line spacing for master thesis

Thesis and Dissertation Guide

• « Thesis & Dissertation Resources
• The Graduate School Home

• Introduction
• Copyright Page
• Dedication, Acknowledgements, Preface (optional)
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables, Figures, and Illustrations
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Symbols

Non-Traditional Formats

Font type and size, spacing and indentation, tables, figures, and illustrations, formatting previously published work.

• Internet Distribution
• Open Access
• Registering Copyright
• Using Copyrighted Materials
• Use of Your Own Previously Published Materials
• Submission Steps
• Submission Checklist
• Sample Pages

II. Formatting Guidelines

All copies of a thesis or dissertation must have the following uniform margins throughout the entire document:

• Left: 1″ (or 1 1/4" to ensure sufficient room for binding the work if desired)
• Right: 1″
• Bottom: 1″ (with allowances for page numbers; see section on Pagination )
• Top: 1″

Exceptions : The first page of each chapter (including the introduction, if any) begins 2″ from the top of the page. Also, the headings on the title page, abstract, first page of the dedication/ acknowledgements/preface (if any), and first page of the table of contents begin 2″ from the top of the page.

Non-traditional theses or dissertations such as whole works comprised of digital, artistic, video, or performance materials (i.e., no written text, chapters, or articles) are acceptable if approved by your committee and graduate program. A PDF document with a title page, copyright page, and abstract at minimum are required to be submitted along with any relevant supplemental files.

Fonts must be 10, 11, or 12 points in size. Superscripts and subscripts (e.g., formulas, or footnote or endnote numbers) should be no more than 2 points smaller than the font size used for the body of the text.

Space and indent your thesis or dissertation following these guidelines:

• The text must appear in a single column on each page and be double-spaced throughout the document. Do not arrange chapter text in multiple columns.
• New paragraphs must be indicated by a consistent tab indentation throughout the entire document.
• The document text must be left-justified, not centered or right-justified.
• For blocked quotations, indent the entire text of the quotation consistently from the left margin.
• Ensure headings are not left hanging alone on the bottom of a prior page. The text following should be moved up or the heading should be moved down. This is something to check near the end of formatting, as other adjustments to text and spacing may change where headings appear on the page.

Exceptions : Blocked quotations, notes, captions, legends, and long headings must be single-spaced throughout the document and double-spaced between items.

Paginate your thesis or dissertation following these guidelines:

• Use lower case Roman numerals (ii, iii, iv, etc.) on all pages preceding the first page of chapter one. The title page counts as page i, but the number does not appear. Therefore, the first page showing a number will be the copyright page with ii at the bottom.
• Arabic numerals (beginning with 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) start at chapter one or the introduction, if applicable. Arabic numbers must be included on all pages of the text, illustrations, notes, and any other materials that follow. Thus, the first page of chapter one will show an Arabic numeral 1, and numbering of all subsequent pages will follow in order.
• Do not use page numbers accompanied by letters, hyphens, periods, or parentheses (e.g., 1., 1-2, -1-, (1), or 1a).
• Center all page numbers at the bottom of the page, 1/2″ from the bottom edge.
• Pages must not contain running headers or footers, aside from page numbers.
• If your document contains landscape pages (pages in which the top of the page is the long side of a sheet of paper), make sure that your page numbers still appear in the same position and direction as they do on pages with standard portrait orientation for consistency. This likely means the page number will be centered on the short side of the paper and the number will be sideways relative to the landscape page text. See these additional instructions for assistance with pagination on landscape pages in Microsoft Word .

Format footnotes for your thesis or dissertation following these guidelines:

• Footnotes must be placed at the bottom of the page separated from the text by a solid line one to two inches long.
• Begin at the left page margin, directly below the solid line.
• Single-space footnotes that are more than one line long.
• Include one double-spaced line between each note.
• Most software packages automatically space footnotes at the bottom of the page depending on their length. It is acceptable if the note breaks within a sentence and carries the remainder into the footnote area of the next page. Do not indicate the continuation of a footnote.
• Number all footnotes with Arabic numerals. You may number notes consecutively within each chapter starting over with number 1 for the first note in each chapter, or you may number notes consecutively throughout the entire document.
• Footnote numbers must precede the note and be placed slightly above the line (superscripted). Leave no space between the number and the note.
• While footnotes should be located at the bottom of the page, do not place footnotes in a running page footer, as they must remain within the page margins.

Endnotes are an acceptable alternative to footnotes. Format endnotes for your thesis or dissertation following these guidelines:

• Always begin endnotes on a separate page either immediately following the end of each chapter, or at the end of your entire document. If you place all endnotes at the end of the entire document, they must appear after the appendices and before the references.
• Include the heading “ENDNOTES” in all capital letters, and center it 1″ below the top of the first page of your endnotes section(s).
• Single-space endnotes that are more than one line long.
• Number all endnotes with Arabic numerals. You may number notes consecutively within each chapter starting over with number 1 for the first note in each chapter, or you may number notes consecutively throughout the entire document.
• Endnote numbers must precede the note and be placed slightly above the line (superscripted). Leave no space between the number and the note.

Tables, figures, and illustrations vary widely by discipline. Therefore, formatting of these components is largely at the discretion of the author.

For example, headings and captions may appear above or below each of these components.

These components may each be placed within the main text of the document or grouped together in a separate section.

Space permitting, headings and captions for the associated table, figure, or illustration must be on the same page.

The use of color is permitted as long as it is consistently applied as part of the finished component (e.g., a color-coded pie chart) and not extraneous or unprofessional (e.g., highlighting intended solely to draw a reader's attention to a key phrase). The use of color should be reserved primarily for tables, figures, illustrations, and active website or document links throughout your thesis or dissertation.

The format you choose for these components must be consistent throughout the thesis or dissertation.

Ensure each component complies with margin and pagination requirements.

Refer to the List of Tables, Figures, and Illustrations section for additional information.

If your thesis or dissertation has appendices, they must be prepared following these guidelines:

• Appendices must appear at the end of the document (before references) and not the chapter to which they pertain.
• When there is more than one appendix, assign each appendix a number or a letter heading (e.g., “APPENDIX 1” or “APPENDIX A”) and a descriptive title. You may number consecutively throughout the entire work (e.g., 1, 2 or A, B), or you may assign a two-part Arabic numeral with the first number designating the chapter in which it appears, separated by a period, followed by a second number or letter to indicate its consecutive placement (e.g., “APPENDIX 3.2” is the second appendix referred to in Chapter Three).
• Include the chosen headings in all capital letters, and center them 1″ below the top of the page.
• All appendix headings and titles must be included in the table of contents.
• Page numbering must continue throughout your appendix or appendices. Ensure each appendix complies with margin and pagination requirements.

You are required to list all the references you consulted. For specific details on formatting your references, consult and follow a style manual or professional journal that is used for formatting publications and citations in your discipline.

Your reference pages must be prepared following these guidelines:

• If you place references after each chapter, the references for the last chapter must be placed immediately following the chapter and before the appendices.
• If you place all references at the end of the thesis or dissertation, they must appear after the appendices as the final component in the document.
• Select an appropriate heading for this section based on the style manual you are using (e.g., “REFERENCES”, “BIBLIOGRAPHY”, or “WORKS CITED”).
• Include the chosen heading in all capital letters, and center it 1″ below the top of the page.
• References must be single-spaced within each entry.
• Include one double-spaced line between each reference.
• Page numbering must continue throughout your references section. Ensure references comply with margin and pagination requirements.

In some cases, students gain approval from their academic program to include in their thesis or dissertation previously published (or submitted, in press, or under review) journal articles or similar materials that they have authored. For more information about including previously published works in your thesis or dissertation, see the section on Use of Your Own Previously Published Materials and the section on Copyrighting.

If your academic program has approved inclusion of such materials, please note that these materials must match the formatting guidelines set forth in this Guide regardless of how the material was formatted for publication.

Some specific formatting guidelines to consider include:

• Fonts, margins, chapter headings, citations, and references must all match the formatting and placement used within the rest of the thesis or dissertation.
• If appropriate, published articles can be included as separate individual chapters within the thesis or dissertation.
• A separate abstract to each chapter should not be included.
• The citation for previously published work must be included as the first footnote (or endnote) on the first page of the chapter.
• Do not include typesetting notations often used when submitting manuscripts to a publisher (i.e., insert table x here).
• The date on the title page should be the year in which your committee approves the thesis or dissertation, regardless of the date of completion or publication of individual chapters.
• If you would like to include additional details about the previously published work, this information can be included in the preface for the thesis or dissertation.

Previous: Order and Components

Next: Distribution

Formatting your Thesis and Dissertation:Tools,Tips and Troubleshooting

• I am a new Graduate Student at Florida Tech!
• Thesis and Dissertation Templates
• Learn About Zotero
• Formatting Landscape Pages
• Line Spacing
• Page Numbers
• Page Break and Section Breaks
• Table of Contents or Figures
• Figures Turning Black
• Margin issues with Tables
• Page numbers not appearing
• PDF to PDF/A
• Section Breaks
• Landscape Page Numbers
• Troubleshoot LaTeX formatting issues
• Copyright and Creative Commons Licenses Primer
• Do I need to embargo my thesis or dissertation?
• I'm ready to submit my electronic copy - now what do I do?
• What is the process for obtaining print copies of my thesis or dissertation?

Adjust Spacing Between Lines

Spacing Issues on Signature Page

Highlight the text you are wanting to change then on the Home Ribbon, choose the line spacing symbol, select the desired spacing typically 1.5 for Thesis and 2.0 for Dissertations. Using the Add Space or Remove Space options as needed.

For the Signature page copying and pasting one of the signature lines is usually the easiest method.

 Then removing any excess lines so the pages stays single paged.

If issues persist there are some alternative layouts in the Thesis Manual and Style Guide

 Page 79 (OGP Manual)

• << Previous: Formatting Landscape Pages
• Next: Page Numbers >>
• Last Updated: Aug 9, 2024 9:18 AM
• URL: https://libguides.lib.fit.edu/formattingyourthesisanddissertationtoolstipstroubleshooting

• Library Catalogue

Formatting your thesis: Overall layout and specifications

On this page

Formatting requirements, parts of a thesis, file format, file size, and page size, line spacing, citation style, cumulative theses, extended essays, personal information, blank pages.

The Library's Theses Office assists with formatting theses, projects and extended essays for submission to the Library. You are encouraged to use the Library's thesis template to help format your thesis. The requirements stated on this page are default settings for the thesis template

Optional pages in the thesis template may be removed if not used.

The final copy of the thesis must be converted to .pdf (PDF/A format) for submission to the Library (maximum 600 mb). See the guide  Saving your thesis in PDF/A format for instructions.

Theses must be formatted for US Letter (8.5X11) pages. Landscape 8.5X11 and 11X17 pages are permitted. Legal, A4, or other paper sizes are not permitted.

Arial is the preferred font for SFU thesis submissions. See the Thesis Template Instructions for directions to change the default template font.

Please contact the Theses Office at [email protected] if you would like to use any fonts in your thesis other than the ones recommended.

​The default template line spacing is 1.5 for text, with single-spaced block quotations.

Margins should be set to:

• 1.25" left/right
• 1" top/bottom

All pages must be numbered sequentially as outlined below, with the exception of the title page. Page numbers should appear at the bottom centre of each page, at a minimum of 0.5” from the edge of the page.

Preliminary pages of the thesis must be numbered with Roman numerals. On the first page of the main body, page numbers must restart with 1. The thesis template is preset with this numbering style.

SFU Library does not require a specific citation style. Consult your supervisor, your department’s graduate handbook, or a liaison librarian for help with determining which style is appropriate for your research.

The default formatting in the library’s thesis template may differ from some requirements of your citation style, but it is acceptable for SFU library submission.

Cumulative, or paper-based, theses must use the same general format as other submissions. Consult your supervisor or your department's graduate handbook for more information. If including published papers in a thesis, please consult the Copyright and your thesis FAQ .

