thesis committee. It is important to contact your department for guidelines on forming a thesis committee to supervise your writing.  Guidelines vary department-by-department. The Chair of your committee must be a California State University, East Bay faculty member.
3. Capstone Projects may or may not require a committee.  Contact your department for more information.
4. Previously published papers can be used for a thesis if: the student is first (senior) author on the published papers; there is written permission from the publishers to use the papers for the thesis; and there is both an introductory chapter as well as a concluding chapter that connect the papers together.
5. Enroll in your department’s thesis or project course.   University Thesis courses are numbered 691, while Departmental Thesis courses are numbered 699.  Capstone Project courses are numbered 693.
6. For University Theses, download and review the materials required to format the thesis, including:
   1. University Thesis Writing Guide
   2. Thesis Format One-Pager
   3. For other materials, scroll to "Thesis Resources".

• Settle on a thesis or project topic with the guidance of your department, and obtain Thesis Committee approval (if necessary).
• If required, get Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Approval of research protocol by the IRB is mandatory if research with human subjects is involved. This review is necessary to determine whether human subjects will be at risk and to protect their rights and welfare. IRB approval must be obtained before research commences. 

Students should contact the IRB Coordinator early in their thesis or project planning process and should submit their completed application (protocol) to the IRB at least two months before they plan to begin their research.

Any research involving surveys, experiments, questionnaires, interviews, and similar methodology involves research with human subjects. Theses or projects in the social and behavioral sciences, education, health fields and management/ administration will probably require this review.

For further questions, contact the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs . 

Students completing a University Thesis only are required to complete a format review through the Office of Graduate Studies.   Please complete the steps below by the initial format review deadline (see deadlines section.)

By the Initial Format Review deadline, students completing a University Thesis must submit:

1. The Thesis Submission Information Form.
2. The Title page, table of contents, and sample first page of their thesis.  If you intend to include figures in your thesis, please also submit a sample figure.
3. Email the Thesis/Capstone Information Submission Form and your thesis documents to gradstudies@csueastbay.edu and thesiseditor@csueastbay.edu. Put "Initial University Thesis Submission" in the Subject line.
4. Please note that the Signature Page should not be signed. The page must be approved for format and signatures will be obtained via AdobeSIgn.

After your submission form is received, The Office of Graduate Studies will mail you a signature page form through AdobeSign.  This request will be mailed to your Horizon email account.  Please complete this form.  Your thesis committee members should not sign the form yet, but please remind your University Thesis committee members to digitally sign the Signature page later when your thesis has been completed, and defended.   They will be emailed a request.  If the chair of your University Thesis committee will be away from campus during the final semester, you are responsible for making alternative arrangements for final approval.

• During the review, the Thesis Editor will return the Thesis Checklist and a copy of your thesis with recommended edits. Work with the Thesis Editor to make the final changes.
• After revising the thesis, return it to thesiseditor@csueastbay.edu with the title “Revised Thesis” in the subject line for a final check at the initial submission phase.

Work closely with your thesis committee chair or project advisor/instructor to review your progress, and revise as directed until your committee judges your thesis or project to be acceptable and complete.

For students completing a University Thesis, follow all formatting requirements as outlined in the University Thesis Writing Guide and Thesis Format One-Pager.

Be sure to include all mandatory elements. Theses must contain the four sections that are listed below in bold-faced type. Additional sections, as listed below and marked by asterisks (*), are optional. Sections must be assembled in the following order: 

1. Title Page
2. Copyright Page*
3. Abstract*
4. Signature Page (will be completed through AdobeSign)
   
5. Acknowledgments*
6. Table of Contents
7. Lists of figures, graphs, photos, plates, maps and tables; if used*
8. Preface*
9. Page 1. First page of thesis text
10. Endnotes, if not in text or at end of chapters*
11. Bibliography*
12. Appendix*

Title Page. Use the template in the University Thesis Writing Guide as tools to help you determine whether your Title Page has been formatted correctly.

Create a typed version following the instructions on the template. Insert the same number of blank lines as indicated on the templates.

Hold your typed Title Page up to the light along with a copy of the appropriate template to check alignment of all elements. Note: Alignment of the elements on your typed pages will vary slightly depending upon the font, etc.

For students completing a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project, please contact your program coordinator for details regarding required formatting.

