masters dissertation title page

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation

Dissertation title page

Published on 30 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 18 October 2022.

The title page (or cover page) of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper should contain all the key information about your document. It usually includes:

• Dissertation or thesis title
• The type of document (e.g., dissertation, research paper )
• The department and institution
• The degree program (e.g., Master of Arts)
• The date of submission

It sometimes also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and your university’s logo.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

Table of contents

Title page format, title page templates, title page example, frequently asked questions about title pages.

Your department will usually tell you exactly what should be included on your title page and how it should be formatted. Be sure to check whether there are specific guidelines for margins, spacing, and font size.

Title pages for APA and MLA Style

The format of your title page can also depend on the citation style you’re using. There may be guidelines in regards to alignment, page numbering, and mandatory elements.

• MLA guidelines for formatting the title page
• APA guidelines for formatting the title page

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

We’ve created a few templates to help you design the title page for your thesis, dissertation, or research paper. You can download them in the format of your choice by clicking on the corresponding button.

Research paper Google doc

Dissertation Google doc

Thesis Google doc

A typical example of a thesis title page looks like this:

The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

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 Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2022, October 18). Dissertation title page. Scribbr. Retrieved 18 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/title-page/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, thesis & dissertation acknowledgements | tips & examples, dissertation table of contents in word | instructions & examples, research paper appendix | example & templates.

Title Page Setup

A title page is required for all APA Style papers. There are both student and professional versions of the title page. Students should use the student version of the title page unless their instructor or institution has requested they use the professional version. APA provides a student title page guide (PDF, 199KB) to assist students in creating their title pages.

Student title page

The student title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number, as shown in this example.

Title page setup is covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 2.3 and the Concise Guide Section 1.6

Related handouts

• Student Title Page Guide (PDF, 263KB)
• Student Paper Setup Guide (PDF, 3MB)

Student papers do not include a running head unless requested by the instructor or institution.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the student title page.

Professional title page

The professional title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation(s), author note, running head, and page number, as shown in the following example.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the professional title page.

• Sample Dissertation Title Page
• ETD Administrator
• Formatting FAQs
• Dissertation Templates
• Dissertation Embargo Guidelines
• Dissertation Copyright

Dissertation title pages must follow a specific format. Refer to the PhD Dissertation Formatting Guide  and view the examples below. Certain graduate groups follow a special format.

Standard sample title page (exceptions listed below):

Students in Francophone, Italian and Germanic Studies (FIGS) must follow the format below:

Students in Wharton must follow the format below:

Students in the Social Welfare Graduate Group must follow this format:

Community Blog

Keep up-to-date on postgraduate related issues with our quick reads written by students, postdocs, professors and industry leaders.

The Dissertation Title Page

• By DiscoverPhDs
• August 12, 2020

The title page of your dissertation or thesis conveys all the essential details about your project, including:

• The title of your project
• Your full name (including student number if required)
• Clarification of whether this is a dissertation or thesis document
• The name of your academic department
• The name of your university
• The degree name that the dissertation or thesis has been written for (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy)
• The date (month and year) that you will submit the document
• The name of your supervisor(s)

This page can also be referred to as the dissertation cover page when your degree program is at the undergraduate or Masters level.

Format of the Title Page

Your university will provide you with the exact formatting requirements of your dissertation title page. This will include how to present the above information but also the font size to use, line spacing and the size of margins. For example, a graduate school may require the title to be in all caps, all text to be double-spaced and margins on the binding side to be 4cm. Don’t include the page number and have all text centred. You may also need to include the university logo. The APA style is commonly referred to for guidance on how to format research documents. This guide from University College London on their requirements is also an interesting read.

Example of a Dissertation Title Page

The example below is what a dissertation title page would usually look like for a Masters degree project in the UK. You can use this as a template when writing your own title page. The format presented here is also applicable for a doctoral dissertation or thesis title page.

The title page may be followed by an approval page, signed by the project chair and any other committee members. After this comes your abstract, presented on a separate page and then your table of contents. Some institutions may also require a copyright page to be included. Whilst the title page doesn’t have a page number, pages after this may use Roman numerals with the traditional page number format starting after your table of contents.

The term partial fulfillment means that this research document was one of several requirements for you to obtain your degree. For a Master’s degree, the other requirements will typically include exams and coursework.

Follow the advice in this guide to ensure your title page is in the correct format before final submission of your research project. This will be a normal part of undergraduate and graduate study.

This post explains the difference between the journal paper status of In Review and Under Review.

In Finland, all new PhD holders are given a traditional Doctoral Hat and Doctoral Sword during a Conferment Ceremony, symbolising the freedom of research.

Is it really possible to do a PhD while working? The answer is ‘yes’, but it comes with several ‘buts’. Read our post to find out if it’s for you.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

Browse PhDs Now

Find out the different dissertation and thesis binding options, which is best, advantages and disadvantages, typical costs, popular services and more.

An abstract and introduction are the first two sections of your paper or thesis. This guide explains the differences between them and how to write them.

Dr Karki gained his PhD in the field of Nuclear and Particle Physics from Ohio University in March 2020. He is currently working as a postdoctoral associate in Prof. Haiyan Gao’s research group in Duke University.

Dr Norman gained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of East Anglia in 2018. He is now the Public Engagement Officer at the Babraham Institute.

Join Thousands of Students

Academic Editing and Proofreading

• Tips to Self-Edit Your Dissertation
• Guide to Essay Editing: Methods, Tips, & Examples
• Journal Article Proofreading: Process, Cost, & Checklist
• The A–Z of Dissertation Editing: Standard Rates & Involved Steps
• Research Paper Editing | Guide to a Perfect Research Paper
• Dissertation Proofreading | Definition & Standard Rates
• Thesis Proofreading | Definition, Importance & Standard Pricing
• Research Paper Proofreading | Definition, Significance & Standard Rates
• Essay Proofreading | Options, Cost & Checklist
• Top 10 Paper Editing Services of 2024 (Costs & Features)
• Top 10 Essay Checkers in 2024 (Free & Paid)
• Top 10 AI Proofreaders to Perfect Your Writing in 2024
• Top 10 English Correctors to Perfect Your Text in 2024
• Top 10 Essay Editing Services of 2024
• 10 Advanced AI Text Editors to Transform Writing in 2024
• Personal Statement Editing Services: Craft a Winning Essay

Academic Research

• Research Paper Outline: Free Templates & Examples to Guide You
• How to Write a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Write a Lab Report: Examples from Academic Editors
• Research Methodology Guide: Writing Tips, Types, & Examples
• The 10 Best Essential Resources for Academic Research
• 100+ Useful ChatGPT Prompts for Thesis Writing in 2024
• Best ChatGPT Prompts for Academic Writing (100+ Prompts!)
• Sampling Methods Guide: Types, Strategies, and Examples
• Independent vs. Dependent Variables | Meaning & Examples

Academic Writing & Publishing

• Difference Between Paper Editing and Peer Review
• What are the different types of peer review?
• How to Handle Journal Rejection: Essential Tips
• Editing and Proofreading Academic Papers: A Short Guide
• How to Carry Out Secondary Research
• The Results Section of a Dissertation
• Checklist: Is my Article Ready for Submitting to Journals?
• Types of Research Articles to Boost Your Research Profile
• 8 Types of Peer Review Processes You Should Know
• The Ethics of Academic Research
• How does LaTeX based proofreading work?
• How to Improve Your Scientific Writing: A Short Guide
• Chicago Title, Cover Page & Body | Paper Format Guidelines
• How to Write a Thesis Statement: Examples & Tips
• Chicago Style Citation: Quick Guide & Examples
• The A-Z Of Publishing Your Article in A Journal
• What is Journal Article Editing? 3 Reasons You Need It
• 5 Powerful Personal Statement Examples (Template Included)
• Complete Guide to MLA Format (9th Edition)
• How to Cite a Book in APA Style | Format & Examples
• How to Start a Research Paper | Step-by-step Guide
• APA Citations Made Easy with Our Concise Guide for 2024
• A Step-by-Step Guide to APA Formatting Style (7th Edition)
• Top 10 Online Dissertation Editing Services of 2024
• Academic Writing in 2024: 5 Key Dos & Don’ts + Examples
• What Are the Standard Book Sizes for Publishing Your Book?
• MLA Works Cited Page: Quick Tips & Examples
• 2024’s Top 10 Thesis Statement Generators (Free Included!)
• Top 10 Title Page Generators for Students in 2024
• What Is an Open Access Journal? 10 Myths Busted!
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Definition, Types & Examples
• How To Write a College Admissions Essay That Stands Out
• How to Write a Dissertation & Thesis Conclusion (+ Examples)
• APA Journal Citation: 7 Types, In-Text Rules, & Examples
• What Is Predatory Publishing and How to Avoid It!
• What Is Plagiarism? Meaning, Types & Examples
• How to Write a Strong Dissertation & Thesis Introduction
• How to Cite a Book in MLA Format (9th Edition)
• How to Cite a Website in MLA Format | 9th Edition Rules
• 10 Best AI Conclusion Generators (Features & Pricing)
• Top 10 Academic Editing Services of 2024 [with Pricing]
• 100+ Writing Prompts for College Students (10+ Categories!)
• How to Create the Perfect Thesis Title Page in 2024
• Additional Resources
• Preventing Plagiarism in Your Thesis: Tips & Best Practices
• Final Submission Checklist | Dissertation & Thesis
• 7 Useful MS Word Formatting Tips for Dissertation Writing
• How to Write a MEAL Paragraph: Writing Plan Explained in Detail
• Em Dash vs. En Dash vs. Hyphen: When to Use Which
• The 10 Best Citation Generators in 2024 | Free & Paid Plans!
• 2024’s Top 10 Self-Help Books for Better Living
• The 10 Best Free Character and Word Counters of 2024
• Know Everything About How to Make an Audiobook
• Citation and Referencing
• Citing References: APA, MLA, and Chicago
• How to Cite Sources in the MLA Format
• MLA Citation Examples: Cite Essays, Websites, Movies & More
• Citations and References: What Are They and Why They Matter
• APA Headings & Subheadings | Formatting Guidelines & Examples
• Formatting an APA Reference Page | Template & Examples
• Research Paper Format: APA, MLA, & Chicago Style
• How to Create an MLA Title Page | Format, Steps, & Examples
• How to Create an MLA Header | Format Guidelines & Examples
• MLA Annotated Bibliography | Guidelines and Examples
• APA Website Citation (7th Edition) Guide | Format & Examples
• APA Citation Examples: The Bible, TED Talk, PPT & More
• APA Header Format: 5 Steps & Running Head Examples
• APA Title Page Format Simplified | Examples + Free Template
• How to Write an Abstract in MLA Format: Tips & Examples
• 10 Best Free Plagiarism Checkers of 2024 [100% Free Tools]
• 5 Reasons to Cite Your Sources Properly | Avoid Plagiarism!
• Dissertation Writing Guide
• Writing a Dissertation Proposal
• The Acknowledgments Section of a Dissertation
• The Table of Contents Page of a Dissertation
• The Introduction Chapter of a Dissertation
• The Literature Review of a Dissertation
• The Only Dissertation Toolkit You’ll Ever Need!
• 5 Thesis Writing Tips for Master Procrastinators
• How to Write a Dissertation | 5 Tips from Academic Editors
• The 5 Things to Look for in a Dissertation Editing Service
• Top 10 Dissertation Editing & Proofreading Services
• Why is it important to add references to your thesis?
• Thesis Editing | Definition, Scope & Standard Rates
• Expert Formatting Tips on MS Word for Dissertations
• A 7-Step Guide on How to Choose a Dissertation Topic
• 350 Best Dissertation Topic Ideas for All Streams in 2024
• A Guide on How to Write an Abstract for a Research Paper
• Dissertation Defense: What to Expect and How to Prepare