Extended essays should be combined into a single document and single submission. For an example of an extended essays title page, see the Title page formatting information .

For theses written in a language other than English, the Library requires a second complete English title page and abstract. Supporting documentation must be in English.

Individual personal information must be removed from the thesis before publication, including signatures, email addresses, and phone numbers. For example, if you are including a survey instrument or consent form, your own contact information must be removed.

Blank pages in the thesis must be removed before publication.

Format Requirements for Your Dissertation or Thesis

Main navigation.

The final dissertation or thesis manuscript must have a ready-for-publication appearance and standard features.

The Office of the University Registrar does not endorse or verify the accuracy of any dissertation or thesis formatting templates that may be available to you.

It is your student responsibility to make sure that the formatting meets these requirements. Introductory material, text, and appendices must all be clearly and consistently prepared and must meet all of the specifications outlined below.

Once you upload and submit your dissertation or thesis in Axess, and it has been approved by the university, the submission is considered final and no further changes are permitted.

The digital file of the dissertation or thesis, which is sent to Stanford Libraries for cataloging, must meet certain technical requirements to ensure that it can be easily accessed by readers now and into the future. 

Follow the specifications outlined below.

Style and Format

Word and text divisions, style guides, content and layout, special instructions for d.m.a. students, order and content, page orientation, embedded links, supplementary material and publishing, supplementary material, scholarly reference, published papers and multiple authorship, use of copyrighted material, copyrighting your dissertation, file security and file name, stanford university thesis & dissertation publication license.

Pages should be standard U.S. letter size (8.5 x 11 inches).

In order to ensure the future ability to render the document, standard fonts must be used. 

For the main text body, type size should be 10, 11, or 12 point. Smaller font sizes may be used in tables, captions, etc. 

The font color must be black. 

Font Families

Acceptable font styles include:

• Times New Roman (preferred)
• Courier, Courier Bold, Courier Oblique, Courier Bold-Oblique;
• Helvetica, Helvetica Bold, Helvetica Oblique, Helvetica Bold-Oblique;
• Times, Times Bold, Times Italic, Times Bold-Italic;
• Computer Modern (or Computer Modern Roman).

Note: Do not use script or ornamental fonts. Do not use proprietary fonts.

If you use mathematical or other scientific notation in your dissertation or thesis using a font other than Symbol, you must embed the font into the PDF that is submitted to the university. 

Inner margins (left edge if single-sided; right edge for even-numbered pages, and left edge for odd-numbered pages if double-sided) must be 1.5 inches. All other margins must be one inch.

Pagination, headers, and/or footers may be placed within the margin, but no closer than one-half inch from the edge of the page.

For double-sided copies, 1.5 inches must be maintained as the inner margin. Margin requirements should apply to the entire document, including the title page.

The main body text of the manuscript should be one-and-a-half or double-spaced lines, except where conventional usage calls for single spacing, such as footnotes, indented quotations, tables, appendices, etc.

Words should be divided correctly at the end of a line and may not be divided from one page to the next. Use a standard dictionary to determine word division. 

Avoid short lines that end a paragraph at the top of a page, and any heading or subheading at the bottom of a page that is not followed by text.

The dissertation and thesis must be in English. 

Language Exceptions for Dissertations Only

Approval for writing the dissertation in another language is normally granted only in cases where the other language or literature in that language is also the subject of the discipline. 

Exceptions are granted by the school dean upon submission of a written request from the chair of your major department. Approval is routinely granted for dissertations in the Division of Literature, Cultures, and Languages within department specifications.

Prior to submitting in Axess, you must send a copy of the approval letter (or email message chain) from the department dean to [email protected]    

Dissertations written in another language must include an extended summary in English (usually 15 to 20 pages in length). In this case, you should upload your English summary as a supplemental file, during Step 4 of the online submission process.

Select a standard style approved by your department or dissertation advisor and use it consistently. 

Some reliable style guides are:

• K.A. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, 
• Theses and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press), and 
• the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Modern Language Association).

If you are a student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program, you may submit musical scores formatted at 11 x 17 inches in size. 

If you are submitting a performance as your dissertation, submit the audio file in WAV format as a supplemental file. 

Note: The maximum file size accepted for submission is 100 MB. If a performance recording exceeds the maximum file size, break the file into multiple files and submit the parts individually as supplemental files.

Your dissertation or thesis must contain the following sections. All sections must be included in a single digital file for upload.

• Title Page — The format must be followed exactly. View these title page examples for Ph.D. Dissertation and this title page sample for an Engineer Thesis . Use uppercase letters. The title of the dissertation or thesis should be a meaningful description of the content of the manuscript. Use word substitutes for formulas, symbols, superscripts, subscripts, Greek letters, etc. The month and year must be the actual month and year in which you submit your dissertation or thesis electronically to the university. (Note: A student who submits in Autumn quarter is conferred his/her degree in the following calendar year.)
• Copyright Page — The dissertation or thesis PDF uploaded in Axess should not contain a copyright page. The copyright page will be created automatically by the online submission system and inserted into the file stored by Stanford Libraries.
• Signature Page — The dissertation or thesis PDF uploaded in Axess should also not contain a signature page. The submission process has moved away from ink-signatures, so a digital facsimile of the signature page will be created automatically by the online submission system and inserted into the dissertation or thesis in its final format stored by Stanford Libraries.
• Abstract — An abstract may be included in the preliminary section of the dissertation or thesis. The abstract in the body of the dissertation or thesis follows the style used for the rest of the manuscript and should be placed following the signature page. There is no maximum permissible length for the abstract in the dissertation or thesis.    Dissertation authors must enter an abstract using the online submission form for uploading the digital dissertation or thesis file to the library. This abstract, which will be indexed for online searching, must be formatted in plain text (no HTML or special formatting). It should be a pithy and succinct version of the abstract included in the dissertation or thesis itself.
• Preface, an Acknowledgment, or a Dedication.   This is optional.
• Table of Contents – Include page references.
• List of Tables –  Include titles and page references. This list is optional.
• List of Illustrations – Include titles and page references. This list is optional
• Introduction/Main body – Include suitable, consistent headings for the larger divisions and more important sub-divisions.
• Appendices.   This is optional.
• Bibliography or List of References.

Except for the title page, which counts as 'i' but is not physically numbered, each page of the manuscript, including all blank pages, pages between chapters, pages with text, photographs, tables, figures, maps, or computer code must be assigned a number. 

Consistent placement of pagination, at least one-half inch from the paper’s edge, should be used throughout the manuscript.

Follow these pagination instructions exactly:

• For the preliminary pages, use small Roman numerals (e.g., iv, v, vi).
• The title page is not physically numbered, but counts as page i.
• Keep in mind that a copyright page ii and augmented signature page iii (based off your student record) will automatically be inserted to your manuscript during submission.  This means you must ensure to remove pages ii and iii from your dissertation or thesis.
• Failing to remove pages ii and iii is most common formatting mistake: you must remove your copyright page ii and signature page iii from the pdf file before you submit your dissertation or thesis, and begin pagination on your abstract with page number "iv". If the document is formatted for double-sided printing with each section starting on the right page, then pagination will begin on a blank page (page"iv") and the Abstract should be numbered as page "v", and so forth.
• For the remainder of the manuscript, starting with the Introduction or Chapter 1 of the Main Body, use continuous Arabic pagination only (1, 2, 3, etc) for text, illustrations, images, appendices, and the bibliography. Remember to start with Arabic numbered page 1, as this is not a continuation of the Roman numeral numbering from the preliminary pages.
• The placement of page numbers should be consistent throughout the document.

For text, illustrations, charts, graphs, etc., printed in landscape form, the orientation should be facing away from the bound edge of the paper.

Images (color, grayscale, and monochrome) included in the dissertation or thesis should be clearly discernible both on screen and when printed. The dimensions should not exceed the size of the standard letter-size page (8.5” x 11”).

Image resolution should be 150 dots per inch (dpi), though resolutions as low as 72 dpi (and no lower) are acceptable. 

The format of images embedded in the PDF should be JPEG or EPS (the format JPEG2000 is also acceptable when it is supported in future versions of the PDF format). GIF and PNG are not preferred image file formats.

Large images, including maps and charts or other graphics that require high resolution, should not be included in the main dissertation or thesis file. Instead, they can be submitted separately as supplemental files and formatted in other formats as appropriate. 

Multimedia, such as audio, video, animation, etc., must not be embedded in the body of the dissertation or thesis. These media types add size and complexity to the digital file, introducing obstacles to users of the dissertation or thesis who wish to download and read (and “play back”) the content, and making it more difficult to preserve over time.

If you wish to include multimedia with your submission, upload the media separately as a stand-alone file in an appropriate media format. See Supplementary Material section below.

It is acceptable to include “live” (i.e., clickable) web URLs that link to online resources within the dissertation or thesis file. Spell out each URL in its entirety (e.g., http://www.stanford.edu ) rather than embedding the link in text (e.g., Stanford homepage ). By spelling out the URL, you improve a reader’s ability to understand and access the link reference.

Supplementary material may be submitted electronically with the dissertation or thesis. This material includes any supporting content that is useful for understanding the dissertation or thesis, but is not essential to the argument. It also covers core content in a form that can not be adequately represented or embedded in the PDF format, such as an audio recording of a musical performance.

Supplementary materials are submitted separately than the dissertation or thesis file, and are referred to as supplemental files.

A maximum of twenty supplemental files can be submitted. There are no restrictions on the file formats. The maximum file size is 1 GB.

You are encouraged to be judicious about the volume and quality of the supplemental files, and to employ file formats that are widely used by researchers generally, if not also by scholars of the discipline.

The following table outlines recommended file formats for different content types. By following these recommendations, the author is helping to ensure ongoing access to the material.

After uploading each supplemental file, it is important to enter a short description or label (maximum 120 characters for file name and the description). This label will be displayed to readers in a list of the contents for the entire submission.

If copyrighted material is part of the supplementary material, permission to reuse and distribute the content must be obtained from the owner of the copyright. Stanford Libraries requires copies of permission letters (in PDF format) to be uploaded electronically when submitting the files, and assumes no liability for copyright violations. View this sample permission letter .

System restrictions allow for a maximum of 10 individually uploaded permission files. If you have more than 10 permission files we recommend combining all permission letters into a single PDF file for upload.

In choosing an annotation or reference system, you should be guided by the practice of your discipline and the recommendations of your departments. In addition to the general style guides listed in the Style section above, there are specific style guides for some fields. When a reference system has been selected, it should be used consistently throughout the dissertation or thesis. The placement of footnotes is at your discretion with reading committee approval.

An important aspect of modern scholarship is the proper attribution of authorship for joint or group research. If the manuscript includes joint or group research, you must clearly identify your contribution to the enterprise in an introduction.

The inclusion of published papers in a dissertation or thesis is the prerogative of the major department. Where published papers or ready-for-publication papers are included, the following criteria must be met:

• There must be an introduction that integrates the general theme of the research and the relationship between the chapters. The introduction may also include a review of the literature relevant to the dissertation or thesis topic that does not appear in the chapters.
• Multiple authorship of a published paper should be addressed by clearly designating, in an introduction, the role that the dissertation or thesis author had in the research and production of the published paper. The student must have a major contribution to the research and writing of papers included in the dissertation or thesis.
• There must be adequate referencing of where individual papers have been published.
• Written permission must be obtained for all copyrighted materials. Letters of permission must be uploaded electronically in PDF form when submitting the dissertation or thesis. 
• The published material must be reformatted to meet the university's format requirements (e.g., appropriate margins and pagination) of the dissertation. The Office of the University Registrar will approve a dissertation or thesis if there are no deviations from the normal specifications that would prevent proper dissemination and utilization of the dissertation or thesis. If the published material does not correspond to these standards, it will be necessary for you to reformat that portion of the dissertation or thesis.
• Multiple authorship has implications with respect to copyright and public release of the material. Be sure to discuss copyright clearance and embargo options with your co-authors and your advisor well in advance of preparing your thesis for submission.