Note: Faculty members are not expected to take time to make extensive corrections or revisions. They are encouraged, instead, to return draft materials to the student with general instructions and suggestions for bringing the thesis or project up to required departmental and University standards.

University Thesis Defense

If your department or committee requires an oral thesis defense, you must have successfully defended your thesis prior to submitting it for final format review. 

Students completing a University Thesis only are required to complete a format review through the Office of Graduate Studies.   Please complete the steps below by the final format review deadline (see deadlines section.)

By the Final Format Review deadline, students completing a University Thesis must submit:

1. The completed and defended thesis.

• Submit your final and committee approved thesis to thesiseditor@csueastbay.edu and gradstudies@csueastbay.edu.    Put "Final University Thesis Submission" in the Subject line.
• The thesis can be submitted as a single PDF, or as two separate PDFs: The Preliminary and Content Pages can be separate.  Note: Early submissions are appreciated.
• Please remind your University Thesis committee members to digitally sign the Signature page as well.   They will have been emailed a request when you submitted your thesis for initial format review.  If the chair of your University Thesis committee will be away from campus during the final semester, you are responsible for making alternative arrangements for final approval.
• During the review, the Thesis Editor will return the Thesis Checklist and a copy of your thesis with recommended edits. Work with the Thesis Editor to make the final changes.
• After revising the thesis, return it to thesiseditor@csueastbay.edu with the title “Revised Thesis” in the subject line for a final check.
• When the review is complete, the Thesis Editor will send an approval email stating that your thesis is ready to submit for archiving.

Students completing a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project should contact their program coordinator or thesis or project advisor for questions regarding formatting of their thesis. 

For University Theses only, your thesis Signature page will be completed through the AdobeSign process.   The committee member approval signatures will also be collected through the same process.

After you have submitted the Thesis Information Submission Form to the Office of Graduate Studies, you will be emailed a request to complete the Signature page via an AdobeSign form.   You will be asked to enter the title of your thesis and your name.   Please ensure that you use all capitals in the title and that you delete any lines which are not used.  If you need to include special characters including characters with accent marks, Greek symbols, or mathematical equations in your title, please see the instructions below.

After you complete the Signature page form, select "Submit".   The Office of Graduate Studies will route the page to your committee members.  You will receive a copy of the completed Signature page when your thesis committee members have approved your thesis.

Windows OS:

1. Special Characters, Symbols, and Accent Marks

• Search for "Character Map" in the search bar embedded in the Windows toolbar
• Open the Character Map application
• Find the symbol or letter you'd like to use and double click it to place it in the "Characters to copy" bar
• Select "Copy". 
• Navigate to the Adobe Sign document and use the paste function to place the symbol or letter in the desired field.

2. Mathematical Equations

• It is necessary to type the equations in the MS Word application and then copy and paste it to the AdobeSign document. Full instructions here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-mathematical-symbols-91a4b04c-84a8-4de9-bd13-8609e14bed58

Mac OS:

1. Accent marks:

• When you type a letter that needs an accent or other diacritical mark, hold down that key on the keyboard to display an accent menu. Copy and paste it in the desired field within the Adobe Sign document.

2. Special Characters and Symbols:

• Press Control-Command-Space bar to open the Character Viewer. Find the desired symbol or character and copy and paste it in the desired field within the Adobe Sign document.

3. Mathematical equations:

• It is necessary to type the equations in the Pages app and then copy and paste it to the AdobeSign document.  Full instructions here: https://support.apple.com/guide/pages/add-mathematical-equations-tanca5a4fbd9/11.2/mac/1.0
  
  

• Complete and sign the Non-Exclusive Distribution License and Availability Agreement. The Department Chair signature is only required for Embargo.
• Email the License Agreement and a PDF version of the complete thesis, including a copy of the signed Signature Page to archives@csueastbay.edu.
• For University Theses, ensure that all committee member signatures have been obtained via AdobeSign by the deadline.  After the Library receives the thesis, the Office of Graduate Studies will notify the graduation evaluators in the Records Office that your thesis has been accepted.
• For Departmental Theses or Capstone Projects,
  • Email the Thesis/Capstone Information Submission Form to gradstudies@csueastbay.edu.  Please use a subject line of "Departmental Thesis Submission Info Form" or "Capstone Project Submission Form" respectively.
  • Ask your thesis or project advisor/instructor to send an email message to gradstudies@csueastbay.edu using a subject line of "Thesis Approval: Student Name" or "Project Approval: Student Name" to verify that your thesis or project is complete and ready to be archived.   Please ask your advisor to include your name, department, and thesis title in the email message.   For capstone courses, your instructor may send one message listing all students who have completed their projects in the course.

