senior thesis uf psychology

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs): Undergraduate Honors Theses

• Graduate School ETDs
• ETDs Outside the Graduate School
• Supplemental Materials and Data for ETDs
• Undergraduate Honors Theses
• ETD Restrictions
• Emailing Permission Agreements

The Institutional Repository at UF (the  IR@UF ) includes the Undergraduate Honors Theses collection . During their graduating term*, Honors students are invited to submit their their final Honors project for inclusion in this collection. This is a free service of the UF Libraries. After students who have completed their submission graduate with Honors, the Libraries will add their works to the IR@UF and email a permanent link to them that they can include in applications, résumés, social media, or share with friends, colleagues, and family.

Honors degree requirements vary by department , so be sure to check with your advisor and/or undergraduate coordinator to see whether your department requires you to submit your thesis or other project to the IR@UF.

*Students in the Medical Honors Program complete their theses during their third undergraduate year because they start their first year of medical school during their last year as undergraduates.

Guidelines vary by degree program

Be sure to talk to your thesis or project advisor and/or your department's Honors coordinator about department-specific guidelines and their deadline for submission. Departments can set their own deadlines for Libraries submissions and we can provide them with a list of successful submissions after the department's deadline passes.

Libraries' default submission deadlines

• Spring 2024 Graduates - April 26
• Summer 2024 Graduates - August 2

Important: If your department requires you to defend your thesis or project, your Libraries submission deadline might be different. Please contact your faculty advisor or Honors coordinator if you do not already know your department's deadline for Libraries submissions.

Graduation requirements

Libraries : Deadlines to submit to the Libraries will not affect your graduation unless your department requires a completed Libraries submission .

Department : Deadlines to submit your Honors thesis/project to your department might affect your graduation.

Submission assistance

Department : Contact your academic mentor and/or your department's undergrad coordinator.

Libraries : Contact the submissions team at [email protected] or 352-294-3785.

• Honors co-author grant of permission
• Permission to exceed fair use

Submitting to the Libraries

• Do I need to submit?
• What do I submit?
• How do I submit?
• Why should I submit?
• Your faculty advisor and/or your department’s undergrad coordinator can tell you whether you must submit a thesis or other terminal project.
• For preservation purposes, you need to submit the approved version of your Honors work to the Libraries.
• You also have several options for restricting access to your thesis or project; see the document linked below for details.
• If you unfortunately fail to graduate with Honors but your faculty advisor accepted your Honors thesis or project, we can include it in our Undergraduate Works collection. Please email [email protected] to let us know that you want to take advantage of this service.
• Restriction Options for Honors Theses and Projects

Thesis or project file(s):

• "Standard" here means a plain PDF saved from Microsoft Word or another word processor.
• Do not include any departmental or college forms in your thesis or project file(s).
• Do not scan a printed copy of your work to send to us.
• Media, dataset, and other types of submissions must conform to the acceptable formats list .

If necessary, please upload a signed letter (or letters) of permission to quote or reproduce copyrighted material for all copyrighted material included beyond fair use (i.e., entire graphics and large portions of text or data where someone else holds the copyright). If you cannot get the answer you need from the copyright guide, you can email your question(s) to [email protected].

• As the (an) author of the work, you do not need to submit a Permission to Quote form.
• You also do not need to upload a grant of permission form; the online form collects your permission agreement.
• If you have co-authors who are not UF employees or graduate students, you will need a signed  Honors Co-author Grant of Permissions from them.

NOTE : For our purposes, only list co-authors who contributed substantial writing (including code) to the work. Do not include research collaborators, reviewers, or editors. Use your acknowledgements or dedication to thank them.

Please do not submit your Honors thesis or project until you have final approval of your work from your department.

Write to us at [email protected] if you have any questions while you are preparing your Honors submission to the Libraries.

• IR Accepted Formats A list of the accepted format types for inclusion in the IR@UF
• Keep copies of your work and the form(s) that you submit to your department.
• Requirements vary by department . Be sure that you understand yours well before their deadline.
• Example: Alligator_Alberta_permission_to_exceed_fair_use_archive
• After you log in with your GatorLink credentials, complete the online form at  https://apps.uflib.ufl.edu/Honors/ to submit your work to the Libraries by our deadline (see the Basics box on the left for deadlines). If you are not using a campus computer , connect to the VPN.