If copyrighted material belonging to others is used in your dissertation or thesis or is part of your supplementary materials, you must give full credit to the author and publisher of the work in all cases, and obtain permission from the copyright owner for reuse of the material unless you have determined that your use of the work is clearly fair use under US copyright law (17 USC §107). 

The statute sets out four factors that must be considered when assessing Fair Use:

• the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purpose;
• the nature of the copyrighted work;
• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The Association of American University Presses requires permission for any quotations that are reproduced as complete units (poems, letters, short stories, essays, journal articles, complete chapters or sections of books, maps, charts, graphs, tables, drawings, or other illustrative materials). You can find this guideline and other detailed information on Fair Use at http://fairuse.stanford.edu . 

If you are in doubt, it is safest to obtain permission. Permission to use copyrighted material must be obtained from the owner of the copyright. Stanford Libraries requires copies of permission letters (in PDF format) to be uploaded electronically when submitting the dissertation or thesis, and assumes no liability for copyright violations. For reference, view this sample permission letter .

Copyright protection is automatically in effect from the time the work is in fixed form. A proper copyright statement consisting of the copyright symbol, the author’s name, year of degree conferral, and the phrase “All Rights Reserved” will be added automatically to the dissertation or thesis in its final form.

Registration of copyright is not required, but it establishes a public record of your copyright claim and enables copyright owners to litigate against infringement. You need not register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office at the outset, although registration must be made before the copyright may be enforced by litigation in case of infringement. 

Early registration does have certain advantages: it establishes a public record of your copyright claim, and if registration has been made prior to the infringement of your work, or within three months after its publication, qualifies you to be awarded statutory damages and attorney fees in addition to the actual damages and profits available to you as the copyright owner (should you ever have to sue because of infringement).

For more information about copyright, see the Stanford Libraries' resource on Copyright Considerations .

For further information on Registration of Copyright, see https://www.copyright.gov/registration/ .

Do not require a password to make changes to your submitted PDF file, or apply other encryption or security measures. Password-protected files will be rejected.

The file name and description will be printed on a page added to your dissertation or thesis, so choose a file name accordingly.

Important note: File names may only consist of alphanumeric characters, hyphen, underscore, at sign, space, ampersand, and comma – before the ending period and file extension.  Specifically,

• A file name cannot start with a space, period (nor contain a period), underscore, or hyphen.
• Files names must be 120 characters or less.

Here is an example of a filename that is allowed, including all of the possible characters:

• A Study of Social Media with a Focus on @Twitter Accounts, Leland Student_30AUG2023.pdf

In submitting a thesis or dissertation to Stanford, the author grants The Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford) the non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable right to reproduce, distribute, display and transmit author's thesis or dissertation, including any supplemental materials (the Work), in whole or in part in such print and electronic formats as may be in existence now or developed in the future, to sub-license others to do the same, and to preserve and protect the Work, subject to any third-party release or display restrictions specified by Author on submission of the Work to Stanford.

Author further represents and warrants that Author is the copyright holder of the Work, and has obtained all necessary rights to permit Stanford to reproduce and distribute third-party materials contained in any part of the Work, including use of third-party images, text, or music, as well as all necessary licenses relating to any non-public, third-party software necessary to access, display, and run or print the Work. Author is solely responsible and will indemnify Stanford for any third party claims related to the Work as submitted for publication.

Author warrants that the Work does not contain information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), confidentiality agreements, or contain Stanford Prohibited, Restricted or Confidential data described on the University IT website , or other data of a private nature.

Stanford is under no obligation to use, display or host the work in any way and may elect not to use the work for any reason including copyright or other legal concerns, financial resources, or programmatic need.

Master's Thesis Formatting Standards

Template To simplify the process of formatting your master's thesis, we provide you this preformatted template that conforms to many of the specifications outlined below. When you download this template, it will open an untitled Word document that you can use to write your master's thesis. Be aware that copying and pasting text from other locations can bring in formatting along with the text. It is best to use the text-only function if pasting is necessary or to copy and paste material into Notepad or TextEdit before copying and pasting into Word. While this template is designed to assist you with formatting your thesis, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring the conformity of your work to these formatting standards. General Formatting For general formatting requirements (e.g., typeface, font size, spacing, references, etc.), consult the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (henceforth, APA). What follows are institutional guidelines that clarify, specify, or amend the formatting guidelines in the APA manual.

Page Layout and Spacing Pages should be 8 ½ by 11 inches. Margins at the top and bottom must be 1”. The left and right margins must be 1.5” to allow for binding (this allows for binding double-sided pages). 

While former editions of APA allowed for double spacing between sentences, the latest edition of APA has abandoned this practice (6.1 Spacing After Punctuation Marks, p. 154) and a single space after punctuation marks at the end of sentences should appear in all drafts of a master's thesis. Page Numbering Center all page numbers below the bottom margin, 0.7 inch from the bottom of the page. The number stands alone without “page” or any phrase or punctuation. Every page in your paper except the Copyright page will be counted in page numbering, however, not every page will show a number. The title page counts as the first preliminary page, but it does not display a number. Preliminary pages are numbered with lower case Roman numerals (e.g. i, ii, iii, iv). The first page of the body of the text uses Arabic numerals and restarts the numbering. See the chart in the section below for more specific details about page numbering. Arrangement The chart below shows (1) the proper order pages and sections, (2) whether these pages/sections are required, (3) whether they are counted in the page count, and (4) whether the page number should appear or not and with what kind of numeral.

Copyright Page Students must agree to the Copyright License when submitting their final draft to Proquest Dissertation and Theses. Since the thesis is submitted in satisfaction of a part of Master’s degree and the act of depositing these materials in the College Archives indicates a willingness by student authors to share their work with the Rhodes community and with the general public, the College Archivist will permit public access to it. Signing this form does not prevent you from further publication of your work. The copyright page should include the word “Copyright,” followed by the copyright symbol ©, followed by the anticipated year of graduation, followed by the author’s full legal name (no initials). Below this line, the copyright notice should appear single-spaced and read, “All rights reserved. Rhodes College has been granted permission to copy, publish, post and or disseminate this document in any form by any means at the sole discretion of the College, including without limitation, for purposes of preservation or instruction.” Title Page The top of the first line of the title appears 2 inches from the top of the page. APA recommends titles be "focused and succinct." See further guidelines at 2.4 Title (pp. 31-32). If multiple lines are used, arrange the lines in inverted pyramid form (that is, each line shorter than the one above it). If the title contains both a main title and a subtitle, then the main title may appear on a separate line or lines from the subtitle, even if this means not using the inverted pyramid form.   The following items of information should be evenly spread out over the remainder of the title page:

2. Name as it appears in official College records

3. Educational Studies

Rhodes College

Memphis, Tennessee

4. Year of Graduation

5. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the Master of Arts in Urban Education

Committee Approval Page The words “Committee Approval” (in Title Case) appears centered 2 inches from the top of the page. On the second single-spaced line below the heading, type your thesis title as it appears on the title page. On the fourth single-spaced line below your title, print your full name (do not include the word “by”). On the fourth single-spaced line below your name, include “Read and approved by:” left justified. On the fourth single-spaced line below this, include a 3.5-inch solid line, indented 0.7 inch. On the next single-spaced line indent 0.7 inch and type the title and formal name of the of your thesis committee followed by the parentheses “(Chair)”. On the fourth single-spaced line below the name of the chair or faculty supervisor, include another 3.5-inch solid line, indented 0.7 inch. On the next single-spaced line indent 0.7 inch and type the title and formal name of the second reader of your thesis committee (no parenthetical designation follows this name). Repeat the previous instructions for the third member of your committee. On the fourth line below the name of the last reader, type the word “Date” left justified followed by a 2.5-inch solid line. Consult the College’s website for the formal name of the members of your thesis committee and include the highest earned degree after the formal name.

If one of your committee members does not have a professional title (i.e. Dr.), use either Mx., Ms., Mr., or an alternative title of their choosing. Abstract The abstract, a brief summary of your work, should be 150-250 words and double-spaced. For advice about crafting your abstract, consult APA 2.9 Abstract (p. 38). The word “Abstract” appears centered 2 inches from the top of the page. On the second single-spaced line below the heading, type your thesis title as it appears on the title page. On the fourth single-spaced line below your title, print your full name (do not include the word “by”). On the fourth single-spaced line below your name, begin your thesis abstract. Table of Contents The heading “Table of Contents” (in Title Case) appears 2 inches from the top of the page. On the third line below the heading, the table of contents (TOC) should appear. Use double-spacing for the contents of the table that follow.  The entries correspond to all headings, either of pages or body sections) that follow the TOC. If the heading is too long for one line, subdivide the entry and single-space. First-level entries should appear left-justified with no indentation. Each deeper level in the TOC should indent 0.25 inches (e.g., level 2 is indented 0.25 inch, level 3 is indented 0.5 inch). Include all levels of headings (e.g., second-level, third-level, etc.) unless doing so would lengthen the table to more than two pages. In such cases, limit the table of contents to first- and second-level headings or to first-level headings, whatever produces a sufficiently detailed table without excessive length. Leaders from an entry to its page number should be arranged using periods (not dashes, solid lines, or other characters). Page numbers are justified to the right margin; the last number of each page reference should line up vertically.  Manually break long, multi-line entries in the table to allow at least half an inch of space between any portion of the text of the entry and the page number. Each page in the TOC is numbered with lower case Roman numerals centered at the bottom of each page beginning with iv (pages i-iii are the three previous pages which are counted but not numbered). List in Preliminary Pages The style guidelines for a list of tables or figures follow the same style guidelines for the Table of Contents (above). Choose the title (e.g., “List of Tables”) that best describes the type of data display you are documenting. Ideally, you would have no more than two lists, one of tables and one of figures. However, use the categories and the number of lists that make the most sense for your particular project. For all other formatting related guidelines, see APA chapter 7 Tables and Figures (pp. 195-250). Acknowledgments The acknowledgments section is a place to acknowledge the influence, assistance, or support of individuals or organizations throughout the course of your education and/or particularly during the course of your thesis work. As a place for personal reflection, it should not include any argumentation of or discussion about your thesis. The heading “Preface” appears 2 inches from the top of the page. The preface begins on the fourth line below the heading.  Main Text Follow the general guidelines for formatting the body of text according to the instructions in APA, particularly those instructions in chapter 2, Paper Elements and Format (pp. 29-67). While APA discourages a first-level "Introduction" heading at the head of the body of your main text, such a heading is actually useful for the table of contents (especially one with hyperlinks for ease of navigation, like our template produces). You can disregard APA's instructions here. Alternatively, you could use a different label than the word "Introduction" as the initial heading of your paper. Footnotes appear infrequently in APA style. If footnotes are necessary, consult section 2.13 Footnotes (pp. 40-41). Begin using Arabic numerals for the pagination of the body of text, beginning with 1. Continue this sequence of Arabic numbering through the remainder of the paper, including appendices and references. Appendices The heading “Appendix” appears 2 inches from the top of the page. The preface begins on the fourth line below the heading. For all other formatting-related matters, consult APA 2.14 Appendices and  2.15 Supplemental Materials (pp. 41-43). References The references section contains every work cited in the thesis and only those works that are cited. The heading “References” appears 2 inches from the top of the page. The preface begins on the fourth line below the heading. Use a 0.5-inch hanging indent for entries. For all other formatting-related matters, consult APA 2.12 References (pp. 39-40) and chapters 9 and 10.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Dissertation layout and formatting

Published on October 21, 2015 by Koen Driessen . Revised on February 20, 2019.

The layout requirements for a dissertation are often determined by your supervisor or department. However, there are certain guidelines that are common to almost every program, such as including page numbers and a table of contents.

If you are writing a paper in the MLA citation style , you can use our  MLA format guide .

Table of contents

Font, font size, and line spacing, tables and figures, referencing, paragraph marks, headers and footers, page numbering, dissertation printing.

