Thesis: Master's Degree

While the student is ultimately responsible for writing quality and the thesis presentation, the use of a proofreader is acceptable for a thesis. The proofreader must be acknowledged in the thesis, either on the acknowledgement page or at the end of a project or extended essay.

A student’s use of a proofreader should be discussed with the supervisor and written approval to use a proofreader must be obtained from the supervisor. 

Proofreading is defined as the correction of errors in spelling, grammar and sentence construction, referencing, and punctuation, and may include identifying passages that lack clarity or are poorly written. The proofreader must ‘track changes’ and make liberal use of comment boxes in any electronic versions of the thesis.

The University expects that academic supervisors of theses will provide discipline-appropriate editorial comments including advice on the form, arrangement, thesis length, referencing, tables, figures, and headings. Supervisors should advise on whether the elements within the thesis are complete and consistent.

Additional reference: The Editor's Association of Canada guidelines for thesis editing.

All theses produced to meet Simon Fraser University’s degree requirements are subject to open publication, and are normally capable of standing as academically complete works. The open-access principle must be kept in mind when selecting a research topic. However, in some instances a portion of a student’s thesis might involve research whose publication in the library must be temporarily postponed because:

• it would jeopardize the safety of the researcher and/or research participants
• it contains patentable material or other intellectual property that requires protection, or
• the student has entered into a publication agreement with a publisher whose guidelines state that prior publication in a university repository will be a barrier to publication.

Students are expected to seek guidance from their supervisory committee whenever there is a possibility that certain findings might be subject to embargo for any of these reasons (see GGR 1.11.3). In coordination with their committee, students should communicate any anticipated or known restrictions on the publication of their research to Graduate Studies as soon as possible.

The formal request for postponement of publication must be submitted to Graduate Studies a minimum of 30 days in advance of the defence.

Prior to your examination

For the thesis distribution to the examining committee, changes made will not be redistributed to the examining committee. However, if a significant content-related error has been made an email from the supervisor outlining the error should be sent to defence@sfu.ca with a copy of the revised thesis. Graduate Studies will make a decision if it warrants redistribution.

After submission to the library

Changes cannot be made to the thesis after the supervisor has "signed-off" on the thesis/revision or after the thesis has been submitted to the Library.

However, if significant content-related errors that must be changed are found, permission for the student's supervisor and approval from Graduate Studies arenecessary. If the change is deemed significant, Graduate Studies will authorise the Thesis Office to accept the change.