Note: If you see an Honors level that seems wrong to you, or no Honors level at all, please do not be concerned. The form uses the Honors pre-certification data. Not all colleges/schools enter that data and the final Honors level is occasionally different from what colleges enter for pre-certification.

• If your project file is larger than 50 MB, you will not be able to upload it to the form. Please do not compress the file; instead, send a OneDrive link to [email protected] and we will assist you. There is effectively no file size limit and we want to archive the highest possible quality version of your work.
• Overview of the Online Submission Form
• Publishing your work in the IR@UF is a free service
• Enhance résumés and applications
• Show off to friends and family
• Support ongoing scholarship by enabling others to cite your work in their own
• Prospective students can see the variety and strength of undergraduate research opportunities at UF

Who should I list as co-authors?

Items in the Honors collection are treated similarly to graduate-level theses and dissertations, except that you can work with a co-author (co-creator). Unlike articles in scientific journals, you should only list people who contributed substantially to the writing. Use your acknowledgements section to list people who helped with the research itself.

What if my mentor/advisor is not in my college? All you need to enter for a mentor is their name and their primary organizational affiliation (department or school at UF or other academic institutions; unit of government; non-profit organization; or business). When do I need to upload a signed grant of permissions form? First, you do not need to sign and upload a form yourself. The online submission form collects your permission agreement. If you have a co-author who is not a UF employee or graduate student, you need a signed form from them. If you have included enough content copyrighted by someone else that you have exceeded fair use , you need a signed form from them. What do I do if my thesis/project file is too large for my web browser to upload? Although there is no size limit for your submission, many browsers time out trying to upload files larger than 10-15 MB. If your browser is failing to upload your file, please share it with OneDrive and send the link to [email protected] . You can upload a dummy file, text, Word, or PDF to complete the form. Feel free to include a note mentioning the large file transfer, or just leave the file empty. What problems should I check for before I submit my thesis/project file? Before you upload your thesis/project file, check to ensure that:

• It is the exact version that your advisor and/or department approved.
• It is in PDF format.
• You created the PDF directly from Word or another text tool and did not scan a printout.
• No tracked changes or comments are present.
• Your margins are at least .5" (make table pages portrait orientation if needed).
• References are single-spaced.
• Your name appears as it will on your diploma.
• Your UFID is not present.

Related Links

• Institutional Repository at the University of Florida (IR@UF)
• Graduate Editorial Office thesis and dissertation resources
• Graduate School ETD Formatting
• Making your work accessible
• UF LibGuide: Copyright
• UF LibGuide: Fair Use
• UF LibGuide: Open Access
• << Previous: Supplemental Materials and Data for ETDs
• Next: ETD Restrictions >>
• Last Updated: May 7, 2024 6:58 AM
• URL: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/etds

Thesis Helpers

Find the best tips and advice to improve your writing. Or, have a top expert write your paper.

How to Write a Senior Thesis? Student’s Manual

If you’re an undergraduate student, you might know that you will be required to write a senior thesis to graduate. You may also know that this will be the most challenging project that you might have to undertake during your academic career. But, what is a senior thesis? And, how do you write it successfully within the provided timeframe?

Well, a senior thesis is an independent, large research project that learners are required to undertake during their college or high school senior year as a graduation requirement. It is also called a senior honors thesis. This project marks the culmination of the study work of students at a learning institution. It represents the ability of the leaders to conduct independent research and present their findings in writing effectively. In most cases, undertaking this project successfully is a requirement for learners to graduate with honors.

On joining high school or college, many students ask, “Is a senior thesis required for my program?” Knowing whether you will be required to write this paper early is important because it enables you to prepare for it. Thus, you avoid struggling to learn how to write a senior thesis at the last minute. Nevertheless, this project shouldn’t give you sleepless nights. Just follow these steps when writing a senior thesis.