Use a clear and professional font. Some examples include Verdana, Times New Roman, and Calibri (which is the default font in Microsoft Word). Font size is best set to 10 or 11.

In scientific articles and theses, a line spacing of 1.15 or 1.5 is generally preferred, as it makes the document more readable and enables your supervisor to post comments between the lines of text.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

With tables, the number and title should be placed above; with figures and all other illustrations, the number and title should be placed below.

Microsoft Word has a feature that can help you to automatically place these numbers and titles in the correct position. Select the graphic, right-click, and choose “Insert Caption…” In the dialogue box that appears, specify whether it is a table or figure and enter a title. Once you click “Okay,” the number and the title will be generated in the right place.

Another advantage of using this Word feature to label your graphics is that you will later be able to generate lists of tables and figures with a push of a button.

Different heading styles are frequently used to help the reader differentiate between chapters, sections, and subsections of your dissertation. For instance, you may choose to bold all chapter headings but to italicize all lower-level headings.

Once you decide on the scheme you will use, it is important that you apply it consistently throughout your entire dissertation. Using the “Styles” feature of Microsoft Word can be very helpful in this regard. After you have created a heading, just highlight it and select a style (such as Heading 1 or Heading 2) from the home tool bar. Keeping a list may help you keep track of what style to use when.

Citing sources in a correct and appropriate manner is crucial in a dissertation, as failing to do so can make you guilty of plagiarism . It is important that these references follow certain standards.

The APA standard is most commonly used. After realizing how difficult it is to create correctly formatted citations manually, we developed the APA Citation Generator  to assist you. You can use this free and simple tool to easily generate citations that follow the official APA style.

We also recommend that you use a plagiarism scanner to check for unintended plagiarism.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Using the “Show paragraph marks” feature can help you to avoid this scenario. To turn it on, click on the paragraph symbol in your home tool bar (as shown in the above illustration). A black paragraph symbol will then be shown after every paragraph and “hard return” in your document, which allows you to see how the layout is constructed.

This can be very helpful when you are trying to determine the cause of mysterious jumps and other problems.

Headers and footers can give your dissertation a very professional look. They also make it immediately clear to readers what document is before them.

A header or footer can be added by double-clicking respectively at the top or bottom of a page in your document. There are generally no firm rules about what you must include; the following are common choices:

• The name/logo of your home educational institution
• The name/logo of the company or organization where you completed a placement
• The title of your dissertation (which may be shortened if necessary)
• Page numbers

Page numbers are commonly placed in the lower right-hand corner of the page. They can easily be added by simply creating a footer. Bear in mind that a page number is usually not included on the title page of a dissertation.

• To ensure that the page numbering doesn’t start on the cover page, but the numbering begins on page 1, place the cursor on the bottom of the page where you want to start with page numbering (if you want to start on page 2, click at the bottom of the first page).
• Next go to “Page layout” and then “Breaks”. Next, choose the submenu “Next page”.
• Switch to the side, where the numbering should begin (in this case, page 2). In the edit mode of the header or footer, choose “link to previous”, after that click on “Move to footer” and click on the “Link to previous” again.
• Now, to add a page number, click on the “Insert” tab, then on the “Header and footer” group, and then click “Page number”. Now you can also choose where the page number should be (top of the page, bottom of the page or page margins) and you can choose a design.
• Finally select the option “format page number” and enter the page numbers, in what page you want the numbering to begin. After you have pressed “ok”, the page number then begins with the number from the previously selected break.

A clear and well-presented title page is a nice finishing touch for your dissertation. Certain information should be included here by default. We have prepared a separate article on title pages that includes a handy checklist you can use to make sure you don’t forget anything.

Always make sure that everything in your dissertation is in the correct order and placed in the appropriate chapter. More information on how to put your document together can be found in our article on structure a dissertation .

If you are interested in seeing how other students have tackled preparing their theses, you may find it useful to check out these dissertation examples .

The last step is usually to prepare a hardcopy of your final document. There are many issues to think about, such as whether you will make it single- or double-sided.

Before you print, however, we recommend that you check one last time that your document meets all of the below requirements!

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Driessen, K. (2019, February 20). Dissertation layout and formatting. Scribbr. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/tips/dissertation-layout-and-formatting/

Is this article helpful?

Koen Driessen

"i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

University of South Florida

Office of Graduate Studies

Main navigation, line spacing.

The majority of your thesis/dissertation should be double-spaced. There are sections, however, that can and/or must be single-spaced.

Double-Spaced:

• Acknowledgments
• Body of Manuscript

Single-Spaced:

• Title Page (see Example for specific manually input spaces)
• Table of Contents (an extra space is added before each level one heading)
• List of Tables (an extra space is added before each new Table)
• List of Figures (an extra space is added before each new Figure)
• List of Abbreviations (an extra space is added before each new Abbreviation)
• Footnotes (no double-spaced elements)
• Long (Block) Quotations
• Figure captions
• Table captions
• Tables, Lists, Graphs
• Lists in the Appendices

Common Issues with Single-Spacing

Using the Template to create a Table of Contents (TOC) in Word always results in issues with the line spacing. For this reason, create the TOC manually.

Manual Double-Spacing

For the sections that should be single-spaced, where indicated, add a manual double-space by hitting the enter/return key once. 

Don't worry if this all seems complicated - in the Section-Specific Formatting Guidelines, we note the line spacing needed for each section.

Paragraph Button

Turn on the Paragraph button to view spaces, tabs, and hidden formatting details about the manuscript.

Graduate School

• Resources to Prepare for Graduate School
• Adonara Mucek, Ph.D. Geology '17
• Adriana Mendoza, Ph.D. Mathematics '14
• Andrew Olsen
• Becca Maher ('21, Ph.D.)
• Bryan Lynn, Ph.D. Integrative Biology
• Celeste Frazier Barthel, Ph.D. Education '21
• Diane Brandt
• Francesca Germano, Toxicology, M.S.
• Garrett Rogers
• Jafra Thomas
• Jen Hayes, Horticulture, PhD
• Jordan Jimmie
• Jordan Spradlin, Public Health, MPH
• Kalina Fahey, Psychology, Ph.D.
• Katie Stelling, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Ph.D.
• Kelsey Contreras
• Layla Ghazi
• Marie Tosa, Ph.D. Wildlife Sciences
• Sara Letton
• Tiara Walz, Ph.D. Public Health
• Glossary of Terms
• Master's Students
• Doctoral Students
• Certificate Students
• Graduate School Orientation 2024
• Graduate Teaching Orientation 2024
• Do I Qualify to Attend Graduate Summer Step?
• Orientation for Winter, Spring and Summer Terms
• Co-sponsorships
• Your Graduate Committee
• Student Resources
• Grad Research Photo Competition
• Tips for Scheduling Committee Meetings
• Program of Study

Formatting a Thesis or Dissertation

• Pretext Pages Templates
• Commencement
• Grad Inspire
• Grievance Procedures
• Request a Workshop
• Earning Concurrent Degrees or Pursuing a Dual Major
• Career Preparation
• Grad Writing Group Challenge
• Graduate Writing Center Online
• Changing or Adding a Degree, Major or Certificate
• GRAD 420 - Graduate School Preparation
• GRAD 512 - Current Issues in Higher Education
• GRAD 513 - Professional Development in College and University Teaching
• GRAD 516 - Graduate Teaching Seminar
• GRAD 520 - Responsible Conduct of Research
• GRAD 521 - Research Data Management
• GRAD 542 - The Inclusive College Classroom
• GRAD 543 - Dialogue Facilitation in Professional Contexts: Skills and Practice for Graduate Students
• GRAD 550 - Introduction to Online Course Development and Facilitation
• GRAD 560 - Theories of Teaching and Learning
• GRAD 561 - Course Design and Methods
• GRAD 599 - Creating Happiness
• GRAD 599 - Cultivating Productive and Positive Academic Relationships for Graduate Success
• WR 599 - Graduate Writing for English Language Learners
• WR 599 - Scientific and Technical Research Writing
• WR 599 - Writing Workshop for Thesis and Dissertation Writers
• OSU Grad Advantage
• Graduate Faculty Membership
• Graduate Council Representatives
• Policy updates
• Holistic Admissions
• Defining the Graduate Mentor
• The Importance of Mentors
• Apprenticeship and Mentoring
• Mentor and Mentee Pairing
• Maintaining and Evaluating Mentoring
• Suggestions for Mentoring Programs
• Handbooks, Manuals, and Guides
• Mentoring Bibliography
• Communication Items
• Detailed Considerations for a Joint Degree Program
• MOU Outline for Creating a Joint Program
• College and Program Recruitment Representatives
• Graduate Recruitment Tips
• Helpful Recruitment Links
• Shared Graduate Recruitment Schedule
• Leave of Absence and Family Medical Leave Eligibility
• Mentor Training for Faculty
• Student Funding
• Student Progress
• Student Progress Information for Programs
• Student Registration Information
• August 2023 Newsletter
• Sept 2023 Newsletter
• October 2023 Newsletter
• November 2023 Newsletter
• April 2024 Newsletter
• Dec 2023 Newsletter
• Feb 2024 Newsletter
• Jan 2024 Newsletter
• June 2024 Newsletter
• March 2024 Newsletter
• May 2024 Newsletter
• Strategic Plan
• Request Info
• Current Students
• Faculty Resources

You are here

On this page:

Congratulations! You have arrived at an important step in the pursuit of your graduate degree—the writing of your thesis or dissertation. Your scholarly publication reflects the results of your research and academic pursuits at Oregon State University.

Student Responsibility

Students are responsible for:

• Meeting the deadlines associated with its preparation. Visit the master's deadlines and the doctoral deadlines.
• Submitting the necessary forms.
• Ensuring that your document conforms to all requirements in this Thesis Guide.

Your document must clearly state your objectives and conclusions, and present your results in a lucid and succinct manner. It must have a professional appearance and be user-friendly.

Ethical research practice requires you to avoid the following:

• Plagiarism: failure to acknowledge the work of others by using proper citations and obtaining written permission to use copyrighted material.
• Fabrication: the creation of fictitious research results.
• Falsification: alteration of research results by misrepresentation or selective reporting of findings.

General Format

Standard Document Format refers to one thesis document that addresses a single theme. The Pretext Pages, Introduction, Conclusion, and Bibliography are mandatory. Your committee determines the additional chapters; you choose the chapter titles. The following parts comprise the Standard Document Format:

• Pretext Pages (see model pages illustrated in Figures 2-11)
• Chapter 1 – Introduction
• Chapter 2 – Literature Review
• Chapter 3 – Materials and Methods
• Chapter 4 – Results
• Chapter 5 – Discussion
• Chapter 6 – Conclusion

Bibliography

• Appendices (optional)

Manuscript Document Format is a single thesis document made up of several scholarly manuscripts or journal articles addressing a common theme. All manuscripts/articles must be related or address a single, common theme. You must be the primary author of each manuscript. Co-authors other than your major professor must be mentioned in a Contribution of Authors page (see Figure 9) in the pretext section of the document. Formatting should be consistent for each journal article and must follow the thesis guide formatting not the separate journal formats. The following parts comprise the Manuscript Document Format:

• Chapter 1 – General Introduction (common introduction linking all manuscripts thematically)
• Chapter 2 – First Manuscript
• Chapter 3 – Second Manuscript
• Chapter 4 – General Conclusion (common conclusion linking all manuscripts thematically)
• Bibliography (common bibliography covering all manuscripts, although each manuscript may have its own reference section)
• Appendices – (optional)

Note: Within the larger Manuscript Format thesis document, Chapter Heading Pages (see Figure 1 below) precede individual manuscripts that have already been published. If not published, page is not required. Manuscripts must uniformly conform to these thesis guidelines.

MANUSCRIPT TITLE CENTERED AND ALL CAPS

Your name and other authors

Journal name Address of journal Issue manuscript appears in

Figure 1. Chapter Heading Page for Manuscript Document Format

Page Layout

Margin requirements.

