Examination procedures

Flowchart of examination process

To view a flowchart that illustrates an overview of the examination process, please select the examination type that relates to you.

• Does not include exhibition or performance (PDF, 105.0KB).
• Includes exhibition or performance (PDF, 131.2KB).

Research integrity training

You must complete the compulsory research integrity training before the examination of your thesis can commence. You may attend a workshop or complete the training online.

Creative work examinations

Further detailed information specific to examinations in the Faculty of Arts and Education can be found on the creative work examinations page.

Students are required to give at least eight weeks notice of their intention to submit a thesis for examination except for examination by exhibition or performance which requires 12 weeks notice.

Lodgement of the notice of intention to submit thesis for examination is performed by creating a new examination in HDR examinations. Please log on to HDR examinations to begin an examination.

Access HDR examinations

Preparation of thesis

1. Font not less than 12 point.
2. Spacing and line length appropriate to font size.
3. Margins – not less than 20mm on the binding side (the left side). The thesis will be printed on double sided paper if requested by the examiner. If an examiner requests a hard copy of your thesis, your thesis will be printed, bound and sent to them, therefore it must be formatted to allow for this.
4. Tables, diagrams and figures should be inserted in the text as close to the first reference to them as is convenient, with suitable captions.
5. Length - should not exceed 50,000 words for a masters thesis or 100,000 words for a doctoral thesis. This includes: the title page, contents page, abstract, bibliography, figures and tables, appendices and any notes.
6. The thesis title page must be inserted as page one of your thesis (not numbered). Please do not add any other information to the title page or change the layout. Please note there is a ten word limit on thesis titles and acronyms and abbreviations should be avoided. Failure to adhere to these guidelines could cause a delay in the progression of your thesis to examination.
7. The candidate declaration form must be signed electronically or printed and signed then scanned into electronic format. This must be inserted as the second page of your thesis (not numbered).
8. The Research Training Program (RTP)/Funding Acknowledgement must be inserted on the third page of your thesis (not numbered) if you have received any type of RTP Scholarship. If you have received any other financial support for your project you are also encouraged to disclose that in this section.
9. An authorship statement needs to be inserted into the thesis if you have included any multi-authored publications. There must be one form inserted for each multi-authored publication. This statement needs to describe clearly the contributions made by you and by every other author and must be signed by all authors.
10. The acknowledgement page (optional) should be inserted as the fourth page of your thesis (not numbered). If a professional editor has been used, editing assistance may be required to be acknowledged depending on the agreement between the candidate and the editor.
11. A list of publications (optional) should be inserted as the fifth page of your thesis (not numbered). Please indicate if each publication was submitted or accepted. A full version of your publication(s) may be included as an appendix to your thesis (not numbered).
    Note: this will be included in the word limit so you may prefer to provide a link to the publication as an alternative.
12. A COVID-19 Thesis Impact Statement (optional) explains the impact of the pandemic on your research. You may choose to include the statement as an additional page in your thesis (no more than 600 words) and/or address the impact within the content of the thesis.

Submission of thesis

Your thesis is submitted for examination via HDR examinations. It must be formatted to meet the guidelines as set out above.  To make sure you've met the formatting requirements, please refer to our Examination Copy - Thesis Formatting Checklist.

Your thesis must be uploaded as one single PDF document no greater than 100MB in size. To change your thesis into a PDF we recommend that you use a university computer and print to adobe PDF directly from Word. Please check the final document to ensure that all figures, tables and contents have converted correctly prior to submission.

At the time of submission you will asked to confirm that you have read and accepted the terms and conditions (PDF, 45.8KB) for submitting your thesis online. Please ensure that you have read these carefully before submitting your thesis.

If your document exceeds the size limit or you need to submit additional materials for examination, please email the Examinations Team for further information.

Course learning outcomes - On completion of your course you are required to reflect on your learning experience and provide a written statement of no more than one page demonstrating, with at least one example, how you have met the course learning outcomes (PDF, 88.2KB). This must be submitted into HDR examinations at the same time that you submit your thesis for examination. You can include evidence recorded in your candidature review or individual learning plan as a basis for this document (if applicable). To be awarded the degree your supervisor and head of academic unit must certify that you have met the relevant course learning outcomes (along with all other course requirements), in addition to your examiners certifying that you have satisfied the course learning outcomes related to your thesis.

iThenticate - At the time of submission you will be required to upload an iThenticate report. All HDR students have access to iThenticate throughout their candidature. It is available on HDR online forms, systems and apps page under 'Examination'.

iThenticate, similar to Turnitin, similar to Turnitin, is internet-based software used to detect plagiarism by comparing submissions to a content database. It is highly recommended that you utilise iThenticate to ensure your thesis complies with the Australian code for the responsible conduct of research and Deakin’s academic and research integrity policy.

The iThenticate report must be submitted to HDR Examinations simultaneously with your thesis and must match the submitted thesis document. Multiple reports can be uploaded if necessary. We recommend reviewing the report with your supervisor before submission to make any necessary amendments.