Creating a Dissertation Title Page (Examples & Templates)

• Essay Writing Guide
• Essential Research Tips for Essay Writing
• What Is a Mind Map? Free Mind Map Templates & Examples
• How to Write an Essay Outline: 5 Examples & Free Template
• How to Write an Essay Header: MLA and APA Essay Headers
• What Is an Essay? Structure, Parts, and Types
• How to Write an Essay in 8 Simple Steps (Examples Included)
• 8 Types of Essays | Quick Summary with Examples
• Expository Essays | Step-by-Step Manual with Examples
• Narrative Essay | Step-by-Step Guide with Examples
• How to Write an Argumentative Essay (Examples Included)
• Guide to a Perfect Descriptive Essay [Examples & Outline Included]
• How to Start an Essay: 4 Introduction Paragraph Examples
• How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay (Examples Included!)
• How to Write an Impactful Personal Statement (Examples Included)
• Literary Analysis Essay: 5 Steps to a Perfect Assignment
• Compare and Contrast Essay | Quick Guide with Examples
• Top AI Essay Writers in 2024: 10 Must-Haves
• 100 Best College Essay Topics & How to Pick the Perfect One!
• College Essay Format: Tips, Examples, and Free Template
• Structure of an Essay: 5 Tips to Write an Outstanding Essay
• 10 Best AI Essay Outline Generators of 2024
• The Best Essay Graders of 2024 That You Can Use for Free!
• Top 10 Free Essay Writing Tools for Students in 2024

Still have questions? Leave a comment

Add Comment

Checklist: Dissertation Proposal

Enter your email id to get the downloadable right in your inbox!

Examples: Edited Papers

Need editing and proofreading services.

• Tags: Academic Writing , Dissertation , Language

Creating a title page for a dissertation is a crucial step in presenting your research professionally. In this article, we explained everything about creating and formatting a dissertation title page. 

With this, we’ve also given practical dissertation title page examples and templates. So without wasting time, let’s begin! 

Polish your dissertation with specialized editing! Get started

Firstly, let’s learn the elements of a dissertation title page. 

What to include in a dissertation title page? 

A dissertation title page contains important details such as the dissertation title, the author’s name, the university name, the submission date, and the degree type (eg M.A., Ph.D., or other). 

Some of the other details it can also include are: 

• Names of committee members and supervisor 
• University or department logo
• A statement indicating that the dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the specified degree
• Copyright notice, if applicable
• Candidate number or student ID, if required
• University/college location 

You can crosscheck your institution’s guidelines or consult your supervisor if you have any doubts about what to include in the dissertation’s title page. 

Now let’s learn more about formatting a dissertation title page . 

Dissertation title page formatting guidelines 

While it’s important to refer to the institution’s formatting guidelines, here are some general guidelines for formatting. 

• Margins: Maintain consistent margins throughout the title page. Generally, a 1-inch margin on all sides is recommended, but check your institution’s specific guidelines.
• Font: Use a clear, readable font and keep the font size should be 12pt for the main text, though it can be larger (e.g., 14pt or 16pt) for the dissertation title.
• Spacing: The title page is usually single-spaced, with double spaces between certain elements like the title and your name. Follow your institution’s guidelines for spacing.
• Alignment: Center all the elements on the title page vertically and horizontally, unless otherwise specified by your institution.
• Title: The dissertation title should be in all capital letters, bolded, and positioned at the top of the page, about 2 inches from the top margin. Crosscheck your institution’s guidelines for the title. 

Depending on your field, the institution can also ask you to create an APA dissertation title page, an MLA title page , a Chicago-style title page , or another. You can consult your supervisor if you have any doubts about the style guidelines. 

Now, let us see an example of a dissertation title page to understand better! 

Dissertation title page examples 

1. The first example is about a dissertation on the topic “The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health: A Longitudinal Study” by Andrew Burnett. 

2. The second example is about a dissertation on the topic “Exploring the Intersection of Art and Technology in Contemporary Museums” by Emily Davis. 

While this example demonstrates a dissertation title page, the format of this page can vary, depending on your university’s guidelines. Let’s see some sample dissertation page templates to help you create the perfect title page! 

Dissertation title page templates 

Browse through the following document to view dissertation title page templates! 

Dissertation page templates

Now let us see some essential pointers to create a dissertation title page! 

Important pointers to create a dissertation title page 

The following are 5 important pointers to ensure while creating a dissertation title page: 

• Avoid using obscure abbreviations, jargon, or unnecessary words in the title.
• Ensure that you use the full, official name of your degree on the title page (e.g., “Doctor of Philosophy” instead of “Ph.D.”).
• Double-check the accuracy of all information on the title page, including your name, the degree name, the department and university names, and the date.
• Ensure that the formatting of your title page is consistent with the rest of your dissertation (e.g., font type, font size , and line spacing).
• If your university allows or requires it, consider including a copyright notice at the bottom of the title page to protect your work.
• Ask your advisor, committee members, or a trusted peer to review your title page and provide feedback on its clarity, formatting, and adherence to guidelines.

Now that you know how to create a dissertation title page, you can start making your own. 

Once you’ve completed writing your dissertation, the next step will be to edit it. As trusted experts in dissertation editing services , we’d love to help you enhance your dissertation! 

Here are some other useful resources for you: 

• Final Submission Checklist | Dissertation & Thesis

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you title a dissertation, how long is a dissertation title, how do you format a title page for a dissertation.

Found this article helpful?

11 comments on “ Creating a Dissertation Title Page (Examples & Templates) ”

I was looking at some of your articles on this website and I conceive this web site is really instructive! Keep on putting up.

Aw, this was an actually nice message. In concept I would love to put in writing such as this in addition? requiring time as well as real initiative to make an excellent post? but what can I state? I procrastinate alot and also by no means seem to obtain something done.

Very good beginning. It will be interesting to read where it goes from here.

Hi there to every body, it’s my first go to see of this webpage; this blog consists of amazing and in fact excellent information in support of readers.

I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.

This was very useful for me. Many thanks. Self published 2 books. Available on Amazon.com but no chance to market them. Nice tips.

I think this is one of the most vital information for me.

Hey there. I discovered your website by way of Google whilst looking for a comparable matter, your website got here up. It seems to be great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then. Corliss Roddie Riti

Of course, what a splendid site and informative posts, I definitely will bookmark your website. Best Regards! Berri Garreth Falda

I could not resist commenting. Exceptionally well written!

Only desire to say your post is spectacular. The clearness as part of your put up is quickly remarkable and i can assume you happen to be an authority on this area. Thanks a million and please continue to keep up the superior job.

Leave a Comment: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Your vs. You’re: When to Use Your and You’re

Your organization needs a technical editor: here’s why, your guide to the best ebook readers in 2024, writing for the web: 7 expert tips for web content writing.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Get carefully curated resources about writing, editing, and publishing in the comfort of your inbox.

How to Copyright Your Book?

If you’ve thought about copyrighting your book, you’re on the right path.

© 2024 All rights reserved

• Terms of service
• Privacy policy
• Self Publishing Guide
• Pre-Publishing Steps
• Fiction Writing Tips
• Traditional Publishing
• Academic Writing and Publishing
• Partner with us
• Annual report
• Website content
• Marketing material
• Job Applicant
• Cover letter
• Resource Center
• Case studies

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

*The Caveat *

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.  

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

• Acknowledgements page
• Abstract (or executive summary)
• Table of contents , list of figures and tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

• The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
• The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
• The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
• The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

• Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
• Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
• Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

• The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
• The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
• Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or  mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

• Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
• Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
• Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
• Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

• Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
• Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
• Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
• Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

Table of contents

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

• What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
• Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
• What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
• How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
• How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

• What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
• Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
• How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
• How does your research contribute something original?
• How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

• Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
• Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

• Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the  Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

• What Is A Literature Review (In A Dissertation Or Thesis) - Grad Coach - […] is to write the actual literature review chapter (this is usually the second chapter in a typical dissertation or…

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

The Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Templates and examples.

Please download a title page template in order to correctly format your master's or doctoral title page and refer to the additional instructions below. You can also consult the master's or doctoral title page example as you format your title page.