The left margin must be 1 inch unless printing and binding a personal or departmental copy then change to 1.5 inch. All other margins must be at least 1 inch, preferably 1.2 for top margin. Nothing may invade a margin. Every page must meet margin requirements. Margin requirements are especially important if binding a copy of your thesis.

Page Numbering

Pretext pages: Do not add page numbers to pretext pages.

Body: The body of the text begins with page 1 and all successive pages are numbered consecutively with Arabic Numbers (e.g. 2, 3, etc.) including Appendix/Appendices and Bibliography. Page numbers should be the same size and font as the body of the text. Page numbers must appear at the top right corner of pages, approximately 1 inch from the top edge of the page and at least 1 inch from the right edge of the page. Page numbers must not invade any margins. There should be at least one space between the page number and the first line of text.

Your title must be worded exactly the same throughout the document as it appears on the Abstract page, Title page and centered on page one (optional). Titles longer than one line should be single-spaced. The document's title does not count as a heading level.

Text Requirements

Text spacing.

Line spacing must be 1.5 or double, consistent throughout the document and matching which one you choose for the body of the thesis. Use single spacing only in the following situations:

• Headings longer than one line
• Figure and table titles and associated legends
• Bibliographical and reference citations
• Direct quoted material
• Items listed within the body of the text (optional)
• Where indicated in the pretext section

Use regular, unadorned print, 10- to 12-point size for text (headings may be 14-point only if all headings are 14-point). Font size within figures and tables can be smaller but must be readable. Use the same font style and font size throughout.

Chapter names are Level 1 headings. Subheadings of a chapter are Level 2 headings. Subheadings of chapter subheadings are Level 3 headings, and so forth. Each level must look different from the other levels. Headings of the same level must look the same throughout the document. All headings, regardless of level, must be the same font size. Either number all headings or number none (See figures 10a and 10b). Single space headings that are more than one line. Use adequate and consistent spacing between the headings and the text. A minimum of two subheadings may be used within a given level. Each level 1 heading begins a new page.

Appendix Heading Page

A numbered, counted page should be inserted in front of your document's appendix/appendices. The word APPENDIX (or APPENDICES) should be centered about 1/3 down this page. This heading page and its page number should appear in the Table of Contents.

Blocked Quotes

Use Blocked Quotes for quoted material longer than three lines. Use the same font size as within the text. Single-space the quotation, and indent it evenly on both sides. Left justify the quotations.

Use the same font size as within the text. Choose a reference style with the guidance of your major professor and your committee and be consistent. Single-space each citation and use adequate and consistent spacing between citations.

Footnotes collected at the end of a chapter are called endnotes. Use the same font size as within the text. Single-space each endnote, and use adequate and consistent spacing between endnotes.

Orphan Lines, Headers, Footnotes

No orphan lines may appear at the top or bottom of a page. No headers or footers may be used. Footnotes are acceptable.

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables may be located in one of two places in your document. You must choose one system and use it consistently throughout your work.

• Insert the figure within the text, as close as possible after the first reference is made to it.
• Place your figures at the end of the chapter in which it is first discussed or referenced.

Figure Definition

The definition of a figure is quite broad. “Figures” include charts, diagrams, drawings, examples, graphs, illustrations, maps, photographs, etc. In the majority of cases, if it's not a table, it is a figure. All figures must be listed in the pretext pages' List of Figures.

Table Definition

A table is broadly defined as a compact, systematic list of data (facts, figures, values, etc.), generally arranged in columns and/or rows. All tables must be listed in the pretext pages' List of Tables.

Figure and Table Labels and Captions

A figure's or table's label denote the type of figure or table and its number, and a figure's or table's caption is its title and description. Every figure or table must have a label and caption unless there is only one of its type in the document. Use consecutive label numbers by order of appearance within the text. Each figure or table must have a unique number, i.e., Table 1.1 for the first table in Chapter 1, Table 2.1 for the first table in Chapter 2, or start with 1 and number consecutively. As always, pick one method and use it consistently throughout your document. Label and caption font size is the same as body text size. Add one space between the figure or table and its label and caption, and between the figure or table and text. The label and caption should be placed outside its boundaries, commonly above a table and below a figure.

Oversized Figures and Tables

Illustrations that take up more than one page should have the label followed by “(Continued)” on the second page. If both a figure/table and its label and caption do not fit on one page, place only the label on the page with the figure or table, and place the label and caption on a separate page that precedes the figure or table (called a legend page). Single-space the label and caption and center it 1/3 of the way down the page. Include no other text on this page. List the page number of the legend page in the pretext list.

There are two ways of managing the inclusion of oversized figures if printing personal copies:

• Reduction: Photographically reduce the size of figures to meet margin requirements.Page numbers and figure captions must remain the same font size as the text.
• Accordion Fold: If you are printing a personal or departmental copy. The final folded page must be 11 inches in height and no more than 8 inches wide. Fold the page from right to left, making the final folded width 8 inches. Fold the page a second time from left to right so the page number appears in the same position as all other pages in the text.

Landscaping

Because of their shape, some figures/tables may need to be placed crosswise on a page. If so, the top of the figure/table should be at the left margin as viewed normally (i.e. portrait orientation), and the caption should be parallel to the right margin. Reformatting pages numbers to match location of portrait oriented page numbers is not required. Margin requirements apply.

Choose high-contrast colors to differentiate lines, bars, or segments or use symbols with or without the color.

Parts of the Document (in Order of Appearance)

Regardless of general format, the thesis includes particular parts in an established order as listed below. Model pages are provided for most pretext pages. In all cases, margin requirements apply (see above) and the same font style/size must be used in the body of the text and elsewhere. All titles of pretext pages should be formatted identically with respect to font size and style.

I. Pretext Pages

Download templates for pretext pages.

An abstract is a summary of the document's purpose, methods, major findings, and conclusions. Your name (designated “Student Name”) must appear exactly the same throughout the document. In all cases, use the official name of the major as found in the OSU Catalog on the Graduate School's website under Programs. Please add underlines where indicated in the examples. (See figs. 2, 3, and 4)

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF

Thomas A. Edison for the degree of Master of Science in Physics presented on January 30, 2024 A .

Title: Upon Recording Telegraph Messages Automatically.

Abstract approved: _______________________________________

Major I. Professor B

Begin text here, using the same line spacing (either double space or 1.5), font style and font size as within the body of the text in your document.

• Use official major name, not area of concentration
• Your name must appear exactly the same throughout the document
• For defense date use month spelled out, date, and year: January 30, 2022
• Title must be the same throughout the document

Figure 2. Abstract Page for Master's Degree. A The line breaks in these four lines are single space with a space after the defense date. B Include major professor's middle initial unless there is none. Do not include their title. Co-major Professors may share the same signature line; put both names below the line.

Student Name for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in First Concentration A . , Second Concentration , and Third Concentration presented on Defense Date B .

Title: Underlined Title Here

Major I. Professor C

• Use official major or minor name, not area of concentration

Figure 3. Abstract Page for Master's Degree. A The line breaks in these four lines are single space with a space after the defense date. B The line breaks in these six are single-spaced with a space between the defense date and title. C Include major professor's middle initial unless there is none. Do not include their title. Co-major Professors may share the same signature line; put both names below the line.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF

Student Name for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Official Name of Major presented on Defense Date A .

Title: Underline Title here.

Figure 4. Abstract Page for Doctoral Degree. A The line breaks in these four lines are single-spaced with a space between the defense date and title. B Include major professor's middle initial unless there is none. Do not include his/her title. Co-major Professors share the same signature line; put both names below the line with several spaces between names.

Copyright Page

Copyright by Thomas A. Edison January 30, 2022 All Rights Reserved or Creative Commons License

Figure 5. Copyright Page. Please choose either All Rights Reserved or Creative Commons License but not both. The copyright page is required. Inclusion of this page does not obligate you to go through a formal copyright process. Name must appear exactly the same throughout the document. Second line is the final defense date. Wording should begin one third down from the top and is centered.

Upon Recording Telegraph Messages Automatically

Title must match Abstract and page one title exactly. Do not boldface the title.

by Thomas A. Edison

Add two spaces after the title.  

A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University

Doctoral students may use “A DISSERTATION” instead of “A THESIS” on Title Page, Abstract, and Approval Pages.

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Follow division of this sentence ( in partial fulfillment of... ) exactly.

Master of Science

Spacing should be the same after your name, “Oregon State University,” and your degree.

Presented January 30, 2023 Commencement June 2023 A

Defense date.

Figure 6. Title Page. A Commencement date is the June following the defense date, so if defense is after the commencement ceremony it would be for the following year. Only month & year, no date or it will be rejected.

Approval Page

On the Approval Page the Major Professor represents the major. The Approval Page considers your advisor as your major professor, regardless of his/ her official rank or tenure home. Official major names and department names can be found in the OSU Catalog. Some majors and departments have the same name while others differ. Your signature constitutes consent to have your document available for public reference in Valley Library, but the signatures on this page have been replaced with the ETD Submission Approval form.

Master of Science thesis of Thomas A. Edison presented on January 30, 2023.

_______________________________________ Major Professor representing Physics

_______________________________________ Head of the Department of Physics A

_______________________________________ Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School

I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request.

_______________________________________ Thomas A. Edison, Author

Figure 7. Standard Approval Page. A If not part of a department, please list the head/chair/dean of the school or college.

Alternate wordings for signature lines:

Wording with two major professors:

Co-Major Professor, representing Name of Major

Head/Chair of the Name of Department, School or College

Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School

Wording with dual majors:

Co-Major Professor, representing Name of 1st Major

Co-Major Professor, representing Name of 2nd Major

Wording for MAIS:

Major Professor, representing Name of Major Area of Concentration

Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program

Acknowledgements

The acknowledgements page is optional but recommended. The exact content of the page is up to the student. Use same text spacing: 1.5 or double-space.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author expresses sincere appreciation...

Figure 8. Acknowledgements Page.

Contributions

Manuscript document format only. If no contributions remove this page. Use same text spacing either 1.5 or double space.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Dr. So-and-so assisted with data collection. Such-and- such was involved with the design and writing of Chapter 2. Dr. Whoisit assisted in the interpretation of the data.

Figure 9. Contributions (manuscript format only).

Table of Contents

Ensure that the page numbers accurately reflect where the headings appear in the text. Listing the chapter headings in the Table of Contents is required; listing the subheadings is optional, and you may list some levels but not others. Levels are denoted by indention in the Table of Contents. Wording, spelling, and capitalization of headings in the Table of Contents must match the heading in the body of the text exactly. If headings are numbered in the Table of Contents, they must be numbered correspondingly in the text.

List appendix or appendices (if applicable) in the Table of Contents, if more than five then create a separate List of Appendices. In either case, list the Appendices Heading Page (see page 3) in the Table of Contents. When listing an individual appendix, include its title.

If the Table of Contents is more than one page, subsequent pages should have the heading “TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)” and additionally "PAGE" underlined above the page numbers.

Return twice between the TABLE OF CONTENTS heading and the first item in the table.

Do not underline, bold, or italicize in the Table of Contents (unless scientific species name)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Chapter Title

1.1 Level 2 Heading

1.2 Level 2 Heading

1.2.1 Level 3 Heading

1.2.2 Level 3 Heading

1.2.3 Level 3 Heading

1.3 Level 2 Heading

2 Chapter Title

2.1 Level 2 Heading

2.2 Level 2 Heading

2.2.1 Level 3 Heading

2.2.2 Level 3 Heading

3 Chapter Title

3.1 Level 2 Heading

3.2 Level 2 Heading

Appendix A Title

Appendix B Title

Figure 10a. Table of Contents with Numbering.

Chapter Title

Level 2 Heading

Level 3 Heading

Figure 10b. Table of Contents without Numbering.

List of Figures

Lists are required if two or more figures appear within the text. (Reference figures 11a and 11b.)

List of Tables

Lists are required if two or more tables appear within the text. (Reference figures 11a and 11b.)

