Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines
Explore This Section
Introduction
This page assists graduate students in successfully creating and depositing their dissertation or thesis. All guidelines are approved by the Graduate Council and can be modified at any time; however, the Graduate School will ensure the changes are clearly communicated to faculty and students.
Choosing a Style
The student must choose a style for his/her thesis or dissertation based on common practice within the discipline of his/her program. Common styles include:
- APA (American Psychological Association)
- CMS (Chicago Manual Style)
- MLA (Modern Language Association)
The student is required to consult with his/her adviser to select a style. It is also important that the student consistently utilize the conventions of the style throughout his/her thesis/dissertation.
Font Type and Style
The font size:
- Of the text should be 12 point using a traditional font type (Courier, Times New Roman) and used throughout the document.
- Of headings, subheadings, etc. may vary according to style.
- Of symbols and mathematical formula may also vary from 12 point, where necessary.
Line Spacing, Justification, Indentation and Margins
Lines should be double spaced throughout the document. Exceptions may include:
- Inset quotations
- Footnotes
- Tabular forms
- Bibliography/references page
- As dictated by the specific style guidelines.
Text should be left-justified and paragraphs should be tab indented. Page margins should be:
- Left: 1.5 inches (for binding)
- Top: 1.0 inch
- Right: 1.0 inch
- Bottom: 1.0 inch
Page Size and Pagination
Standard page size of 8 1/2 x 11 inches should be used throughout the document.
All page numerals should be placed in the top right-hand corner of the page. Page numerals should appear within the 1-inch margins.
The front matter consists of all sections before the narrative and should be numbered using lower case roman numerals. The first page considered for numbering, though not numbered, is the title page. The acceptance page is the second page of the document but the first page to be numbered (ii).
Arabic numerals, beginning with one (1) are used at the beginning of the narrative and continued to the end of the document.
Landscape pages may be used. However, the binding requirements of the document must be respected. Thus, the 'top' of a landscaped page (i.e. the top edge of the page oriented (11 inches) with the landscaped material) is the edge where binding will occur and, thus, must have a 1.5 inch margin. The other margins must be for