Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Starting in the Spring 2011 semester, all dissertations and theses submitted at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will occur electronically. Such dissertations and theses are commonly referred to in academic circles as electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

An ETD is an openly-accessible electronic version of your thesis/dissertation/project that will be kept by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. For theses and dissertations produced in the research doctoral program, this electronic copy will be kept in addition to a bound, paper copy. The transition to ETDs is a cooperative effort between the Doctoral Studies Department, the Professional Doctoral Studies Department, and the Library. All the information presented here comes from these sources and represents the official policies of Southern Seminary.

How do I submit my thesis/dissertation/project?
Students submitting dissertations or theses may do so at http://www.etdadmin.com/sbts. Students submitting dissertations and theses are also required to submit one signed copy of your signature page to the library. The signature page must be printed on either acid free or 100% cotton bond paper. Signature pages can be turned in either at the Archives and Special Collections Department or at the library circulation desk.

Students submitting professional doctoral projects may do so at http://www.etdadmin.com/sbts.pdp. The seminary also provides a Microsoft Word template to assist in the formatting of your dissertation.

Step-by-step instructions are provided at these sites, and formatting guidelines are provided in Southern Seminary’s Manual of Style.

What are the benefits of open access for my thesis/dissertation/project?

1. Greater visibility helps improve your reputation in your field. Many scholars today do their initial searching on a topic online. Scholars seeking to build their reputation need to make their work accessible in forms actually used by potential colleagues and employers .
2. Scholarly communication happens very quickly today. Internet availability is much more beneficial than the long delays and added costs that accompanied library processing and lending of print theses/dissertations.
3. Your thesis/dissertation will become part of a growing international collection of ETDs through the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
4. Because your work, and the fact that it is your work, will be easy to find, it will be much harder for anyone to appropriate your research without giving you credit.
5. Research shows that scholarship available on the internet through open access is cited more often, and is cited sooner, than work that is available only through a subscription or the loan of a print copy.
6. Multimedia objects, including color images, hyperlinks, audio, video, spreadsheets and databases, even virtual reality worlds can be easily incorporated into your dissertation and can readily be made available to all of your readers.
7. A stable URL for your work can be included in a CV and sent by e-mail to colleagues and to hiring committees. Because our database is OAI compliant, your work also will be found by major search tools.
8. Open access more fully embodies the goal of the thesis/dissertation to be a public contribution to scholarship. On the internet your work can reach an audience whose interest in it may have been unforeseeable. New possibilities for interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary research, and the formation of unexpected research collaborations, are created by open access to scholarship.

The content on this page was adapted with the permission of the Duke University Graduate School.