Choose one of the two methods of numbering in the model pages illustrated in Figures 11a and 11b and use it for both Lists of Figures and Lists of Tables. If a list is longer than one page, subsequent pages should be headed “LIST OF FIGURES (Continued)” or “LIST OF TABLES (Continued)" along with "Figure" or "Page" underlined above the figure names and page numbers. The first sentence of the figure or table caption must be listed, and the wording must match the text exactly. List only one page number per figure or table. When there is a legend page in front of a figure (see information on FIGURES below), list the legend page only. Figures in the appendices are listed on a separate List of Appendix Figures list.

Add two spaces between the LIST OF FIGURES/TABLES heading and the first listing.

LIST OF FIGURES

Name of the figure

First sentence of the legend matches the text exactly

List only one page number

Keep numbers and words in separate columns

Figure 11a. List of Figures/Tables with Consecutive Numbering.

LIST OF TABLES

Name of the table

Spacing requirements are the same as for the List of Figures

A List of Appendix Tables would look the same

All pretext headings should look the same

Figure 11b. List of Figures/Tables with Numbering by Chapter.

List of Appendices (optional)

If list of appendices is short, it may be attached to the Table of Contents. For more than 5 appendices, or list different heading levels are listed in the appendices, a separate List of Appendices is required. If two or more figures appear in the appendices, a List of Appendix Figures and/or a List of Appendix Tables are required.

List of Appendix Figures

For two or more figures in the appendices.

List of Appendix Tables

For two or more tables in the appendices.

Other Lists

If you are including other lists, such as lists of abbreviations, nomenclature, symbols, and so forth, each list must have its own page. The elements of these lists do not need numbering or page numbers.

Dedication (optional)

If desired, you may dedicate your document to the honor of someone. Dedications are usually short. Margin requirements apply. Use the same font/font size as text body. Arrangement of page is at your discretion.

Preface (optional)

You may include a preface.

II. Body of Text

Follow standard or manuscript document format.

III. Bibliography

Iv. appendix or appendices (optional), final requirements, printing specifications.

The Graduate School no longer requires you to submit a paper copy of your thesis/dissertation.

Formatting Template

A formatting template for thesis and dissertation pretext pages can be found on our website.

Electronic Submission

Submit one PDF copy of your thesis/dissertation, without signatures, electronically to ScholarsArchive. Ensure accessibility with Adobe Acrobat Pro. For uploading and accessibility instructions refer to the library's website.

Creative Commons License

DO NOT SELECT PUBLIC DOMAIN OR CCO. You may add a Creative Commons License to your item that allows copyrighted works to be shared and re- used. Either select License Type: Creative Commons or License Type: No Creative Commons License. DO NOT assign a Creative Commons license if you plan to place an embargo on your thesis or dissertation that allows only the OSU community access to your work.

Final Documents Submitted to the Graduate School

One signed Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Submission Approval form by your Major Professor, Head/Chair/Director/Dean of your major, and yourself. The Graduate School Dean's signature will be added after the submissions of the form.

You can request an embargo in ScholarsArchive so your work will be accessible only to Oregon State University faculty, staff and students for up to two years.

Contact Info

Graduate School Heckart Lodge 2900 SW Jefferson Way Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331-1102

Phone: 541-737-4881 Fax: 541-737-3313

• Programs - Majors, minors and certificates
• Academic Progress
• Student Success
• Faculty Support
• Staff Directory
• Graduate Catalog

Skip to Content

Massey University

• Search OWLL
• Handouts (Printable)
• Pre-reading Service
• StudyUp Recordings
• StudyUp Postgraduate
• Academic writing
• Intro to academic writing
• What is academic writing?
• Writing objectively
• Writing concisely
• 1st vs. 3rd person
• Inclusive language
• Te Reo Māori
• Assignment planning
• Assignment planning calculator
• Interpreting the assignment question
• Command words
• Organising points
• Researching
• Identifying academic sources
• Evaluating source quality
• Editing & proofreading
• Apostrophes
• Other punctuation
• Active voice
• American vs. British spelling
• Conditionals
• Prepositions
• Pronoun Reference
• Sentence fragments
• Sentence Structure
• Subject-verb agreement

Formatting and layout

• Word limits and assignment length
• Commonly confused words
• How assignments are marked
• Marking guides
• Getting an A
• Levels of assessment
• Using feedback
• Professional emails
• Forum posts
• Forum netiquette guidelines
• Sharing personal information
• Writing about personal experiences
• Assignment types
• What is an essay?
• Essay planning and structure
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Body paragraphs
• Essay revision
• Essay writing resources
• What is a report?
• Report structure
• Analysing issues for a report
• Business report
• What is a business report?
• Business report structure
• Inductive vs. deductive reports
• Other kinds of business communication
• Business report format and layout
• What is a lab report?
• Lab report structure
• Science lab report writing resources
• Psychology lab report writing resources
• Lab report body paragraphs
• Literature review
• What is a literature review?
• Writing a literature review
• Literature review structure
• Literature review writing resources
• Research proposal
• Writing a research proposal
• Research proposal structure
• Other types
• Article critique
• Book review
• Annotated bibliography
• Reflective writing
• Oral presentation
• Thesis / dissertation
• Article / conference paper
• Shorter responses
• PhD confirmation report
• Computer skills
• Microsoft Word
• Basic formatting
• Images, tables, & figures
• Long documents
• Microsoft Excel
• Basic spreadsheets
• Navigating & printing spreadsheets
• Charts / graphs & formulas
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Basic skills
• Advanced skills
• Distance study
• Getting started
• How to study
• Online study techniques
• Distance support
• Reading & writing
• Reading strategies
• Writing strategies
• Grammar resources
• Listening & speaking
• Listening strategies
• Speaking strategies
• Maths & statistics
• Trigonometry
• Finance formulas
• Postgraduate study
• Intro to postgrad study
• Planning postgrad study
• Postgrad resources
• Postgrad assignment types
• Referencing
• Intro to referencing
• What is referencing?
• Why reference?
• Common knowledge
• Referencing styles
• What type of source is this?
• Reference list vs. bibliography
• Referencing software
• Quoting & paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing & summarising
• Paraphrasing techniques
• APA Interactive
• In-text citation
• Reference list
• Online material
• Other material
• Headings in APA
• Tables and Figures
• Referencing elements
• 5th vs. 6th edition
• 6th vs. 7th edition
• APA quick guides
• Chicago style
• Chicago Interactive
• About notes system
• Notes referencing elements
• Quoting and paraphrasing
• Author-date system
• MLA Interactive
• Abbreviations
• List of works cited
• Captions for images
• 8th vs 9th edition
• Oxford style
• Other styles
• Harvard style
• Vancouver style
• Legal citations
• Visual material
• Sample assignments
• Sample essay 1
• Sample essay 2
• Sample annotated bibliography
• Sample book review
• Study skills
• Time management
• Intro to time management
• Procrastination & perfectionism
• Goals & motivation
• Time management for internal students
• Time management for distance students
• Memory skills
• Principles of good memory
• Memory strategies
• Note-taking
• Note-taking methods
• Note-taking in lectures
• Note-taking while reading
• Digital note-taking
• Reading styles
• In-depth reading
• Reading comprehension
• Reading academic material
• Reading a journal article
• Reading an academic book
• Critical thinking
• What is critical thinking?
• Constructing an argument
• Critical reading
• Logical fallacies
• Tests & exams
• Exam & test study
• Planning exam study
• Gathering & sorting information
• Reviewing past exams
• Phases of revision
• Last-minute study strategies
• Question types
• Short answer
• Multi-choice
• Problem / computational
• Case-study / scenario
• Open book exam
• Open web exam or test
• Take home test
• In the exam
• Online exam
• Physical exam

Assignments vary in their requirements for formatting and layout. Check for formatting requirements in your course materials or with your course coordinator. Aim for consistency in your formatting. Most assignments are now submitted electronically and formatted as follows:

• Use a clearly legible font and font size (Times New Roman is the most common font and 12 point is the most common size).
• Set page margins to around 1 inch/2.5cm.
• Use 1.5 or double line spacing.
• Keep the space between paragraphs consistent. Two styles are:
• Do not indent paragraphs and leave a blank line between paragraphs. (This is the most common style.)
• Indent the first line of each paragraph, but leave no spaces between paragraphs.
• Ensure text alignment is consistent throughout the document. Assignment guidelines and style guides vary when it comes to text alignment . If you are following APA style , then align text left (also see the annotated sample APA student assignment ).
• For help with formatting in Microsoft Word see Basic formatting .

Always double-check for the formatting requirements of your individual course.

Cover sheet

Assignments that are submitted electronically via Stream will not usually require a cover sheet. If you have been asked to include a cover sheet, then refer to your assignment guidelines, which should detail what is to be included. If in doubt, contact your lecturer or course coordinator directly for clarification.

Most assignments do not require a title page. Usually, it is sufficient to include the assignment title or question at the top of the first page and to place other details (name, student ID number, and course number) in a header . If a cover sheet is included, all the necessary information is already included on the cover sheet. However, title pages are sometimes needed for longer assignments, postgraduate assignments, or certain types of report.

The format of these title pages varies according to the specific requirements of the assignment, but typically contain:

• The title, centred, in the upper half of the page (e.g., about 3 or 4 lines down from the top margin of the page). Your title should be concise and, ideally, no more than a single line. If you have a subtitle, it can be separated from the main title with a blank, double-spaced line. The title should be in bold font and in title case (i.e., the first word of major words over three letters is capitalised). The title font is the same style and size and the rest of the cover page details (e.g., Times New Roman or Calibri, 12pt). Note: According to the 7th edition of the APA style guide, the title (in bold, centred, and title case) should appear on the first line of the first page of text. This may not be necessary, however, and you should ask your lecturer or course coordinator for clarification.
• The author's name and ID number. Use one blank double-spaced line between the assignment title and your centred name and ID. Write your name in full rather than using initials. Your name should be non-bold and the same size and font as the rest of the cover page. Omit all titles, degrees or licenses (e.g., Dr, Ms, Mr, PhD, RN). Multiple authors should be given alphabetically. The lecturer’s name and title (e.g., Dr.). The lecturer’s name should follow a blank, double-spaced line after the class code and name, and be non-bold and the same size and font as the rest of the cover page.
• The due date of the assignment. The due date should follow a blank, double-spaced line after the lecturer’s name, and be non-bold and the same size and font as the rest of the cover page.

If you've been asked to format your title page using APA style, see here for formatting guidelines. See here for an example of a title page formatted according to APA 7th edition guidelines.

Some assignment types require headings and sub-headings, whereas others do not use any.

Essays , for example, do not usually use sub-headings unless you have specific instructions that they can be included. The only sub-heading common in essays is References, for the reference list. Instead of headings, the first sentence of each paragraph should signal the topic to the reader (see essay body paragraphs for more on this).

Reports , on the other hand, often require specific headings, such as Introduction, Discussion, and so forth.

If you are unsure whether to use headings or not, ask your course coordinator for clarification. If you do use headings and sub-headings, keep the style consistent throughout the assignment. If you are using APA style , see here for advice about formatting headings.

Tables and figures

Most assignments do not use appendices, but sometimes you need to include additional information, transcripts, questionnaire details, or raw data. These should go in an appendix.

If there is only one appendix, it is given the title “Appendix”. If there are several appendices, each is given a letter (follow the same order that they are mentioned in the body of the assignment): “Appendix A”, “Appendix B”, “Appendix C”, etc.

The title is used to refer to the appendix in the body of the assignment:

The analysis shows that the mean was well above expected (see Appendix B for details).

Style guides differ on whether the appendices should come before or after the reference list / bibliography.

APA style (the style most commonly used at Massey University) and Massey University's Thesis Presentation Guide put the appendices after the reference list / bibliography.