Master's Title Page Template

Master's Title Page Example

Doctoral Title Page Template

Doctoral Title Page Example

Title Page with Minor or Concentration Example

Requirements

• All margins should be 1 inch and must be consistent on all sides of the page.
• All font should be the same size and should be set to either 10 pt. or 12 pt.
• Do not display a page number anywhere on the page.
• Do not use boldface type on the title page.
• Capitalize the title, BY, your name, and either THESIS (for master's thesis) or DISSERTATION (for doctoral dissertations).
• Your name on your title page should match what appears in the University's system.
• The text block beneath THESIS or DISSERTATION should appear as follows:
• Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
• for the degree of <add earned degree> in <add major>
• with a concentration in <add concentration>
• with a minor in <add minor>
• in the Graduate College of the
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, <add year of degree conferral>
• The major must fit entirely onto line 2 of the text block.
• Most students will not include lines 3 or 4. There are very few campus-approved graduate concentrations and graduate minors. (The list of campus-approved graduate minors can be found  here .) If a concentration or minor cannot be verified by the University’s records, it will not be allowed on the title page.
• The year in line 6 of the text block must be the year of the degree conferral period for which the student will deposit (e.g., if a student deposits in December 2015 for the May 2016 graduation period, the year in the text block should be 2016).
• Master’s students will use the heading “Adviser:”, "Advisers:", or “Master’s Committee:”, depending on which is applicable or preferred.
• Doctoral students will use the heading “Doctoral Committee:” to list the final examination committee.
• For committees, the committee chair should be listed first, and the director of research (adviser) should be listed second; all other committee members may be listed in the order preferred by the student or the student’s adviser.
• The committee chair should be indicated by adding a comma and the word “Chair” after the chair’s name. The director of research (if different from chair) should be indicated by adding a comma and the phrase “Director of Research” after the director’s name.
• “Co-Chair” and “Co-Director of Research” designations may be used when applicable.
• Faculty members should be listed with their professorial title (i.e., Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, etc.). The professorial title should be spelled in full (do not abbreviate) and listed before the faculty member’s name.
• Affiliations should be listed only for committee members who are not University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty (i.e., departmental affiliations should not be listed).

• Public Lectures
• Faculty & Staff Site >>

Thesis/Dissertation

To graduate with a master’s (thesis program) or doctoral (dissertation program) degree, students are required to submit an Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD) and a Committee Approval Form to the Graduate School through the  UW ETD Administrator Site . ETDs are distributed by ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing and made available on an open access basis through UW Libraries  ResearchWorks Service .

The Graduate School partners with the UW Libraries to provide comprehensive resources for students as they write, submit, and publish academic theses or dissertations. These pages outline information and policies related to preparing your thesis/dissertation, including formatting, deadlines, copyright and distribution decisions, and, ultimately, graduation. We also encourage you to review the  ETD Library Guide  for additional information.

For comprehensive information on preparing to graduate, please refer to our graduation requirements information page .

Writing Your Thesis or Dissertation

Etd resources.

As a starting point, students submitting an ETD are encouraged to review the below resources:

• Hacking the Academy: UW Theses & Dissertations (Recording of July 29, 2020 event) This session helps students think through their options for how and when to share their work, including the copyright and publishing considerations they may need to take into account.
• Electronic Theses & Dissertations with the UW Libraries The University Libraries welcomes you to this self-guided course on electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) at the UW. In this five-part learning experience, you will learn a lot about the ETD process including how the submission process works, how to give and receive recognition for your work, how to find and interpret publisher policies and how to read and inspect publishing contracts.

Formatting Guidelines

After you submit your ETD, the Graduate School will review your document as part of the graduation process at the end of each quarter. We will review for information accuracy, consistency, and to ensure your ETD meets the formatting requirements described below. There are three required sections (pages) that must be included at the beginning of your manuscript: 1) Title Page, 2) Copyright Page, 3) Abstract. Templates for these sections are provided below.

Apart from these first three pages, the Graduate School does not adhere to any specific formatting or publishing requirements unless explicitly stated by the ProQuest Author Guide: Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission (provided below). You should refer to the citation, formatting, and style specifications of your discipline and the guidance of your supervisory committee.  Note: theses and dissertations must be submitted in PDF format.

For a complete overview of the graduation process, please review  Preparing to Graduate .

Required Sections:

• Must include all items listed in the sample title page and placed in the same order
• May be the first or second page of your document
• Title of document
• Author’s Full Name
• Name of degree as it will appear on your diploma
• Year of graduation
• Names of chair/committee members (do not include signatures or professional titles, e.g. Dr. or PhD, before/after faculty names)
• Program authorized to offer degree (school or department)
• Name and year must match title pages
• List the year of graduation
• Place abstract after copyright and title page

Master’s Thesis Approval Form:

You are required to upload a completed and signed Master’s Thesis Approval Form into the UW ETD Administrator (ProQuest) site; the Approval Form is part of your ETD submission. This Approval Form is a separate PDF and should not be included as a page in the thesis or dissertation itself.

• Master’s Thesis Approval Form

Electronic Doctoral Dissertation Approval:

Final Exams scheduled after March 3, 2020 include a link for Reading Committee Members to approve the dissertation online at MyGrad Committee View.

ETD Formatting Resources:

• Thesis/Dissertation Formatting Checklist  – a quick reference guide of the formatting do’s and don’ts provided below.
• ProQuest Dissertation Publishing — Author Guide: Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission
• ProQuest Online Submission FAQs
• Master’s Thesis Title Page – Fillable PDF Template 
• Doctoral Dissertation Title Page – Fillable PDF Template
• Word Templates  – Alex Mamishev, Professor in Electrical Engineering maintains a Word file that other students may find useful when formatting their document.

Common ETD Formatting Revisions Requested

To ensure timely graduating, take some time before you submit to review this information and ProQuest’s document formatting guidelines. These are all common errors and revisions the Graduate School will request when reviewing ETD formatting. You will be required to resubmit if revisions are needed. Be precise, and consistent as you format your document.  Many formatting errors result from following a fellow or former student’s example, so it’s important to review the most current templates and guidelines.

Title Page, Copyright Page, Abstract

Language Requirement

Your document must be written in English ( policy 1.1.4.3 ). If you need to write your document in another language to accommodate the main audience, you must get prior approval to do so by  submitting a petition the dean via MyGrad . If the petition is approved, the required sections (title page, copyright page, abstract) must still be written in English.

Plagiarism is using words, ideas, diagrams, and other content from publicly available work without appropriately acknowledging the sources of these materials. This definition constitutes plagiarism whether it is intentional or unintentional and whether it is the work of another or your own, previously published work.

Plagiarism is a very serious offense that the University of Washington does not tolerate. Evidence of plagiarism may prevent granting of your degree.

Submitting and Publishing

Submitting for dissemination and access.

The Graduate School and the Libraries require that all UW theses and dissertations be submitted electronically for management efficiency, cost control, ease of dissemination, and long-term preservation reasons. In addition, your ETD must eventually be made available openly on the web. Your ETD will be hosted in both UW’s institutional repository,  ResearchWorks , and in  ProQuest’s ETD Database .  Consequently, you will need to indicate your choices in two sections about how your ETD is made available. Most students choose to make their work available immediately, but you can choose to limit access  temporarily  before making it available openly.

Students may restrict access to their theses and dissertations…

• while seeking to publish journal articles or books based on them,
• to protect intellectual property during the patent application process, or
• to prevent the disclosure of sensitive or classified information.

During the submission process, you will select ProQuest and ResearchWorks (Institutional Repository, or IR) publication options. The options are summarized on a table below, followed by selected scenarios to assist you in making your decisions.

IMPORTANT: The metadata describing your ETD, including the citation and abstract, is openly available  immediately— regardless of the embargo or restriction status. This information is searchable by Google, Bing and other search engines, so take care that neither the descriptive information nor the text contain confidential or sensitive information.

Selecting Access Options

Selected ETD Access Scenarios

The UW Libraries and the Graduate School are committed to the goal of sharing graduate students’ research as soon and as widely as possible, while allowing students to temporarily limit access to their theses and dissertations for such reasons as to support formal publication in journal article or book form or to allow time for filing patents. Below are some examples of how students may wish to use these options to support their publishing or intellectual property-protection goals.

Discussion of Scenarios

• Journal Article Publishing. In recent years graduate students – especially in scientific, medical and technical fields — have increasingly been publishing results of their research in journals.
• The “Research Article” Dissertation. In some disciplines students may be expected to publish 2 or more journal articles during the course of their studies and submit them as the core of their thesis or dissertation — along with an introduction, literature review, and conclusions. Because this has become so common, most journals now permit authors to immediately republish their articles within their theses or dissertations as long as they provide the full article citation and a statement that an article is being “reprinted with permission” of the journal. However, some other journals allow the practice but require that an article not appear on an open access basis before a delay of 6 or 12 months. The Libraries strongly suggests that students become familiar with the policies in place at the journals in which they would like to publish their work, and choose appropriate access restrictions if needed when they submit their ETD’s.
• Book Publishing. Some students in such humanities and social science disciplines as history and political science may hope to publish a revised version of their dissertation as their first book. As they consider that possibility they may be concerned they might undermine their prospects by making their dissertations widely available via ProQuest and/or on an open access basis.Before deciding whether or for how long to limit access to their work based on these concerns, The Libraries recommends students become familiar with the arguments and evidence put forward on these issues. For example, Cirasella and Thistlethwaite 3 and Courtney and Kilcer 4 provide excellent discussions of issues and review recent literature, while William Germano’s classic From Dissertation to Book 5 and Beth Luey’s Revising Your Dissertation 6 offer important insight into what might be involved during the dissertation revision process. While the Libraries recommends that most students hoping to publish their dissertations as books make them widely available while they work toward that goal, they should feel free to consider choosing otherwise, such as “Immediate Access” for ProQuest and limiting to UW for five years – at the end of which students may request additional time.
• Patent Protection Strategies. Students whose theses or dissertations describe work for which patent protection might be appropriate should contact Jesse Kindra at CoMotion ( [email protected] or 206 616-9658) prior to submitting their work to ProQuest and choosing access restrictions. Depending on the circumstances, a student may choose to completely withhold access for one year, but should recognize that doing so will prevent anyone else at the UW from having access to it during the restricted access period. To exercise this option, students should delay releasing their work to ProQuest for 1 or 2 years, and then choose “No access for 1 year, then make Open Access” from the Institutional Repository (IR) Publishing Options menu for the UW copy. In unusual circumstances, requests for access to be withheld an additional year may be considered. To make such a request, students should describe the reason(s) for it in an email to [email protected] prior to expiration of the original embargo period.