Further information on iThenticate.

Time spent under examination

Examiners are asked to complete the examination and provide their reports within eight weeks (six weeks for oral examinations) of receiving the thesis. If they comply with this timetable and there are no problems, the entire process could be completed in approximately three months. In practice, however, it sometimes takes longer because examiners are busy people and may find it difficult to comply with the deadlines given. If you have not received advice on the progress of the examination after four months from the date of submission you should seek information from the HDR adviser.

Each examiner submits an independent report on the thesis. An examiner may ask that certain questions be put to the student and that the responses be considered by the examiner. The examiner will send the list of questions to the HDR adviser who will communicate these with you.

Your enrolment

Your enrolment will continue while the thesis is under examination. You will be enrolled by Deakin Research in a 0 load which, in addition to keeping your candidature active, enables you to have access to The Deakin University Library and IT services. There are no fees for 0 load. If you have to resubmit your thesis for a further examination, then you will be enrolled part-time while you work on this. International students will pay fees for this part-time enrolment.

Consideration of examiners' reports

The standard process for considering the examiners' reports is set out in the Higher Degrees by Research assessment procedure. Where an oral thesis examination is required, information regarding the process is described in the HDR assessment procedure and schedule B: oral thesis examination. Guidelines are also available which provide information around the conduct of an oral thesis examination and outline the roles of the participants.

The final outcome of each examinations is determined by the Thesis Examination Committee (TEC), not the examiners. When all the examiners' reports have been received (plus the panel recommendation in the case of an oral) the Head of School will consider all reports and, following consultation with the principal/executive supervisor, make a recommendation on the outcome of the examination to the TEC. The decision on the final recommendation and how to respond to the examiners’ reports is made by the TEC. The thesis must have the support of at least two examiners before the TEC can recommend that the degree be awarded.

The TEC, on the basis of the examiners’ reports, may require that corrections and amendments be made to the thesis before it is accepted (Recommendations 2.1 and 2.2). These may be minor, such as the correction of typographical errors (2.1), or they may involve significant revision of the thesis (2.2). If you are required to revise the thesis you should consult with your principal supervisor and the Head of School about making the revisions. You will have 8 weeks to submit your minor amendments and library copy into the online examinations system. Further details regarding the preparation of your amended thesis and the final library copy of your thesis are available below.

Major amendments involve a re-examination by external examiners (Recommendation 3). As far as practicable, any re-examination will be by the original examiners. If any of them are not available, one or more new examiners may need to be appointed so that the University can be sure of receiving sufficient reports to determine an outcome. The examiners will be sent the revised version of the thesis and your statement on how you have responded to the examiner’s comments. If you receive recommendation 3 you will be re-enrolled part-time and given 12 months to resubmit your thesis.

After the examination

The HDR Adviser will release the final result through HDR Examinations after the outcome has been determined by the TEC. You will receive an email notification through HDR Examinations and will be able to login and view the examiners' reports. At the completion of the examination process, you will be given the names of the examiners unless an examiner has asked that his or her name be kept confidential. You must then prepare and submit both your amended thesis (if amendments are required) and the library copy of your thesis in the format described below.

Submitting your amended thesis for approval

Minor amendments always need to be made to the satisfaction of the Head of School or their nominee. In order for the Head of School to approve your amendments, they must be provided with 1) a completed Response to Examiners form, and 2) a version of your amended thesis which includes tracked changes such that the amendments to be evaluated are clearly visible. As there is only space to upload your Response to Examiners Reports into HDR Examinations, the Response form must be combined with the tracked-changes version of your thesis and uploaded as a single document.

At the same time, you will be required to upload a clean copy of your thesis (no tracked changes or comments present) which will serve as the Library Copy.  Your principal supervisor and the Head of School will review the thesis revisions as submitted into HDR Examinations and, if they are approved, the clean copy will immediately be forwarded to the Examinations team for approval. For your Library Copy to be approved by the HDR Adviser, it must meet the requirements outlined below.

Your library copy is a clean, electronic copy of the final version of the thesis and is required for lodgement with The Deakin University Library before the degree can be awarded. When preparing your library copy for submission, it is important to follow the below guidelines to ensure your thesis is approved by the Examinations Officer. To make sure you’ve met all formatting requirements, please refer to our Library Copy – Formatting Checklist. Please note: If you need guidance on how to present your Response to Examiners form and amendments, please see the “Find out what happens after submission” section of this page.  

The library copy of your thesis is submitted via HDR examinations. If your thesis requires amendments, you will submit the library copy at the same time as your amended thesis. If your thesis does not require amendments, you will submit the library copy after your results have been released.

All library copy submissions will include 3 components to be submitted in the HDR Examination system:

• A clean thesis document
• A thesis summary.
• A Digital Copyright and Access form

Below is advice on what to include in each component.

