eGraduEng: 2. Submit the thesis for plagiarism check and thesis evaluation

Before submitting your thesis

• Language response:
  BEFORE submitting your master’s thesis for evaluation, it should go though the language response process. Language response is obligatory.
  See the Language Center for more information on language response.
• Accessible document:
  The Accessiblity directive ( (306/2019) states that master's theses should be accessible for people with disabilities, as they are available on the web. General instructions on accesible documents.
  See instructions for making your Word and PDF documents accessible to people with disabilities
  For LaTex you can check e.g. these instructions.

1. Check that you have filled out the form for electronic publication!

2. Submit your thesis in the correct format by following the instructions for official submission:

• Changes to the contents of the thesis are no longer allowed 
• Every page of the thesis, including abstracts, possible summaries in Swedish and possible attachments and/or images, shall be submitted as one (1) document.
   
• 2 A. Save the file under the correct name in PDF/A format
  • Name the file after your own name (firstname_familyname; no Scandinavian letters).
  • The thesis shall be saved in PDF/A format - see instructions
  • You need to send your file in PDF/A format to Ouriginal (previously Urkund).
     
• 2 B. Submit the thesis for plagiarism check to Ouriginal (previously Urkund)
  • Email your thesis to your supervisor's Urkund account (your supervisor should give you the correct address, but it is usually in the form: forename.surname.abo@analys.urkund.se). The whole thesis, incl. abstracts, possible summaries in Swedish and possible attachments and/or images, shall be submitted as one (1) document.
  • NB! Students should not log on to Ouriginal, nor should assignments be sent to urkund@abo.fi, which is an email address for inquiries regarding Ouriginal only.  
  • Write the name of your thesis on the email subject line. 
  • Attach the thesis to your email. 
    • Save the file in PDF/A format.
    • Save the entire thesis as one file.
    • If you are having problems with the submission (e.g., the file being too large, more than 20 MB), contact urkund@abo.fi
  • NB! Check for a confirmation of receipt email from Ouriginal immediately after having submitted your thesis
    (here you also have the option to allow your thesis to be indexed in Ouriginal's archive - by accepting the indexing of your thesis you help protecting your work from being plagiarized by others). If your thesis will be kept confidential, you choose not to index it in Ouriginal (default alternative).

Ouriginal's analysis takes around 24 h. The analysis report will be sent to your supervisor. 

The next steps (taken by others):

• You will receive an email from your supervisor after he/she has examined the results of the analysis report on your plagiarism checked thesis. After successfully passing the plagiarism checks, your thesis will be forwarded for thesis evaluation by your supervisor.
• when the thesis evaluators have made their own assessments of your thesis, they will write a statement, of which you will get a copy
• the faculty informs you when your thesis is assessed (and informs you on your right to make a request for rectification)

Remember to fill out the form for electronic publication of your thesis

Video on submitting your thesis for electronic evaluation and publication (6 min)

If you have written your thesis in Word [see screenshots of saving as PDF/A]: 

• under the 'File' tab, choose the option 'Save as Adobe PDF' (alternatively, if this option is not available, choose 'Save as' and change the file type to PDF in the box under the file name)
• before you save the file, click 'options'
• under 'options', tick the box 'ISO 19005-1 (PDF/A)'
• save the file
• (These instructions are for MS Word 2016, but most text editors work in similar ways: e.g. in LibreOffice 5, choose "Export as PDF" instead of "Save as")
• Open the document to check that it has been saved as PDF/A (it says "This file claims compliance with the PDF/A standard...”)
• Check that your document is saved in the right format [PDF] 

NB! If you have written your thesis in Word for Mac:

• First save your thesis in PDF format. In LibreOffice and in Adobe Acrobat pro you can save your PDF file in PDF/A format:
  • Åbo: In the Åbo Akademi Library catalogue hall (main building, i.e. "Boktornet"), there is a computer, where both the screen and the computer are marked with "Adobe Acrobat Pro". (The staff at the service desk can show you to the computer). Open your PDF document in Adobe Connect Pro. Click 'Save as' and choose the format PDF/A for the file.
  • Vasa: In the Gallery G403 in Academill there is "Adobe Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium" in a couple of computers (g403-07 och g403-09; see note at the computer). Open your document in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Click 'Save as' and choose the format PDF/A for the file.
  • If you do not manage to convert or save your file as as PDF/A, sent your thesis in Word for Mac format for converting to the address abopub@abo.fi. (When your document is converted, check that everything still look OK, e.g. tables.)

If diagrams or graphs are not converted correctly to PDF/A

• Save all figures as .jpeg-images:
  • Open the Word file > Take a print screen of the figure > Crop the image (e.g. in Photoshop) > Save as .jpeg > delete the figure in Word and insert the .jpeg-image. 

For questions regarding the thesis process or feedback on the process or the instructions, email egradu@abo.fi.
(For questions regarding the language response and revision, contact the Language Centre csk-kansli@abo.fi)