1 Marisa L. Ramirez, Joan T. Dalton, Gail McMillan, Max Read and Nancy H. Seamans, “Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Social Sciences and Humanities,” College and Research Libraries 74 (July 2013): 368‐80, http://crl.acrl.org/content/74/4/368.full.pdf+html .

2 Marisa Ramirez, Gail McMillan, Joan T. Dalton, Ann Hanlon, Heather S. Smith and Chelsea Kern, “Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Sciences?” College and Research Libraries 75 (November 2014): 808-21, http://crl.acrl.org/content/75/6/808.full.pdf+html .

3 Jill Cirasella and Polly Thistlethwaite, “Open Access and the Graduate Author: A Dissertation Anxiety Manual,” pp. 203-224 in Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Implementation (Kevin L. Smith and Katherine A. Dickson, eds.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017), http://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_pubs/286/ .

4 Kyle K. Courtney and Emily Kilcer, “From Apprehension to Comprehension: Addressing Anxieties about Open Access to ETD’s,” pp. 225-244 in Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Implementation (Kevin L. Smith and Katherine A. Dickson, eds.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017).

5 William Germano. 2013. From Dissertation to Book, 2d. ed. : University of Chicago Press.

6 Beth Luey (ed.). 2008. Revising Your Dissertation: Advice from Leading Editors. University of California Press.

Publishing Agreements

When you submit your ETD for review and publication, you will be required to read and accept two separate publishing agreements. You will also have to decide whether to publish your work right away or to delay its release. Additional pages within this section will outline all the considerations to keep in mind, when deciding how to make your work available to the scholarly community.

All students writing a thesis or dissertation should review the UW Libraries Copyright Research Guide . Understanding copyright law is another critical aspect as you write your thesis or dissertation.  As you compose your work, ask yourself the following questions:

• Have you referenced others’ work? If so, you either need to get explicit permission from the rights holder or to determine that your use is Fair.
• Have you previously published any part of the work? If you’ve signed your copyright over to your publisher, you will need permission to use your material in your thesis.

Ordering Paper Copies

There are no required fees , although you have the option to register your copyright via ProQuest for a fee. If you want to order bound (paper) copies of your document, you may do so through the UW Copy Centers or through ProQuest. Questions should be directed to the UW Copy Centers or to ProQuest at 1.800.521.0600 ext. 77020 — available 8 a.m.–5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday (excluding U.S. holidays).

Frequently Asked Questions

I created an account in the etd administrator site, but i’m not ready to submit my etd. can i come back to my account later.

Yes. If you need to finish your submission later (for instance, if you need to update your PDF file before uploading it), you can save your information and come back to finish. No information will be lost.

I submitted my ETD but would like to make an edit to the document. How can I edit my submission?

Once your thesis/dissertation is submitted, no additional changes to the document are allowed with the exception of a major data error in the document. In this circumstance, a letter outlining the necessary changes is required from your supervisory committee chair.

What will the Graduate School be reviewing after I submit my ETD?

Submissions are reviewed by GEMS advisors for formatting requirements for the three required sections — title page, copyright page, abstract — before they are delivered to ProQuest for publication. We are checking for accuracy and consistency. Refer to the Formatting Guidelines section on this page for detailed information.

I submitted my ETD and haven't heard anything yet. When will it be reviewed?

We try to review all ETDs as they are received, but if you submit early in the quarter it may not be acted on immediately. If you need to confirm completion of your degree requirements to an external agency or employer, please access the request for letter of certification in the forms section of our Additional Resources page (once your degree has posted to your UW transcript, we can no longer issue this letter). In general, ETDs are reviewed in the last two to three weeks before the quarter ends and after the last day of the quarter. When your submission has been accepted by a GEMS advisor, you will receive email confirmation.

How can I tell if my ETD was submitted and received by the Graduate School?

When your ETD is successfully submitted and pending review, the status will read “submission in review.”

When will my ETD be made available for access?

This depends on the type of access restrictions you selected when creating your account. However, your submission will be delivered to ProQuest for publishing four to six weeks after graduation and you will receive email confirmation when this has occurred. It should be available in UW ResearchWorks around the same time.

When will the printed dissertation / thesis copies I ordered from ProQuest be ready?

After you receive the email confirmation that UW has “delivered” your submission (ETD) to ProQuest, you should please refer to the ProQuest customer service guidelines for the expected delivery date of your order.

What if I am missing a faculty signature for my thesis or dissertation, or I have encountered difficulties in uploading my ETD? Must I pay the graduate registration waiver fee and graduate in the following quarter?

If you encounter these types of situations, contact Graduate Enrollment Management Services (206.685.2630 or  [email protected] ) as early as possible and no later than the last day of the quarter in which you intend to graduate.

Additional Resources

• Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) Guide  (start here!)
• Copyright and Fair Use
• Open Access
• Scholarly Publishing
• ProQuest/UMI Agreement — Traditional Publishing Agreement
• University Agreement — UW Libraries Thesis and Dissertation Submission Agreement
• UW Human Subjects Division (HSD)
• UW CoMotion

Center for Digital Scholarship

Sample Title Pages

The font on your title page should be the same as the font used in the rest of your dissertation. Settings should be the same also: double line spacing, 0 pt spacing before and after paragraphs, one inch margins on all sides, and 12-point font size. Text on the title page should use upper case and should not be bold. The title page counts as page "i" but the number should not be entered on the page.

Use your diploma name on the title page.

The last line on the title page should be the month and year of the end of the quarter you receive your degree and graduate, with no date and no comma. If you will receive your degree this autumn, your degree date is DECEMBER 2024. Your options for this academic year are:

• AUGUST 2024
• DECEMBER 2024

A Few Examples

• Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine
• Division of the Humanities
• Division of the Physical Sciences
• Division of the Social Sciences
• The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
• The Divinity School
• The Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies
• The Law School
• The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
• The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Additional examples are available on request. Check with the Dissertation Office for the correct title page format for dual or joint degrees.

Frequently asked questions

What should your dissertation title page include.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

Frequently asked questions: Dissertation

Dissertation word counts vary widely across different fields, institutions, and levels of education:

• An undergraduate dissertation is typically 8,000–15,000 words
• A master’s dissertation is typically 12,000–50,000 words
• A PhD thesis is typically book-length: 70,000–100,000 words

However, none of these are strict guidelines – your word count may be lower or higher than the numbers stated here. Always check the guidelines provided by your university to determine how long your own dissertation should be.

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

A thesis is typically written by students finishing up a bachelor’s or Master’s degree. Some educational institutions, particularly in the liberal arts, have mandatory theses, but they are often not mandatory to graduate from bachelor’s degrees. It is more common for a thesis to be a graduation requirement from a Master’s degree.

Even if not mandatory, you may want to consider writing a thesis if you:

• Plan to attend graduate school soon
• Have a particular topic you’d like to study more in-depth
• Are considering a career in research
• Would like a capstone experience to tie up your academic experience

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation should include the following:

• A restatement of your research question
• A summary of your key arguments and/or results
• A short discussion of the implications of your research

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation shouldn’t take up more than 5–7% of your overall word count.

For a stronger dissertation conclusion , avoid including:

• Important evidence or analysis that wasn’t mentioned in the discussion section and results section
• Generic concluding phrases (e.g. “In conclusion …”)
• Weak statements that undermine your argument (e.g., “There are good points on both sides of this issue.”)

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a strong, decisive impression of your work.

While it may be tempting to present new arguments or evidence in your thesis or disseration conclusion , especially if you have a particularly striking argument you’d like to finish your analysis with, you shouldn’t. Theses and dissertations follow a more formal structure than this.

All your findings and arguments should be presented in the body of the text (more specifically in the discussion section and results section .) The conclusion is meant to summarize and reflect on the evidence and arguments you have already presented, not introduce new ones.

A theoretical framework can sometimes be integrated into a  literature review chapter , but it can also be included as its own chapter or section in your dissertation . As a rule of thumb, if your research involves dealing with a lot of complex theories, it’s a good idea to include a separate theoretical framework chapter.

A literature review and a theoretical framework are not the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably. While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work, a literature review critically evaluates existing research relating to your topic. You’ll likely need both in your dissertation .

While a theoretical framework describes the theoretical underpinnings of your work based on existing research, a conceptual framework allows you to draw your own conclusions, mapping out the variables you may use in your study and the interplay between them.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

In most styles, the title page is used purely to provide information and doesn’t include any images. Ask your supervisor if you are allowed to include an image on the title page before doing so. If you do decide to include one, make sure to check whether you need permission from the creator of the image.

Include a note directly beneath the image acknowledging where it comes from, beginning with the word “ Note .” (italicized and followed by a period). Include a citation and copyright attribution . Don’t title, number, or label the image as a figure , since it doesn’t appear in your main text.

Definitional terms often fall into the category of common knowledge , meaning that they don’t necessarily have to be cited. This guidance can apply to your thesis or dissertation glossary as well.

However, if you’d prefer to cite your sources , you can follow guidance for citing dictionary entries in MLA or APA style for your glossary.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, an index is a list of the contents of your work organized by page number.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

Glossaries are not mandatory, but if you use a lot of technical or field-specific terms, it may improve readability to add one to your thesis or dissertation. Your educational institution may also require them, so be sure to check their specific guidelines.