Clean Electronic Thesis document

The Clean Thesis document will be stored as your library copy. As part of the submission the clean electronic thesis document must be a single, unsecured PDF (preferably PDFA) that does not exceed 100MB. We recommend using a university computer to convert your thesis from Word to PDF, ensuring all figures, tables, and contents are correctly formatted. If your document exceeds the size limit or you need to submit additional materials, please email the Examinations team for further assistance.

1. The thesis title page must be the first page of your thesis (not numbered) and must adhere to the formatting requirements provided in the sample title page. Do not add any additional information or alter the layout.
2. A COVID-19 Thesis Impact Statement (optional) explains the impact of the pandemic on your research. You may choose to include the statement as an additional page in your thesis (no more than 600 words) and/or address the impact within the content of the thesis. Note: you may opt to include a COVID-19 Thesis Impact Statement for examination and remove it from your library copy but you cannot do the reverse. A COVID-19 Thesis Impact Statement cannot be included in your library copy if it wasn’t included in the examination copy.
3. The candidate declaration form must be signed and inserted as page two of your thesis (not numbered). Any bracketed instructions like "(10 words maximum)" and "(Please Print)" should be removed. Please note, this is the same declaration form that you will have inserted into your examination copy
4. The Research Training Program (RTP)/Funding Acknowledgement must be inserted on the third page of your thesis (not numbered) if you have received any type of RTP Scholarship. If you have received any other financial support for your project you are also encouraged to disclose that in this section.
5. An authorship statement needs to be inserted into the thesis if you have included any multi-authored publications. There must be one form inserted for each multi-authored publication. This statement needs to describe clearly the contributions made by you and by every other author and must be signed by all authors. These can be included as appendices if preferred.
6. The acknowledgement page (optional) should be inserted as the fourth page of your thesis (not numbered). If a professional editor has been used, editing assistance may be required to be acknowledged depending on the agreement between the candidate and the editor.
7. A list of publications (optional) should be inserted as the fifth page of your thesis (not numbered). Please indicate if each publication was submitted or accepted. A full version of your publication(s) may be included as an appendix to your thesis (not numbered). Note: this will be included in the word limit so you may prefer to provide a link to the publication as an alternative.

Digital Copyright and Access form

The Digital Copyright and Access Form relates to the copyright and accessibility of your thesis via the internet. This form must be completed and signed, then uploaded in PDF format along with your final thesis submission via HDR examinations.

When filling out the form ensure:

1. You’ve provided a personal email address, rather than your Deakin email.
2. Your thesis title is the exact same as what is in your thesis document.
3. You’ve added your signature, your name, and the date to the sections at the bottom of the form.

You have the option to make your entire thesis available online through Deakin Research Online or limit access to the citation, abstract, and metadata only. If you opt for limited online access, the Deakin University Library will make individual digital copies available for consultation, loan, and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968.

If necessary, you can request a complete restriction of access for a limited period to facilitate the commercial exploitation of your material or for other compelling reasons. These requests must be made to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) or nominee (Schedule E: Restricted Access to Thesis).

Thesis Summary

The thesis summary will appear in the graduation ceremony program and the Deakin Research Online (DRO) repository. Please ensure it is easy to understand for a general audience.

The summary must:

• Begin with either "This research", "This thesis" or "This study".
• Use plain English with minimal jargon/technical language where possible.
• Be longer than one sentence and approximately 50 words (maximum of 59 words).
• Avoid using the first person or referring to the author.
• Clearly describe the research and its outcome(s).
• Be free of spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.

Graduation/conferral

Once you have submitted your library copy into HDR examinations and it has been approved, the HDR adviser will seek approval of the degree from the chair, research and research training committee and the academic board. This can take a few weeks depending on the time of year you submit. Once received, graduations will be advised that that you are now eligible to graduate and they will contact you within 28 days. There are three graduation ceremonies each year, in February, June, October and December. The December ceremony is for international and/or School of Medicine students only. Depending on the timing and length of the examination process, it may not always be possible for you to graduate at the ceremony of your choice. Students should discuss the options with the HDR adviser.

Please note that doctoral graduands may not use the title "Doctor" until the degree has been conferred. If you are unable to attend a graduation ceremony or require conferral of your degree prior to the next graduation ceremony, it may be possible to have your degree conferred at a university council meeting. Please contact the HDR adviser for further information.

Final documents

Once graduations are advised that you are eligible to graduate, you will be issued your final documents(s). Domestic and international students will be sent their final transcript via post. International students will also receive a completion letter in addition to their transcript. Please ensure that your postal address details are up to date in StudentConnect.

Students will be presented their final testamur at their graduation ceremony. Students who have their degree conferred at council or graduate in absentia will be sent their testamur via post.

Please remember to access your Individual Learning Plan (ILP) and download proof of learning documents and your final report which outlines all of your additional skills and knowledge acquisitions. Your access to the ILP system will cease shortly after completion.