Open, Public Access to ScholarWorks. 

By default, items in CSUEB’s Institutional Repository are open access, meaning that anyone can access your work through ScholarWorks, the library catalog, or searching online via a search engine like Google or Bing. This brings greater visibility to your work and makes it more likely to be seen and used by other scholars. 

We strongly encourage you to not place access restrictions on deposited items. However, we understand that there may be times when restricted access is necessary. Please check with your thesis or project advisor and/or any journals to which you are planning to submit your thesis or project for publication if you have any concerns. 

Embargo (aka restricted access) The act of restricting access to a deposited item is an embargo. Items deposited in CSUEB’s ScholarWorks may be embargoed for six months, one year, or two years, if necessary, as is standard practice by many institutional repositories (for example, Duke University, University of Washington, and ProQuest). However, once again, we strongly encourage you to not place an embargo on your work. 

While the full-text PDF of your thesis will not be available online during the embargo period, we will place a record for your embargoed work in ScholarWorks, making note of the date when the full text will become available after the expiration of the embargo. 

Embargoes upon items deposited in CSUEB’s ScholarWorks are rarely necessary, as many publishers, including Nature Publishing Group allow for the deposit of pre-submission versions of work in Institutional Repositories prior to publication. 

You can find out the pre-print, post-print, and embargo policies of many journals by searching the Sherpa/RoMEO database, a service provided by University of Nottingham. 

You and your thesis or project advisor may discuss what need, if any, there is for an embargo before submitting your thesis or project and you will need to note your decision on the Non- Exclusive Distribution and Availability Agreement. If you choose not to restrict access to your thesis or project by placing it under embargo, you do not need your advisor to sign the form.

If you have any questions, email archives@csueastbay.edu or call the University Archives at 510-885-3892.

Some departments also require 1 or 2  printed and bound copies. Please verify this requirement with your Thesis Chair or Project Advisor/Instructor.

If a bound copy is required, or you desire a bound copy for your own records, you may contact a thesis binding service and contract with them individually.   The following thesis binding service is recommended:

PhD Book Binding at: https://phdbookbinding.com/

Students completing a University Thesis are responsible for submitting their thesis for Format Review by the Format Review deadline for the semester in which they intend to graduate.   Students completing a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project should not submit their thesis or project for review by the Office of Graduate Studies.   Their department will determine the appropriate format.  They should however submit an electronic copy of their thesis to the University Library for inclusion in ScholarWorks, the CSUEB institutional repository.

By the Initial Format Review deadline, students completing a University Thesis must submit:

1. The Thesis Submission Information Form.
2. The Title page, table of contents, and sample first page of their thesis.  If you intend to include figures in your thesis, please also submit a sample figure.

By the Final Format Review deadline, students completing a University Thesis must submit:

1. The completed and defended thesis.
   

By the Electronic Library Submissions deadline, students completing a University Thesis must:

1. Submit their thesis in PDF format including committee signatures to archives@csueastbay.edu.
2. Sign and submit the Non-Exclusive Distribution License and Availability Agreement to archives@csueastbay.edu.
3. For University theses only, the student and all committee members must complete the AdobeSign signature process.  

These are firm deadlines and you must meet both. Otherwise, your graduation will be delayed.

Deadlines to submit your University thesis for format review and submit copies:

Students completing a Departmental Thesis or Capstone Project should also follow the Electronic Library Submission instructions above to submit their work for inclusion in ScholarWorks, the CSUEB institutional repository.   In addition, they should ask their thesis committee chair or project advisor/instructor to send an email message to gradstudies@csueastbay.edu using a subject line of "Thesis/Project Approval: Student Name" after they have approved the thesis or project.

Deadlines for submission of Departmental Theses and Capstone Projects for inclusion in ScholarWorks are 2 weeks after the Library submission deadline above for University Theses. 

• Thesis format one-pager
• University thesis writing guide
• Thesis/Capstone submission information form
• Non-exclusive distribution license and availability agreement
• Thesis templates