A glossary or “glossary of terms” is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. Your glossary only needs to include terms that your reader may not be familiar with, and is intended to enhance their understanding of your work.

A glossary is a collection of words pertaining to a specific topic. In your thesis or dissertation, it’s a list of all terms you used that may not immediately be obvious to your reader. In contrast, dictionaries are more general collections of words.

An abbreviation is a shortened version of an existing word, such as Dr. for Doctor. In contrast, an acronym uses the first letter of each word to create a wholly new word, such as UNESCO (an acronym for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

As a rule of thumb, write the explanation in full the first time you use an acronym or abbreviation. You can then proceed with the shortened version. However, if the abbreviation is very common (like PC, USA, or DNA), then you can use the abbreviated version from the get-go.

Be sure to add each abbreviation in your list of abbreviations !

If you only used a few abbreviations in your thesis or dissertation , you don’t necessarily need to include a list of abbreviations .

If your abbreviations are numerous, or if you think they won’t be known to your audience, it’s never a bad idea to add one. They can also improve readability, minimizing confusion about abbreviations unfamiliar to your reader.

A list of abbreviations is a list of all the abbreviations that you used in your thesis or dissertation. It should appear at the beginning of your document, with items in alphabetical order, just after your table of contents .

Your list of tables and figures should go directly after your table of contents in your thesis or dissertation.

Lists of figures and tables are often not required, and aren’t particularly common. They specifically aren’t required for APA-Style, though you should be careful to follow their other guidelines for figures and tables .

If you have many figures and tables in your thesis or dissertation, include one may help you stay organized. Your educational institution may require them, so be sure to check their guidelines.

A list of figures and tables compiles all of the figures and tables that you used in your thesis or dissertation and displays them with the page number where they can be found.

The table of contents in a thesis or dissertation always goes between your abstract and your introduction .

You may acknowledge God in your dissertation acknowledgements , but be sure to follow academic convention by also thanking the members of academia, as well as family, colleagues, and friends who helped you.

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

In a thesis or dissertation, the discussion is an in-depth exploration of the results, going into detail about the meaning of your findings and citing relevant sources to put them in context.

The conclusion is more shorter and more general: it concisely answers your main research question and makes recommendations based on your overall findings.

In the discussion , you explore the meaning and relevance of your research results , explaining how they fit with existing research and theory. Discuss:

• Your  interpretations : what do the results tell us?
• The  implications : why do the results matter?
• The  limitation s : what can’t the results tell us?

The results chapter or section simply and objectively reports what you found, without speculating on why you found these results. The discussion interprets the meaning of the results, puts them in context, and explains why they matter.

In qualitative research , results and discussion are sometimes combined. But in quantitative research , it’s considered important to separate the objective results from your interpretation of them.

Results are usually written in the past tense , because they are describing the outcome of completed actions.

The results chapter of a thesis or dissertation presents your research results concisely and objectively.

In quantitative research , for each question or hypothesis , state:

• The type of analysis used
• Relevant results in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics
• Whether or not the alternative hypothesis was supported

In qualitative research , for each question or theme, describe:

• Recurring patterns
• Significant or representative individual responses
• Relevant quotations from the data

Don’t interpret or speculate in the results chapter.

To automatically insert a table of contents in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

• Apply heading styles throughout the document.
• In the references section in the ribbon, locate the Table of Contents group.
• Click the arrow next to the Table of Contents icon and select Custom Table of Contents.
• Select which levels of headings you would like to include in the table of contents.

Make sure to update your table of contents if you move text or change headings. To update, simply right click and select Update Field.

All level 1 and 2 headings should be included in your table of contents . That means the titles of your chapters and the main sections within them.

The contents should also include all appendices and the lists of tables and figures, if applicable, as well as your reference list .

Do not include the acknowledgements or abstract in the table of contents.

The abstract appears on its own page in the thesis or dissertation , after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

An abstract for a thesis or dissertation is usually around 200–300 words. There’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check your university’s requirements.

In a thesis or dissertation, the acknowledgements should usually be no longer than one page. There is no minimum length.

The acknowledgements are generally included at the very beginning of your thesis , directly after the title page and before the abstract .

Yes, it’s important to thank your supervisor(s) in the acknowledgements section of your thesis or dissertation .

Even if you feel your supervisor did not contribute greatly to the final product, you must acknowledge them, if only for a very brief thank you. If you do not include your supervisor, it may be seen as a snub.

In the acknowledgements of your thesis or dissertation, you should first thank those who helped you academically or professionally, such as your supervisor, funders, and other academics.

Then you can include personal thanks to friends, family members, or anyone else who supported you during the process.

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem.  We  are always here for you.

• Email [email protected]
• Start live chat
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Our team helps students graduate by offering:

• A world-class citation generator
• Plagiarism Checker software powered by Turnitin
• Innovative Citation Checker software
• Professional proofreading services
• Over 300 helpful articles about academic writing, citing sources, plagiarism, and more

Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

• PhD dissertations
• Research proposals
• Personal statements
• Admission essays
• Motivation letters
• Reflection papers
• Journal articles
• Capstone projects

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

University Thesis and Dissertation Templates

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Theses and dissertations are already intensive, long-term projects that require a lot of effort and time from their authors. Formatting for submission to the university is often the last thing that graduate students do, and may delay earning the relevant degree if done incorrectly.

Below are some strategies graduate students can use to deal with institutional formatting requirements to earn their degrees on time.

Disciplinary conventions are still paramount.

Scholars in your own discipline are the most common readers of your dissertation; your committee, too, will expect your work to match with their expectations as members of your field. The style guide your field uses most commonly is always the one you should follow, and if your field uses conventions such as including all figures and illustrations at the end of the document, you should do so. After these considerations are met, move on to university formatting. Almost always, university formatting only deals with things like margins, font, numbering of chapters and sections, and illustrations; disciplinary style conventions in content such as APA's directive to use only last names of authors in-text are not interfered with by university formatting at all.

Use your university's formatting guidelines and templates to your advantage.

If your institution has a template for formatting your thesis or dissertation that you can use, do so. Don't look at another student's document and try to replicate it yourself. These templates typically have the necessary section breaks and styles already in the document, and you can copy in your work from your existing draft using the style pane in MS Word to ensure you're using the correct formatting (similarly with software such as Overleaf when writing in LaTeX, templates do a lot of the work for you). It's also often easier for workers in the offices that deal with theses and dissertations to help you with your work if you're using their template — they are familiar with these templates and can often navigate them more proficiently.

These templates also include placeholders for all front matter you will need to include in your thesis or dissertation, and may include guidelines for how to write these. Front matter includes your table of contents, acknowledgements, abstract, abbreviation list, figure list, committee page, and (sometimes) academic history or CV; everything before your introduction is front matter. Since front matter pages such as the author's academic history and dissertation committee are usually for the graduate school and not for your department, your advisor might not remember to have you include them. Knowing about them well before your deposit date means you won't be scrambling to fill in placeholders at the last minute or getting your work returned for revision from the graduate school.

Consider institutional formatting early and often.

Many graduate students leave this aspect of submitting their projects until it's almost too late to work on it, causing delays in obtaining their degree. Simply being aware that this is a task you'll have to complete and making sure you know where templates are, who you can ask for help in your graduate office or your department, and what your institution's guidelines are can help alleviate this issue. Once you know what you'll be expected to do to convert to university formatting, you can set regular check-in times for yourself to do this work in pieces rather than all at once (for instance, when you've completed a chapter and had it approved by your chair). 

Consider fair use for images and other third-party content.

Most theses and dissertations are published through ProQuest or another publisher (Harvard, for instance, uses their own open publishing service). For this reason, it may be the case that your institution requires all images or other content obtained from other sources to fall under fair use rules or, if an image is not considered under fair use, you'll have to obtain permission to print it in your dissertation. Your institution should have more guidance on their specific expectations for fair use content; knowing what these guidelines are well in advance of your deposit date means you won't have to make last-minute changes or removals to deposit your work.

• Graduate School
• Current Students
• Dissertation & Thesis Preparation

Formatting Requirements

Workday student support.

Graduate students can find "how to" guides and support information on our Workday support page .

The layout and contents of the title page are shown on the Sample Title Pages . The font need not be the same as in the samples.

Thesis Title

Recommendations for choosing a thesis title:

• Try to give a concise, accurate description of the thesis.
• Include key words in the title to make the thesis more easily retrievable in electronic listings.
• If possible,avoid using scientific formulas, Greek letters, symbols, special characters, and abbreviations in your thesis title; write them out as words instead. Special characters can usually be handled in electronic systems but using them in titles poses limitations for people searching using a regular keyboard, and may affect people’s ability to locate your thesis online. The best way to ensure your thesis can be found with regular searches is to use characters from the Roman alphabet in your title. Most diacritics are okay, but please avoid ligatures.

Student Name

• The name on your thesis is typically the one under which you are registered at UBC (your legal name). If you would like to use a different name on your thesis in addition to the name under which you are registered, please put that name in parentheses after your registration name. The UBC Library collection allows for full-text searching of theses, which means that someone using the parenthetical name in a search will still be able to find your thesis.
• If you change your legal name and wish to update your registered name, you can do this through Enrolment Services . You will have to provide documentation of a legal name change.
• If you would like to use a preferred name instead of your legal name, the preferred name must form part of the name under which you are registered at UBC.

The name must be the same at the top and bottom (with copyright symbol) of the title page.

The name you put in cIRcle when you submit the final version of your thesis must be the same as it is on your title page.

Previous Academic Degree Credentials

You may list your previous academic degrees under your name if you wish. If you list them, be sure to include the following:

• the name of the degree (e.g. B.Sc.)
• the full name of the institution
• the date of graduation

Degree Name

List the name of the degree (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Arts)

This must be The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies regardless of your home Faculty. If you are in a program that requires submission of a thesis, then only the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies can grant your degree.

