What to formally submit your digital dissertation at the GC? Here are a few things to do first:

• The first place to start for any PhD student at the GC is the Library’s broad Dissertations and Theses guide, which covers everything from applying for dissertation in CUNYFirst to embargo dates to digital-specific information. In terms of more general resources, also important is their Format Requirements guide for any “traditional” article/monograph portion of your dissertation submission. If you are writing your dissertation with Markdown or LaTex, there are also some generic templates to work from on that page as well.
• Worth noting is that GC librarians Roxanne Shirazi and Stephen Zweibel have published a useful article guiding this process.
• Next, for the digital portion of the dissertation. It is recommended that you review the GC Library Guide to Digital Dissertations early on. It contains a wealth resources on digital dissertations, including formal submission requirements, project examples, and guidance from scholarly organizations. Especially noteworthy are the formal Digital Project Documentation Guidelines, which speak to what a white paper or digital manifest should include for your digital project. A white paper is a more comprehensive overview for wholly digital dissertation approaches, whereas a digital manifest is a simpler, table of contents style, listing of the relevant digital parts of your dissertation.
• Finally, the Digital Preservation guide is a useful resource for archiving your digital project–to ensure it is accessible down the road, no matter if the technology becomes outdated in years to come.
• If you haven’t already, this is a good time to check out our podcast discussion with Roxanne Shirazi and Stephen Zweibel—two GC librarians who can help you with your project.
• It is also strongly recommended that you set up a meeting with Roxanne and/or Stephen ASAP–they have an abundance of knowledge in this space, and can walk you through this process, offering tips and resources specific to your needs.

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