Choose a Senior Thesis Topic you’re Passionate About

Writing senior thesis papers gives most students the first opportunity to choose their preferred topics to write about. This provides incredible autonomy. But, if you choose a topic that you aren’t passionate about, dedicating hours or days exploring it in detail will be difficult.

Completing college and high school senior thesis entails writing in an unscripted world. This converts dreaming into praxis while enabling learners to expand academic horizons past what they are accustomed to.

This project presents an outlet for converting the imaginary world into something tangible and real that mentors and peers can read, understand, and challenge. These possibilities make it possible for students to get senior thesis topics that invoke feelings of zeal.

If unsure of what to write about, explore senior thesis topic ideas online. These can be a good place to start the process of choosing a topic for your thesis. The internet has many sources where you can find great ideas for history senior thesis topics and senior thesis topic psychology experts and students would like to read about. Explore these sources to find a topic you will find interesting to write about.

Write a Senior Thesis Outline

Once you’ve chosen a topic, conduct some research to know the main topics to include in your paper. Come up with an outline that will enable you to present your main topics and their supporting evidence. An outline is a structure that shows how you will present the information gathered through in-depth research.

Your outline can include the senior thesis title page, the introduction , the body section with the chapters to be included, and the conclusion. How you outline your paper should depend on the information you wish to include and the instructions provided by your professor.

The outline should solve tasks like:

• Reveal your topic and thesis statement
• Show the expediency and relevance of the project
• Show the chosen methodological base
• Expound your senior thesis ideas or thoughts consistently and logically
• Draw conclusions objectively

To avoid missing important information, your outline should include a senior thesis cover page, the introduction, theoretical part, practical part, scientific novelty evidence, conclusions, bibliography, and applications. These sections should be logically completed and detailed.

Each senior thesis format may vary but it should reflect the main ideas of the entire project. It should also show the essence of every subparagraph and chapter if they are parts of the work.

Define the Objectives and Goals of Your Thesis

There are many college and high school senior thesis topics you may have chosen. So, why did you choose this particular topic for your paper? What do you want to accomplish by the end of your project? Whether you’re writing a CMC senior thesis or a UF senior thesis, you should have clear goals and objectives of your project.

When writing this paper, a goal can be to consolidate and systemize a theory in a specialty within the course of solving a practical problem and identifying independent work’s abilities. Tasks should also be formulated. For instance, a task can be to formulate literature on a topic after studying it, researching, and learning its basic concepts and terms. You can use a senior thesis example in your field to see how the author has defined their goals and objectives in the paper.

Make and Stick to a Schedule for Writing Your Senior Thesis Paper

Perhaps, the question that’s lingering in your mind now is, “how long is a senior thesis?” Well, most professors expect students to write between 70 and 89-page magnum opus. However, some would rather have learners write a strong article-sized thesis of between 25 and 40 pages. Thus, most professors look for quality rather than quantity.

But, regardless of your senior thesis length, have a schedule for writing it and stick to it. You can have something like a to-do list. This will make you feel like you have accomplished something whenever you cross off something from the list. You can have a weekly checklist or schedule that coincides with your writing process.

Procrastination may have plagued your past in academics. Nevertheless, bear in mind the fact that you might not succeed with your senior thesis defense if you keep procrastinating. Therefore, come up with a schedule and stick to it throughout or ask thesis services to help you.

Your schedule should highlight when to submit your senior thesis proposal, as well as when to write certain sections, when to complete the first draft and when your final draft will be due. The schedule should enable you to visualize both the short-term and long-term objectives of your writing project.

Start Writing

Whether you’re writing a Princeton senior thesis or Yale senior thesis, the structure is almost the same. You have to include certain parts and focus on writing each section at a time.

Your paper should include the following sections, according to the normal academic standards:

• The title page
• Table of contents
• The abstract
• A five-page introduction
• The main part
• A conclusion with two to three pages
• Bibliographic list
• Applications

To know the content to include in each of these sections, find and read good senior thesis examples. Most schools and faculties have samples that can guide students in writing these papers. Therefore, talk to your professor to see if they can get you a sample thesis.