Program Name

The name of your graduate program must be in parentheses. You can confirm that you are using the correct graduate program name by checking SSC > Course Schedule and Registration > My Program > Specialization Name . Do not put "Department, School, Centre, Institute, College, or Program" on your title page.

If your degree is in Interdisciplinary Studies and you wish to include the names of the relevant disciplines, please follow this example:

(Interdisciplinary Studies)

[Psychology / Computer Science / Music]

If your program name is included in the title of your degree, the program name in parentheses under "The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies" is not required. This applies to the following degrees:

• Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture (MASA)
• Master of Advanced Studies in Landscape Architecture (MASLA)
• Master of Archival Studies (MAS)
• Master of Arts in Planning (MAP)
• Master of Journalism (MJ)
• Master of Laws (LLM)
• Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS)
• Master of Music (MMus) For this degree, you may put your area of specialization in parentheses if you wish.
• Master of Science in Business Administration (MScB) For this degree, you may put your area of specialization in parentheses if you wish.
• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
• Master of Science in Planning (MScP)
• Master of Social Work (MSW)

Campus Name

Underneath "The University of British Columbia" you must put the name of your campus, either Vancouver or Okanagan, in parentheses.

For copies for the examination committee:

• should be the month and year of submission to the committee / external examiner

For final, post-defence submission:

• must be the month and year of final submission of your defended thesis.

Copyright Symbol

The universal copyright symbol © appears at the foot of the title page, with your name, and the year of final submission. The name must be the same at both the top and the bottom of the title page, and must be the name under which you are registered at UBC. Please be sure to use the © symbol, not the @ symbol.

Creative Commons Licence

If you wish to apply a Creative Commons Licence to your thesis, you may choose a Creative Commons Licence image instead of the copyright symbol. It is your responsibility to understand what rights you are giving others when you use a Creative Commons Licence. You cannot change the CC Licence after submission.

• Why Grad School at UBC?
• Graduate Degree Programs
• Application & Admission
• Info Sessions
• Research Supervisors
• Research Projects
• Indigenous Students
• International Students
• Tuition, Fees & Cost of Living
• Newly Admitted
• Student Status & Classification
• Student Responsibilities
• Supervision
• Managing your Program
• Health, Wellbeing and Safety
• Professional Development
• Final Doctoral Exam
• Final Dissertation & Thesis Submission
• Life in Vancouver
• Vancouver Campus
• Graduate Student Spaces
• Graduate Life Centre
• Life as a Grad Student
• Graduate Student Ambassadors
• Meet our Students
• Award Opportunities
• Award Guidelines
• Minimum Funding Policy for PhD Students
• Killam Awards & Fellowships
• Dean's Message
• Leadership Team
• Strategic Plan & Priorities
• Vision & Mission
• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
• Initiatives, Plans & Reports
• Graduate Education Analysis & Research
• Media Enquiries
• Newsletters
• Giving to Graduate Studies

Strategic Priorities

• Strategic Plan 2019-2024
• Improving Student Funding
• Promoting Excellence in Graduate Programs
• Enhancing Graduate Supervision
• Advancing Indigenous Inclusion
• Supporting Student Development and Success
• Reimagining Graduate Education
• Enriching the Student Experience

Initiatives

• Public Scholars Initiative
• 3 Minute Thesis (3MT)
• PhD Career Outcomes

Ohio State nav bar

• The Ohio State University
• BuckeyeLink
• Find People
• Search Ohio State

Formatting Guidelines For Theses, Dissertations, and DMA Documents

Guidelines for Formatting Theses, Dissertations, and DMA Documents is intended to help graduate students present the results of their research in the form of a scholarly document.

Before beginning to write a master’s thesis, PhD dissertation, or DMA document, students should read the relevant sections of the  Graduate School Handbook, section 7.8  for dissertations and/ or  section 6.4  for master’s theses.

Candidates for advanced degrees should also confer with their advisors and members of their graduate studies committees to learn about any special departmental requirements for preparing graduate degree documents.

Members of the graduation services staff at the Graduate School are available to provide information and to review document drafts at any stage of the planning or writing process. While graduation services is responsible for certifying that theses and/or dissertations have been prepared in accordance with Graduate School guidelines, the student bears the ultimate responsibility for meeting these requirements and resolving any related technical and/or software issues . Graduation services will not accept documents if required items are missing or extend deadlines because of miscommunication between the student and the advisor.

Accessibility Features

As of Spring, 2023, all theses and dissertations will need to incorporate the following accessibility features to align with the university’s accessibility policy.  When you submit your final document to OhioLINK you will be verifying that accessibility features have been applied.

• PDF file includes full text
• PDF accessibility permission flag is checked
• Text language of the PDF is specified
• PDF includes a title

Features and Other Notes

Some features are required, and some are optional. Each component is identified with a major heading unless otherwise noted. The major heading must be centered with a one-inch top margin. 

Sample Pages and Templates

Templates are available for use in formatting dissertations, theses, and DMA documents. Please read all instructions before beginning. 

• Graduate Dissertations and Theses Templates - OSU Login Required

FRONTISPIECE (OPTIONAL)

If used, no heading is included on this page.

TITLE PAGE (REQUIRED)

The title page should include:

• the use of title case is recommended
• dissertation, DMA. document, or thesis
• Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree [insert the applicable degree such as Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Science, etc.] in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University
• Name of the candidate 
• Initials of previous earned degrees
• insert correct name from program directory
• Year of graduation
•  Dissertation, document, or thesis [select applicable title] committee and committee member names

COPYRIGHT PAGE (REQUIRED)

Notice of copyright is centered in the following format on the page immediately after the title page. This page is not identified with a page number.

Copyright by John James Doe 2017

ABSTRACT (REQUIRED)

The heading Abstract is centered without punctuation at least one inch from the top of the page. The actual abstract begins four spaces below the heading. See sample pages.

DEDICATION (OPTIONAL)

If used, the dedication must be brief and centered on the page.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

(OPTIONAL, BUT STRONGLY RECOMMENDED)

Either spelling of the word, acknowledgments or acknowledgments, is acceptable. The acknowledgment is a record of the author’s indebtedness and includes notice of permission to use previously copyrighted materials that appear extensively in the text. The heading Acknowledgments is centered without punctuation at least one inch from the top of the page.

VITA (REQUIRED)

Begin the page with the heading Vita, centered, without punctuation, and at least one inch from the top of the page. There are three sections to the vita: biographical information (required), publications (if applicable), and fields of study (required).

There is no subheading used for the biographical information section. In this section, include education and work related to the degree being received.

Use leader dots between the information and dates. The publication section follows. The subheading Publications should be centered and in title case. List only those items published in a book or journal. If there are none, omit the Publication subheading. The final section of the vita is Fields of Study, which is required. Center the subheading and use title case. Two lines below the Fields of Study subheading, place the following statement: Major Field: [insert only the name of your Graduate Program as it reads on the title page] flush left. Any specialization you would like to include is optional and is placed flush left on the lines below Major Field.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (REQUIRED)

The heading Table of Contents (title case preferred) appears without punctuation centered at least one inch from the top of the page. The listing of contents begins at the left margin four spaces below the heading. The titles of all parts, sections, chapter numbers, and chapters are listed and must

be worded exactly as they appear in the body of the document. The table of contents must include any appendices and their titles, if applicable. Use leader dots between the listed items and their page numbers.

LISTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS (REQUIRED IF APPLICABLE)

Lists of illustrations are required if the document contains illustrations. The headings List of Tables , List of Figures , or other appropriate illustration designations (title case preferred) appear centered without punctuation at least one inch from the top of the page. The listing begins at the left margin four spaces below the heading. Illustrations should be identified by the same numbers and captions in their respective lists as they have been assigned in the document itself. Use leader dots between the listed items and their page numbers. See sample pages .

BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES (REQUIRED)

Include a complete bibliography or reference section at the end of the document, before the appendix, even if you have included references at the end of each chapter. You may decide how this section should be titled. The terms References or Bibliography are the most commonly chosen titles. The heading must be centered and at least one inch from the top of the page.

Include this heading in the table of contents.

APPENDICES (REQUIRED IF APPLICABLE)

An appendix, or appendices, must be placed after the bibliography. The heading Appendix (title case preferred) centered at least one inch from the top of the page. Appendices are identified with letters and titles. For example: Appendix A: Data. Include all appendix headers and titles in the table of contents.

Other Notes

Candidates are free to select a style suitable to their discipline as long as it complies with the format and content guidelines given in this publication. Where a style manual conflicts with Graduate School guidelines, the Graduate School guidelines take precedence. Once chosen, the style must remain consistent throughout the document.

Top, bottom, left, and right page margins should all be set at one inch. (Keep in mind that the left margin is the binding edge, so if you want to have a bound copy produced for your personal use, it is recommended that the left margin be 1.5 inches.)

It is recommended that any pages with a major header, such as document title, chapter/major section titles, preliminary page divisions, abstract, appendices, and references at the end of the document be set with a 2-inch top margin for aesthetic purposes and to help the reader identify that a new major section is beginning.

The selected font should be 10 to 12 point and be readable. The font should be consistent throughout the document. Captions, endnotes, footnotes, and long quotations may be slightly smaller than text font, as long as the font is readable.

Double spacing is preferred, but 1.5 spacing (1.5 × the type size) is acceptable for long documents. Single spacing is recommended for bibliography entries, long quotations, long endnotes or footnotes, and long captions. Double spacing between each bibliography entry is recommended.

Each major division of the document, including appendices, must have a title. Titles must be centered and have at least a one inch top margin. The use of title case is recommended. If chapters are being used, they should be numbered and titled. For example: Chapter 1: Introduction. Appendices are identified with letters and titles. For example: Appendix A: Data.

PAGE NUMBERS

Every page must have a page number except the title page and the copyright page. If a frontispiece is included before the title page, it is neither counted nor numbered. The page numbers are centered at the bottom center of the page above the one inch margin. Note: You may need to set the footer margin to 1-inch and the body bottom margin to 1.3 or 1.5- inches to place the page number accurately.