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success Last updated on 28 April, 2021

Quick links

• Academic Q+A

Have a study or assignment writing question? Ask an expert at Academic Q+A

Live online workshops

• StudyUp (undergraduate)
• Campus workshops
• Albany (undergraduate)
• Albany (postgraduate)
• Albany (distance)
• Manawatu (undergraduate)
• Manawatu (postgraduate)

Upcoming events

• All upcoming events
• Academic writing and learning support
• 0800 MASSEY | (+64 6 350 5701)
• [email protected]
• Online form

Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs

• Prospective Graduate Students
• About GW ETDs
• ETD Approval Deadlines
• Copyright and Your ETD
• Creative Commons Licenses
• Publisher Issues
• Patent Issues
• Explanation of Key Terms
• Open Access Publishing
• Traditional Publishing

University Formatting Requirements

• Writing Style & Citations
• Digital Accessibility
• MS Word Help
• LaTeX for GW ETDs
• Converting Documents to PDF
• Columbian College of Arts and Sciences ETDs
• Elliott School of International Affairs ETDs
• Graduate School of Education and Human Development ETDs
• Graduate School of Political Management ETDs
• Milken Institute School of Public Health ETDs
• School of Business ETDs
• School of Engineering and Applied Science ETDs
• School of Law ETDs
• School of Nursing ETDs
• Steps in ETD Submission
• ETD Best Practices
• Checklist for Graduation
• Forms and Surveys
• ProQuest ETD Administrator Site
• ETD Approval Workflow
• Search Library and Web Resources for Dissertations and Theses
• ETD Contacts
• Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW)
• Three Minute Thesis (3MT)
• Recruiting Postdocs
• Mentoring Resources
• Postdoc Appointments
• Performance Management
• Resignation and Termination
• Transferring Between Postdoc Categories
• Explore Research Programs
• Compensation
• Funding Opportunities
• International Postdocs
• Postdoc Categories
• Professional Development
• Quality of Life
• NEW: Postdocs' Vacation Time Overview Effective July 1, 2024

University formatting guidelines apply to the font type and size, page margins, page numbering, page order and line spacing for the entire document and to the content and formatting of the front pages.

ETD Style Guides for the front pages are available by school or college on our ETD website. For the body of your document, use the style guide most appropriate for your field of study or specified in the graduate school handbook or by your dissertation advisor.

Basic formatting information for your thesis or dissertation follows. You may download our complete guide below. Formatting assistance is available on the ETD website for MS Word and LaTeX or from the database LinkedIn Learning .

School of Law students: The School of Law follows different formatting guidelines. Please consult the Guidelines for Completing the Masters of Law Thesis for complete information on formatting guidelines and requirements.

Downloadable guide:

• University Formatting Requirements for ETDs (985.01 KB)

General Formatting Guidelines

• MS Word: Text - Times New Roman; 12pt
• LaTeX: True Type Fonts (TTF; .ttf extension); Size: \normalsize (12pt equivalent)
• Footnotes, table and figure titles and captions, and long quotes: Times New Roman, no smaller than 8pt
• Equations: no smaller than 10pt

8.5 inches x 11 inches

Exception: for large tables and figures only, 8.5 inches x 14 inches

Portrait Pages:

• Left and Right margins: 1.25 inches
• Top and Bottom margins: 1 inch
• Right and Left margins: 1 inch
• Top and Bottom margins: 1.25 inches
• Right and left margins: at least 1 inch
• Consider rotating a table to fit within the page margins (title at the top)

Setting the Page Margins:

Single line space (1.0)

Double line spacing (2.0)

• Front pages: see detailed instructions for individual pages in our Front Page section below.
• Body of manuscript: double-space the text.
• Footnotes, table and figure titles & captions, and long quotes: single-space the text.

Refer to the Line Spacing section at MS Word Help for further assistance.

All pages are numbered, except for the title page.

• All page numbers: located in the footer section, centered, .75 inch from the bottom of the page
• Footer from Bottom : setting should be .5 inch

• Front Pages: small Roman numerals. The title page is counted as page i, but the page number is not displayed.
• Body of Thesis/Dissertation: Arabic numerals. The first page of the Introduction/Chapter 1 (or Thesis Statement if used) is page 1. The remaining pages are numbered consecutively to the end of the document, including the Appendices.
• Microsoft Word Landscape Page Numbers  (University of Mississippi)
• Use Different Orientations in the Same Document (MS Word)
• Rotating the image of the figure or table on the page manually or using the rotate function in Word. See Rotate a picture or shape .

Do not include the following content in a dissertation or master's thesis:

• Biography; CV; lists of published articles, conference proceedings, presentations or awards
• Blank pages anywhere in the document
• Running headers anywhere in the document
• Horizontal or vertical lines or page borders

Supplemental Files:

• Any file format can be used in supplemental files.
• University formatting rules do not apply to supplemental files.
• Material in supplemental files will be provided on a CD-ROM in a pocket insert at the back of the print copy.
• The content is presented exactly as it is uploaded to the ETD Administrator site.

File Naming Conventions:

• Recommended File Naming Conventions for ETDs  (75.22 KB)

Front Pages

• Title Page (Required)
• Certification Page (Dissertations only)
• Copyright Page (Optional)
• Dedication (Optional)
• Acknowledgments (Optional)
• Disclaimer (Optional)
• Abstract of Dissertation/Thesis (Required for dissertations)
• Table of Contents (Required)
• List of Figures (Required if figures are used)
• List of Tables (Required if tables are used)
• List of Abbreviations (Optional)
• List of Symbols/Nomenclature (Optional)
• Glossary of Terms (Optional)
• List of Equations (Optional)
• Preface (Optional)
• Start 2 inches from top edge of page or 1 inch below the top page margin.
• Capitalize the significant words in the title. Example: This is the Title of My Dissertation
• Center the title on the line and single space if the title is more than one line.
• 3 single (1.0) blank line spaces
• by (Your Name) : text is on the same line as "by" and centered
• Center the text on the line
• List your lower degrees first and do not include certificates earned
• B.A. in International Relations, May 2005, University of Delaware
• M.A. in International Relations, May 2007, The George Washington University
• 2 single (1.0) blank line spaces
• A Thesis/Dissertation submitted to:
• DO NOT include department names in the degree title.

• Summer graduation: August 31, 20xx
• Fall graduation: January xx, 20xx
• Spring graduation: May xx, 20xx ( date of University Commencement )
• Dissertation/Thesis directed by
• 1 single (1.0) blank line space
• Thesis Advisor's or Dissertation Director's formal name (example: Joseph Smith, not Joe Smith)
• Find your committee members' titles in the GW Online Directory or contact your School Administrator .
• Do not include administrative titles.
• GW Faculty : list their professorial title only.

• Non-GW Faculty : include their professorial title and name of their home institution.

• Committee Member is in the workforce : list their name, job title, and place of employment.

• The title page is counted as page i, but the page number is NOT displayed.

The Certification Page is required for dissertations; DO NOT include in a thesis.

• This page is numbered ii

• Dissertation title : single-spaced and centered on the line; capitalize the significant words in the title.
• Your Full Name
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: may list up to six committee members
• School of Business: may list up to five committee members.
• List your dissertation director/co-directors first
• Single-space the individual committee member listing if more than one line; indent both lines
• Use 1 single line space between each committee member's information

Text is single spaced and centered on the line and top to bottom of the page (4.5 inches on the vertical ruler)

© Copyright year by Your Name All rights reserved

Please use the symbol © on your copyright page. To insert this symbol on the page in Windows, type: Crl+Alt+c or Alt+0169

Year : year the degree is conferred

• One inch from the top edge of the page
• Font type and size: Times New Roman, 12 pt, in bold
• Center the page header on the line.
• Use upper and lower case letters.
• Use 2 single (1.0) blank line spaces between the page header and the first line of text or entry on the page.

Use two (2) single (1.0) blank line spaces after the page header.

Dedication (optional): Text is left-aligned and double-spaced.

Acknowledgements (optional):

• Indent the first line of each paragraph .5 inches.
• Text is left-aligned and double-spaced.
• The title should be in Times New Roman, 12 pt.
• Capitalize the significant words in the title.
• Center the title; single space the title if more than one line.
• Use 2 single (1.0) blank line spaces before and after the title.
• The text is double-spaced.

• Do not include the title page, certification page, and copyright page.
• Single space within each entry; double space between entries.
• Make sure the text for the entries does not overlap with the page number column.
• Check this page for Bookmark errors! In the example, the blue line shows the page margins.

List of Figures (required if used in the document):

• Single space (1.0) within each entry; use one (1) single blank space between entries.
• Include the Figure or Table number, title or caption, and page number on which the figure or table appears.
• The text for entries should not overlap with the page number column.
• The image below shows the correct formatting for the list of figures and list of tables. The blue line shows the page margins.

List of Tables (required if used in the document): refer to the formatting guidelines above for List of Figures.

The formatting is the same for the following pages:

• List of Abbreviations (optional)
• List of Symbols/Nomenclature (optional)
• Glossary of Terms (optional)
• List of Equations (optional)
• Bold and center the page header at the top of the page.
• Follow the page header with 2 single (1.0) blank line spaces.
• Left align the text with the left page margin.
• Single space within each entry.
• Double space between entries.
• Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
• Elliott School of International Affairs
• Graduate School of Education and Human Development
• Graduate School of Political Management
• Milken Institute School of Public Health
• School of Business
• School of Engineering and Applied Science
• School of Law

Body of Document

University formatting rules for page margins, page numbering, line spacing and page order govern the formatting of the main body of the manuscript, including the appendices.

• Otherwise, use the manuscript style (such as APA, Chicago Style, etc.) appropriate to your field of study or as directed by your advisor and/or department.
• Consult the GW Libraries Citation Style Guide website for information on specific styles.
• Thesis Statement (as required by your department or advisor; this is numbered as page 1)
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 3...5
• Bibliography, References, or Works Cited (required except for the School of Law)
• Appendices (optional)
• Font type and size: Times New Roman, 12pt, bold
• Use upper and lowercase letters.
• Number the first page of the first chapter or introduction as page 1.
• Chapter titles are determined by the author.
• Start a new chapter on a new page.
• Font type and size: Times New Roman, 12pt
• Figure and table titles and captions
• Long quotes
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Bibliographic entries
• Label figures, tables and images according to the style guide used for your manuscript.
• Figure, Table, and Image title & caption text: Times New Roman, no smaller than 8pt
• The use of color in photos, figures, tables, charts and images is allowed.
• Page margins for individual figures, tables and images may be modified to 1 inch for right, left, top and bottom page margins.
• Changing the page orientation to landscape
• Landscape pages must use portrait page numbers ( Microsoft Word Landscape Page Numbers , University of Mississippi)
• Rotating the image of the figure or table on the portrait page manually or using the rotate function in Word. ( Rotate a picture or shape )
• The required page margins must be maintained.
• Note: legal pages will be reduced proportionately to 8.5 x 11 inches or 6 x 9 inches when printed and bound.
• Visit MS Word Help for information on changing page size and orientation.
• Font type and size: Times New Roman, no smaller than 8pt
• Single-spaced (1.0)
• Formatting should conform to your school's requirements or to the writing style used for the thesis or dissertation.
• Font type and size: Times New Roman, 12 pt
• Single spacing within entries; double spacing between entries
• Page margin requirements apply to these pages.
• These pages should be numbered consecutively from the last page of the Bibliography, References or Works Cited pages.
• Copyright permissions, if any, should be placed in the last appendix of the manuscript.
• Material in supplemental files will be provided on a CD-ROM in a pocket insert at the back of the print copy. The content is presented exactly as it is uploaded to the ETD Administrator site.

Linking and Media Files

When selecting a media file format to include in your dissertation or thesis, consider accessibility and long-term preservation. For example, you should not use a file format that uses software that is proprietary or not widely available to your readers.

• Links pointing to sources outside of the main body of the document should not be embedded in the document.
• These links may change or the pages could be withdrawn over time, losing the reference to those pages.
• Possible exceptions would include a link to an archived website.
• Links embedded in the main body of the document should not link to the supplementary files; instead, reference the files in the body of the document and point to the location of those files.