Proofread Your Work

This is the last step in the process of writing this paper. Whether you have written a UF psychology senior thesis or a graphic design senior thesis, make sure that you proofread your work to remove all errors.

Focus on the following when proofreading your work:

• Logical or smooth development of the content of your thesis
• Work structure
• Flow of your thought and sentence structure
• All errors, including contextual, stylistic, punctuation, spelling, and grammatical.
• Thesis formatting

Make sure that you have presented your senior thesis psychology or senior thesis UF work in a clear and easy to understand manner.

You no longer have to ask, ‘what is senior thesis?’ That’s because this article has explained everything you need to know about this paper. Follow the guidelines and tips provided here to complete your project successfully whether you’re writing a senior thesis Princeton or Yale paper.

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School of Psychology

College of sciences, search form, senior thesis.

Doing a senior thesis is the ideal way to put your course work to use, but it is up to the student to find a faculty member to supervise his or her thesis. Some theses are based on hypotheses that undergraduates develop from course work or other readings but more often they are based on other research taking place in a faculty member's lab. Because research is time consuming, students should plan on thesis research and writing taking at least 2 semesters.

A faculty member nominates a student to do a senior thesis by filling out the Senior Thesis Nomination form (download for fillable form) and turning it in to the Undergraduate Coordinator. This does not preclude a student from initiating this process by approaching a faculty member and asking the faculty member if he or she is willing to supervise a thesis. The nomination form must be signed by the nominator – who presumably will be the supervisor of the thesis – as well as a second reader. The nomination should take place the semester before the student would take Psyc 4601 (Senior Thesis).

A faculty member can withdraw his or her nomination prior to the semester in which Psyc 4601 would begin if the nominator believes the student is not prepared to carry out the thesis. A student may also elect to drop Psyc 4601.

Readers of Senior Thesis

There must be two readers of a senior thesis; the first reader must be the supervisor of the thesis. The supervisor and second reader must be regular or adjunct faculty in the School of Psychology. The grade for Psyc 4601 is determined by the supervisor of the thesis as long as the second reader agrees that the thesis deserves at least a "D."

The second reader must be given the thesis document at least two weeks prior to the end of the term (in which the student is taking Psyc 4601) to read the thesis and provide feedback for possible revisions that would need to be completed before the end of the term.

Credit Hours for Senior Thesis

Students are advised to make their senior thesis a two-semester sequence.

For the first (typically, Fall) semester, the student would register for 3 hours of Psyc 4600 (Senior Thesis). The product of Psyc 4600 is a research proposal for the work to be completed in Psyc 4601 (Senior Thesis II).

For the second (typically, Spring) semester, the student would register for 4 hours of Psyc 4601 (Senior Thesis).

This approach would recognize the reality of the time involved in preparing and carrying out a senior thesis. It would also allow for the possibility that a student might be assigned an incomplete or a failing grade for Psyc 4601 (for example, for not completing the thesis) while still receiving credit that recognizes the preparatory work (by presumably receiving a passing grade in Psyc 4600).

Thesis Content and Format

A senior thesis will ordinarily be an empirical study although in certain cases it can be an integrative review paper. Theses must be written in APA format.

Collecting Senior Theses

A PDF copy of the thesis must be given (e.g., via e-mail) to the Undergraduate Coordinator. The PDF copy will be uploaded to the School of Psychology web page and will become part of the repository of senior theses that can be accessed by interested people – especially psychology majors and their advisors – who wish to get a sense of what might constitute a reasonable senior thesis.

Certificate of Approval

A Certificate of Senior Thesis Approval  form must be completed by the student and signed by the two readers of the thesis and the Undergraduate Coordinator.

The readers will not sign the form until both are satisfied with the thesis document. The Undergraduate Coordinator will sign the form after the form has been signed by the readers and the Undergraduate Coordinator has received a PDF copy of the final version of the thesis. The original signed form is kept by the supervisor of the thesis and a copy is kept by the Undergraduate Coordinator.

A grade will be turned in for Psyc 4601 (by the supervisor of the thesis) when the approval form has been signed by both readers and the Undergraduate Coordinator.

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