Preliminary pages (abstract, dedication, acknowledgments, vita, table of contents, and the lists of illustrations, figures, etc.) are numbered with small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.). Page numbering begins with the first page of the abstract, and this can be either page i or ii (The title page is technically page i, but the number is not shown on the page).

Arabic numerals are used for the remainder of the document, including the text and the reference material. These pages are numbered consecutively beginning with 1 and continue through the end of the document.

Notation practices differ widely among publications in the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. Candidates should confer with their advisors regarding accepted practice in their individual disciplines. That advice should be coupled with careful reference to appropriate general style manuals.

• Arabic numerals should be used to indicate a note in the text. 
• Notes may be numbered in one of two ways: either consecutively throughout the entire manuscript or consecutively within each chapter.
• Notes can be placed at the bottom of the page (footnotes) or at the end of a chapter or document (endnotes). Once chosen, the notation style must be consistent throughout the document.
• Notes about information within tables should be placed directly below the table to which they apply, not at the bottom of the page along with notes to the text.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Tables, figures, charts, graphs, photos, etc..

Some documents include several types of illustrations. In such cases, it is necessary that each type of illustration (table, figure, chart, etc.) be identified with a different numbering series (Table 1, Table 2, and so on, or Chart 1, Chart 2, and so on). For each series, include a list with captions and page numbers in the preliminary pages (for example, List of Tables, List of Charts, etc.). These lists must be identified with major headings that are centered and placed at the two-inch margin.

Each illustration must be identified with a caption that includes the type of illustration, the number, and a descriptive title (for example, Map 1: Ohio). Numbering may be sequential throughout the document (including the appendix, if applicable) or based on the decimal system (corresponding to the chapter number, such as Map 2.3: Columbus). When using decimal numbering in an appendix, the illustration is given a letter that corresponds with the appendix letter (for example, Figure A.1: Voter Data). Captions can be placed either above or below the illustration, but be consistent with the format throughout the document. If a landscape orientation of the illustration is used, make sure to also orient the illustration number and caption accordingly. The top of the illustration should be placed on the left (binding) edge of the page.

If an illustration is too large to ft on one page it is recommended that you identify the respective pages as being part of one illustration. Using a “continued” notation is one method. For example, the phrase continued is placed under the illustration on the bottom right hand side of the first page. On the following pages, include the illustration type, number, and the word continued at the top left margin; for example, Map 2: Continued. Whatever method you choose just make sure to be consistent. The caption for the illustration should be on the first page, but this does not need repeated on subsequent pages.

If an illustration is placed on a page with text, between the text and the top and/or bottom of the illustration, there must be three single spaced lines or two double spaced lines of blank space. The same spacing rule applies if there are multiple illustrations on the same page. The top/bottom of the illustration includes the caption.

All final Ph.D. dissertations, DMA. documents, and master’s theses are submitted to the Graduate School through OhioLINK at https://etdadmin. ohiolink.edu. The document must be saved in PDF embedded font format (PDF/A) before beginning the upload at OhioLINK. During the submission process, OhioLINK will require an abstract separate from your document. This abstract has a 500-word limit. You will get a confirmation from OhioLINK that the submission is complete. The submission then goes to the Graduate School for review. After it is reviewed by staff of the Graduate School, you will receive an email that it has been accepted or that changes need to be made. If changes are required, you will need to re-submit the revised document via an amended OhioLINK submission. You will receive an “accepted” email from the Graduate School once the document has been approved.

THESIS OR DISSERTATION IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The Graduate School has no policy specifically permitting graduate degree documents to be written in a foreign language. The practice is allowed as long as it is approved by the student’s advisor and Graduate Studies Committee. Documents in a foreign language must comply with the following requirements:

• The title page must be in English, but the title itself may be in the same language as the document.
• If the title is in a language using other than Roman characters, it must be transliterated into Roman character equivalents.
• The abstract must be in English.
• The academic unit must notify the Graduate School of dissertations in a foreign language so that an appropriate graduate faculty representative can be found to participate in the final oral examination

Dissertation and Theses

The dissertation is the hallmark of the research expertise demonstrated by a doctoral student. It is a scholarly contribution to knowledge in the student’s area of specialization. 

A thesis is a hallmark of some master’s programs. It is a piece of original research, generally less comprehensive than a dissertation and is meant to show the student’s knowledge of an area of specialization.

Still Have Questions?

Dissertations & Theses 614-292-6031 [email protected]

Doctoral Exams, Master's Examination, Graduation Requirements 614-292-6031 [email protected]

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="masters dissertation title page"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Required sections, guidelines, and suggestions.

Beyond those noted on the Formatting Requirements page , the Graduate School has no additional formatting requirements. The following suggestions are based on best practices and historic requirements for dissertations and theses but are not requirements for submission of the thesis or dissertation. The Graduate School recommends that each dissertation or thesis conform to the standards of leading academic journals in your field.

For both master’s and doctoral students, the same basic rules apply; however, differences exist in some limited areas, particularly in producing the abstract and filing the dissertation or thesis.

• Information in this guide that pertains specifically to doctoral candidates and dissertations is clearly marked with the term “ dissertation ” or “ doctoral candidates .”
• Information pertaining specifically to master’s candidates and theses is clearly marked with the term “ thesis ” or “ master’s candidates .”
• All other information pertains to both.

Examples of formatting suggestions for both the dissertation and thesis are available as downloadable templates .

Required? Yes.

Suggested numbering: Page included in overall document, but number not typed on page.

The following format for your title page is suggested, but not required.

• The title should be written using all capital letters, centered within the left and right margins, and spaced about 1.5 inches from the top of the page. (For an example, please see the template .)
• Carefully select words for the title of the dissertation or thesis to represent the subject content as accurately as possible. Words in the title are important access points to researchers who may use keyword searches to identify works in various subject areas.
• Use word substitutes for formulas, symbols, superscripts, Greek letters, etc.
• Below the title, at the vertical and horizontal center of the margins, place the following five lines (all centered):

Line 1: A Dissertation [or Thesis]

Line 2: Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School

Line 3: of Cornell University

Line 4: in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Line 5: Doctor of Philosophy [or other appropriate degree]

• Center the following three lines within the margins:

Line 2: Primary or Preferred Name [as registered with the University Registrar’s Office and displayed in Student Center]

Line 3: month and year of degree conferral [May, August, December; no comma between month and year]

Copyright Page

Suggested numbering: Page included in overall document, but number not typed on page

The following format for your copyright page is suggested, but not required.

• A notice of copyright should appear as the sole item on the page centered vertically and horizontally within the margins: © 20__ [Primary or Preferred Name [as registered with the University Registrar’s Office]. Please note that there is not usually a page heading on the copyright page.
• The copyright symbol is a lowercase “c,” which must be circled. (On Macs, the symbol is typed by pressing the “option” and “g” keys simultaneously. If the font does not have the © symbol, type the “c” and circle it by hand. On PCs, in the insert menu, choose “symbol,” and select the © symbol.)
• The date, which follows the copyright symbol, is the year of conferral of your degree.
• Your name follows the date.

Required?  Yes.

Suggested numbering: Page(s) not counted, not numbered

Abstract formats for the doctoral dissertation and master’s thesis differ greatly. The Graduate School recommends that you conform to the standards of leading academic journals in your field.

Doctoral candidates:

• TITLE OF DISSERTATION
• Student’s Primary or Preferred Name, Ph.D. [as registered with the University Registrar’s Office]
• Cornell University 20__ [year of conferral]
• Following the heading lines, begin the text of the abstract on the same page.
• The abstract states the problem, describes the methods and procedures used, and gives the main results or conclusions of the research.
• The abstract usually does not exceed 350 words in length (about one-and-one-half correctly spaced pages—but not more than two pages).

Master’s candidate:

• In a thesis, the page heading is simply the word “ABSTRACT” in all capital letters and centered within the margins at the top of the page. (The thesis abstract does not display the thesis title, author’s name, degree, university, or date of degree conferral.)
• The abstract should state the problem, describe the methods and procedures used, and give the main results or conclusions.
• The abstract usually does not exceed 600 words in length, which is approximately two-and-one-half to three pages of correctly spaced typing.
• In M.F.A. theses, an abstract is not required.

Biographical Sketch

Suggested numbering: iii (may be more than one page)

• Type number(s) on page(s).

The following content and format are suggested:

• The biographical sketch is written in third-person voice and contains your educational background. Sometimes additional biographical facts are included.
• As a page heading, use “BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH” in all capital letters, centered on the page.
• Number this page as iii.

Required? Optional.

Suggested numbering: iv (may be more than one page)

The dedication page is not required and can contain whatever text that you would like to include. Text on this page does not need to be in English.

Acknowledgements

Suggested numbering: v (may be more than one page)

The following content and format are suggested, not required.

• The acknowledgements may be written in first-person voice. If your research has been funded by outside grants, you should check with the principal investigator of the grant regarding proper acknowledgement of the funding source. Most outside funding sources require some statement of acknowledgement of the support; some also require a disclaimer from responsibility for the results.
• As a page heading, use “ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS” in all capital letters, centered on the page.

Table of Contents

Suggested numbering: vi (may be more than one page)

The following are suggestions.

• As a page heading, use “TABLE OF CONTENTS” in all capital letters and centered on the page.
• List the sections/chapters of the body of the dissertation or thesis. Also, list preliminary sections starting with the biographical sketch. (Title page, copyright page, and abstract are not listed.)
• For theses and dissertations, the conventional format for page numbers is in a column to the right of each section/chapter title. The first page of each chapter/section is stated with a single number. Table of contents usually do not include a range of page numbers, such as 7-22.
• The table of contents is often single-spaced.

Two-Volume Theses or Dissertations

If the dissertation or thesis consists of two volumes, it is recommended, but not required, that you list “Volume II” as a section in the table of contents.

List of Figures, Illustrations, and Tables

Suggested numbering: vii (may be more than one page)

• If included, type number(s) on page(s).