Linking internally to other places within the main document is permissible. Example: bookmarks in the table of contents.

ProQuest highly recommends placing multimedia files as supplementary files rather than embedding them in the body of the document. Supplementary files are exempt from page margin restrictions, and they will be included on a CD-ROM placed in a pocket at the back of the printed document.

Common multimedia file formats supported by ProQuest for long-term preservation:

Additional file formats supported by ProQuest

Formatting Checklist

Make sure that your page margins, page numbering and line spacing follow University requirements. You may download our checklist below.

• Formatting checklist for ETDs  (202 KB)

How to Submit Your Revised Manuscript

• On the left hand navigation bar, click on Revise PDF .
• Click on the Replace to upload your revised manuscript.
• You must click on Save Changes  on the bottom of each screen to continue to the next step.
• After you have completed all of your revisions, click on Submit Revisions . A confirmation page will be displayed. If everything is correct, click  Submit Revisions .
• You must click the Submit Revisions button for your revisions to be submitted and to notify your administrator of the update(s).

For more information about revisions and submission status, visit the ProQuest Support Center website .

• KU Libraries
• Subject & Course Guides
• KU Thesis and Dissertation Formatting
• Fonts and Spacing

KU Thesis and Dissertation Formatting: Fonts and Spacing

• Formatting Specifics
• Title and Acceptance Pages
• Page Numbering
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Rotating Charts or Tables
• Working with Footnotes
• Converting to PDF
• Embedding Fonts
• Completed KU Dissertations & Theses
• About: Survey of Earned Doctorates
• Copyright and ETD Release Form
• Resources for KUMC Students
• Thesis/Dissertation Filenames
• LaTeX/BibTeX Support

Office of Graduate Studies Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Guidelines

These rules are taken from the KU Office of Graduate Studies Thesis or Dissertation Formatting Guidelines. To see the full thesis or dissertation formatting requirements, visit https://graduate.ku.edu/submitting

• Students should use the same font size (11- or 12-point) and style (typically Times New Roman) through the thesis, including labels and references.
• Tables, captions, and footnotes should use the same font style but may be smaller in size (usually 10-point).
• Chapter and section headings may be bold and no more than 2 points larger than the text size.
• Non-standard typefaces, such as script, are generally not acceptable except for commonly used symbols.
• The Office of Graduate Studies recommends that students get their font choice approved by their department and their graduate division before the thesis defense.
• Lettering and symbols in tables and figures should be no less than 10 points.
• Normally theses and dissertations use double-spaced formatting.
• Single-spaced formatting is acceptable in the table of contents, footnotes, end notes, charts, graphs, tables, block quotations, captions, glossary, appendices and bibliography.
• Students may use singe- or one-and-a-half-spacing for the body of the text with prior written approval of their thesis committee and graduate division.

Subject Guide

• << Previous: Title and Acceptance Pages
• Next: Page Numbering >>
• Last Updated: May 9, 2024 9:48 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.ku.edu/etd

Guidelines on Format and Structure of the Master's Thesis

The department has drawn up recommendations for the structure and format of the Master's thesis.

Recommended structure

• Summary No more than one page, to appear at the front or back of the thesis.
• Foreword Every master's thesis should have a foreword. This should include, among other things, the name of your supervisor. It is good scholarly etiquette to use the foreword to thank people who have contributed to completing your master's thesis.
• Table of contents
• End notes (if relevant)

List of sources and bibliography

• Appendices (if relevant)

You can use the title page template for master theses from the University of Oslo:

• Master's and Bachelor's theses, doctor degrees and compendiums

The title page should include the following:

• Thesis title
• The UiO logo - the Apollo seal
• Student's full name
• Master's thesis in [course code + title]
• The name of the program/program option
• Number of credits, 30 or 60.
• Semester and year
• Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS), University of Oslo

Suggested total number of pages

• 60-credit thesis: 70-100 pages 
• 30-credit thesis: 35-50 pages

A standard page is approximately 2300 characters without spaces, including references. The bibliography and appendices are not included in the page count.

NB! Refer to the course description for more precise information about the total number of pages.

Use the same font throughout your document. The font must be easily legible.

Recommended font: Times New Roman in 12 points with 1.5 line spacing.

2.5 cm on each side.

Left alignment, do not justify-align the text.

Referencing system

You are free to decide whether to provide references in parentheses within the main text or as footnotes. Whichever system you choose, you must use it consistently.

All students should familiarise themselves with the university library's webpage on the correct use of citations and referencing of source materials .

Should appear at the bottom of the same page as the numeric reference in the text. This is more reader-friendly than putting all the footnotes either at the end of each chapter or the end of the main text.

Should appear at the end of the thesis, but before any appendices.

The bibliography should only include texts that are referred to in the thesis.

See also UiO's Graphic Centre  for further information about styles and layout.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter

Relevant links

• L iterature searching, referencing and citations  (in Norwegian)
• UiO's logo - Apollo
• Grids and templates

Guidelines for the General Format of a Ph.D. Thesis

The production of a thesis should follow the following guidelines. For further details, or in case of uncertainty, please refer to the administrative assistant who organizes the defence. Researchers should send the thesis as  one PDF file .

General format and layout

Page format Use the standard A4 format and set the same margins all around (e.g. 2.5 cm, top/bottom, right/left). Remember that the thesis will be printed and boud and that margins should thus be large enough

Text size and line spacing The text should be in 11 or 12 point character and 1.5 spaced lines. Footnotes should be in 10 point character and single spaced lines. Text and footnotes should be justified

Font Choose a commonly used font that provides a full character set, for example Arial or Times (especially when using languages other than English)

Tables & pictures Insert tables, graphs and other images directly where they belong in the text. Should it be necessary to introduce coloured pictures, contact the organizing admin. assistant. Tables should always be on one page: never divide a table between different pages. Do not use colours in tables or graphs: use instead bold, punctuated or dashed lines for graphical images 

Pagination :   The text should be paginated throughout (including notes, bibliographies, annexes). The final thesis will be printed double-sided so you must ensure that blank pages are inserted where necessary in order that new chapters, sections, bibliography etc. fall on the right hand side, on an odd-numbered page (i.e. if the last page of a chapter is 171, insert page 172 as a blank page before starting the new chapter with 173). The page numbering for the title, table of contents and acknowledgements is ususally in Roman numbers. The page numbering in Arabic letters should start with page 1 on the first page of the text. If you have an automatized Table of Contents, check carefully that it is correct, otherwise you may have to insert additional blank pages

Cover-pages The title-pages should be produced according to the rules of the Institute using a specific template:  download the template cover-page for PhD theses in English , or ask the administrative assistant if the thesis is in a language other than English. It is important to respect the font type and paragraph formatting of these cover-pages. Remember that theses should be sent in as one pdf file: it is advisable to format the thesis and the title-pages independently, then transform them into pdf and merge them into a single file

Language correction Theses that have been submitted for language correction should specify this in the 'Researcher declaration to accompany the submission of written work' that is part of the cover-page template 

Thesis abstract Insert the thesis summary (up to 300 words) after the 'Researcher declaration to accompany the submission of written work' and before the Table of Contents

Table of contents Use capital letters, highlighting or indenting to differentiate between main and sub-chapters. Page numbering should be always in the same size.

Acknowledgements Acknowledgements follow the Table of contents. Before writing the acknowledgements you may want to read this blogpost by Prof. Nouwen  

Style-sheets It is advisable to prepare the general style-sheets and formatting of the thesis in a sample chapter and then write/insert the text into the pre-defined files. This is more consistent and makes it easier to handle the work, rather than having to format each chapter.

Note: The final title of the thesis has to be agreed upon together with the Supervisor

While proofreading the thesis, it may be useful to double-check our  Brief Guide for Academic English

Page last updated on 27 July 2023

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Why are the final copies of thesis dissertations often required to be double spaced?

From http://thewallaceline.blogspot.com/2006/11/double-line-spacing-in-dissertations.html :

It is standard practice to require dissertations to be double-spaced. In the age of word processors, one wonders why this practice persists. This must surely be a legacy from the days when dissertations were typewritten and students were allowed to make corrections in situ rather than re-print. Word processors have eliminated that problem. Double-spacing might also be suitable for drafts which require annotation for editing, but final copies of dissertations are not used in this way and modern techniques such as commenting do this job.

How did this tradition get started? The ability to make corrections on the printed thesis in the days of typewriters sounds like a pretty good guess.

• 3 It seems like you asked and answered your question. –  Brian P Commented Jun 17, 2014 at 19:25
• 2 I have never heard of this convention. Is this indeed common? My dissertation was singled-spaced. –  xLeitix Commented Jun 17, 2014 at 19:30
• I little magic with LaTeX let me format my dissertation for the printer as required and in a neat and compact version for download. –  dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Commented Jun 18, 2014 at 3:02
• Why would there be any corrections in the final copy of a document? These two attributes somehow seem mutually exclusive to me (as in, the final version by definition being the one that will be on file as is, without any further amendmends or changes)? –  O. R. Mapper Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 20:17

3 Answers 3

How did this tradition get started?

From what I read, with typewriters :

Double spacing is an entrenched practice due to the era of typewriters [...]. Typewriters had a limited number of options for leading and double spacing was chosen as a default.

My understanding was that this is for the convenience of examiners, who may wish to annotate a printed copy while reading the thesis, for reference during the defence. In the UK, at least, where candidates may be expected to make corrections to their thesis after the defence, this is quite common. Annotation is much easier if there is plenty of whitespace on the page.

• 4 This would make sense for the draft copy that goes to the committee before approval, but not for the final libarry copy. –  Ari Trachtenberg Commented Jun 18, 2014 at 0:48

As Frack Demoncourt's answer says, this comes from the typewriter era (I did my undergraduate thesis then). A change in a page meant retyping it completely, so having extra leeway to add/delete a line was critical. Less text on the page meant less retyping in case of an error, also important. I remember my advisor was extra careful to suggest changes that didn't spill over to following pages.

Yes, the good old days . How do I miss them...

By the way, the local standard still specifies double spacing, printed on one side only. In practice, the librarians here are thrilled when my students turn in single spaced, double sided printed theses (less precious shelf space!).

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged thesis ..

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• We've made changes to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy - July 2024
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• C - mini string lib
• In TNG: the Pegasus, why is Geordi in the first meeting with the Admiral?
• Visualizing histogram of data on unit circle?
• How would Earth's plants change in this speculated Earth-like planet?
• Fast circular buffer
• The hat-check problem
• Postdoc supervisor has stopped helping
• Linear Regulator Pass Transistor vs Parallel Regulators
• Why are swimming goggles typically made from a different material than diving masks?
• Why don't we observe protons deflecting in J.J. Thomson's experiment?
• Chord definition misunderstanding
• 70s? Novel, a man is stuck/trapped? in a city where the other people are fooled/conned into believing things are better then they are
• Can I repair these deck support posts, or do I need to replace them?
• Unit fractions summing to 1 - proving upper bound for the denominators.
• Fitting 10 pieces of pizza in a box
• Does the overall mAh of the battery add up when batteries are parallel?
• Is this misleading "convenience fee" legal?
• How to find intersecting linear equations between two lists?
• How do we know for sure that the dedekind axiom is logically independent of the other axioms?
• python stats.spearmanr and R cor.test(method='spearman') don't return the same p-value?
• Should I be worried about this giant crack?
• A world without entropy
• I can't select a certain record with like %value%
• If you get pulled for secondary inspection at immigration, missing flight, will the airline rebook you?

• Directories

Line spacing throughout the entire document must be consistent.

• The space between lines of all running text is consistently 1½ or 2 lines. If you use double spacing (2 line) in the front matter, you must use double spacing throughout the entire document.
• Line spacing on captions and multi-line entries in Table of Contents, Lists & References are single spaced. Remember to use either 1½ or 2 lines spacing between different entries. See example .
• Spacing before table caption and after figure caption: Appropriate white space must separate text before and after short tables and figures that are included in text.

Indenting: The first line of each paragraph is indented.