As described in the formatting requirements above, figures and tables should be consecutively numbered. The Graduate School recommends that you conform to the styles set by the leading academic journals in your field. The items below are formatting suggestions based on best practices or historic precedents.

Table of contents format:

• As a page heading, use “LIST OF FIGURES,” “LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,” or “LIST OF TABLES” in all capital letters, centered on the page.
• There should be separate pages for “LIST OF FIGURES,” “LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,” or “LIST OF TABLES” even if there is only one example of each.
• The list should contain enough of the titles or descriptions so readers can locate items using the list. (It may not be necessary to include entire figure/illustration/table captions.)
• The list should contain the page number on which each figure, illustration, or table is found, as in a table of contents.
• The list of figures/illustrations/tables may be single-spaced.

Page format:

• Figures/illustrations/tables should be placed as close as possible to their first mention in the text. They may be placed on a page with no text above or below, or placed directly into the text. If a figure/illustration/table is placed directly into the text, text may appear above or below the figure/illustration/table; no text may wrap around the figure/illustration/table.
• If a figure/illustration/table appears on a page without other text, it should be centered vertically within the page margins. Figures/illustrations/tables should not be placed at the end of the chapter or at the end of the dissertation or thesis.
• Figure/illustration/table numbering should be either continuous throughout the dissertation or thesis, or by chapter (e.g. 1.1, 1.2; 2.1, 2.2, etc.). The word “Figure,” “Illustration,” or “Table” must be spelled out (not abbreviated), and the first letter must be capitalized.
• A caption for a figure/illustration should be placed at the bottom of the figure/illustration. However, a caption for a table must be placed above the table.
• If the figure/illustration/table, not including the caption, takes up the entire page, the figure/illustration/table caption should be placed alone on the preceding page and centered vertically and horizontally within the margins. (When the caption is on a separate page, the List of Figures or List of Illustrations or List of Tables can list the page number containing the caption.)
• If the figure/illustration/table, not including the caption, takes up more than two pages, it should be preceded by a page consisting of the caption only. The first page of the figure/illustration/table must include the figure/illustration/table (no caption), and the second and subsequent pages must also include, at the top of the figure/illustration/table, words that indicate its continuance—for example, “Figure 5 (Continued)”—and on these pages the caption is omitted.
• If figures/illustrations/tables are too large, they may be reduced slightly so as to render a satisfactory product or they must either be split into several pages or be redone. If a figure/illustration/table is reduced, all lettering must be clear, readable, and large enough to be legible. All lettering, including subscripts, must still be readable when reduced 25% beyond the final version. All page margin requirements must be maintained. Page numbers and headings must not be reduced.
• While there are no specific rules for the typographic format of figure/illustration/table captions, a consistent format should be used throughout the dissertation or thesis.
• The caption of a figure/illustration/table should be single-spaced, but then captions for all figures/illustrations/tables must be single-spaced.
• Horizontal figures/illustrations/tables should be positioned correctly—i.e., the top of the figure/illustration/table will be at the left margin of the vertical page of the dissertation or thesis (remember: pages are bound on the left margin). Figure/illustration/table headings/captions are placed with the same orientation as the figure/illustration/table when they are on the same page as the figure/illustration/table. When they are on a separate page, headings and captions are always placed in vertical orientation, regardless of the orientation of the figure/illustration/table. Page numbers are always placed as if the figure/illustration/table was vertical on the page.

Photographs should be treated as illustrations. To be considered archival, photographs must be black-and-white. (If actual color photographs are necessary, they should be accompanied by black-and-white photographs of the same subject.) Color photos obtained digitally do not need to be accompanied by a black-and-white photograph. Make a high-resolution digital version of each photograph and insert it into your electronic document, following the guideline suggestions for positioning and margins.

Optional Elements

List of abbreviations.

As a page heading, use “LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS” in all capital letters, centered on the page.

List of Symbols

As a page heading, use “LIST OF SYMBOLS” in all capital letters, centered on the page.

Suggested numbering: xi (may be more than one page)

As a page heading, use “PREFACE” in all capital letters, centered on the page.

Body of the Dissertation or Thesis: Text

Suggested numbering: Begin page number at 1

• Text (required)
• Appendix/Appendices (optional)
• Bibliography, References, or Works Cited (required)

Please note that smaller font size may be appropriate for footnotes or other material outside of the main text. The following suggestions are based on best practice or historic precedent, but are not required.

• Chapter headings may be included that conform to the standard of your academic field.
• Textual notes that provide supplementary information, opinions, explanations, or suggestions that are not part of the text must appear at the bottom of the page as footnotes. Lengthy footnotes may be continued on the next page. Placement of footnotes at the bottom of the page ensures they will appear as close as possible to the referenced passage.

Appendix (or Appendices)

An appendix (-ces) is not required for your thesis or dissertation. If you choose to include one, the following suggestions are based on best practice or historic precedent.

• As a page heading, use “APPENDIX” in all capital letters, centered on the page.
• Place in an appendix any material that is peripheral, but relevant, to the main text of the dissertation or thesis. Examples could include survey instruments, additional data, computer printouts, details of a procedure or analysis, a relevant paper that you wrote, etc.
• The appendix may include text that does not meet the general font and spacing requirements of the other sections of the dissertation or thesis.

Bibliography (or References or Works Cited)

A bibliography, references, or works cited is required for your thesis or dissertation. Please conform to the standards of leading academic journals in your field.

• As a page heading, use “BIBLIOGRAPHY” (or “REFERENCES” or “WORKS CITED”) in all capital letters, centered on the page. The bibliography should always begin on a new page.
• Bibliographies may be single-spaced within each entry but should include 24 points of space between entries.

Suggested numbering: Continue page numbering from body

If you choose to include a glossary, best practices and historic precedent suggest using a page heading, use “GLOSSARY” in all capital letters, centered on the page.

Suggested numbering: Continue page numbering from glossary

If you choose to include one, best practices and historic precedent suggest using a page heading, use “INDEX” in all capital letters, centered on the page.

Font Samples

Sample macintosh fonts.

• Palatino 12
• Garamond 14
• New Century School Book
• Helvetica 12 or Helvetica 14
• Times New Roman 12
• Times 14 (Times 12 is not acceptable)
• Symbol 12 is acceptable for symbols

Sample TeX and LaTeX Fonts

• CMR 12 font
• Any font that meets the above specifications

Sample PC Fonts

• Helvetica 12

Search for books, articles, and more

Search the list of databases available through Johns Hopkins

Get started by using subject guides compiled by our librarians

Get Materials

• BorrowDirect Request books and other items from partner libraries. JHED ID required.
• Interlibrary Loan Request scanned articles, chapters, and more from non-JHU libraries. JHED ID required.
• Document Delivery via ILL Request scanned articles and chapters from JHU Libraries and the Libraries Service Center. JHED ID required.
• Journal Search Look for online journals and periodicals available from JHU libraries.
• Citation Linker Find a specific article or book by searching citation information.
• eReserves Access online articles and media reserved for courses.
• Formatting Requirements

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs)

• Submission Checklist
• Submission Deadlines

Required formatting for submission to be completed.

Elements of an Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

The most important page to get right.

• What to include
• How to format it

Download Example (PDF)

Front Matter

• Table of contents, abstract, lists, etc
• Guidelines for deciding what to include and in which order

General Formatting

• Order of required content
• Spacing and type
• PDF/A export

Annotated Title Page Example

Download Annotated Front Matter (PDF)

PDF/A Export

PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) specialized for the digital preservation of electronic documents. You need to save your dissertation as a PDF/A file and upload it as your official submission. For more information, see the Wikpedia article on the format.

Note for Mac users: that while you can save a Word for Windows document as a PDF/A (see below for instructions) you cannot do so directly from Word for Mac. If you are a Mac user, consider saving your Word document as a PDF/A using a Windows computer, such as at the library, or use Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Notes about PDF/A format

• you cannot include audio and video content; still images are fine
• you cannot include JavaScript or executable files
• fonts must be embedded

If you need to include audio, video, or other files, you can submit them as supplementary files. Contact us at [email protected] for more help with PDF/A or supplementary files.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

• Select “PDF Standards” in the Tools menu
• Select “Preflight” in the right hand column
• Select “PDF/A Compliance”
• Double-click “Convert to PDF/A-1b” then “Save”
• Review your document to ensure it appears as you expect it to

Word for Windows

• Select “File” then “Save as Adobe PDF”
• Make sure file type is “pdf files”
• Select “Options” and a box with “PDF Options” will open
• Check the “Create PDF/A” box, then select “OK” and “Save”
• Follow the instructions for using a LaTeX template
• The Library does not provide support for LaTeX. Access a student-created template on GitHub

Contact ETD Office

Milton S. Eisenhower Library [email protected]

ETDs on JScholarship

Electronic theses and dissertations from JHU students. Go to ETDs

JScholarship Home

Open access publications from JHU faculty and students. Visit JScholarship

Please start by reviewing the formatting requirements and submission checklist .

If you have additional questions, email [email protected] for the fastest response.

If we are unable to resolve your inquiry via email, you may request an in-person meeting. Due to the volume of ETDs, we cannot meet on deadline days, or the two days before deadlines.

Please note we do not provide formatting reviews by email, only via the submission system .

Master's Thesis/Project Formatting Library Guidelines

Introduction.

• Steps/Timeline
• Workshop Videos
• Electronic Submissions
• Departmental Style Guide
• Frequently Asked Questions

Resources at-a-glance

• Formatting Checklist We have updated the new checklist.
• Sequence of Parts
• Sample Guide
• Adobe Sign-Library Reviewer Signature

Upcoming workshops

Upcoming workshops are as follow:

Thesis & Project Formatting Electronic Submission Library Workshop

Please select and click on a date and register to obtain the zoom link. 

Wednesday, October 9 th at 4pm-5pm

Friday, october 11 th at 4pm-5pm, refresher: thursday, november 21st at 4pm-5pm.

• Library Calendar

Hello, and welcome GRAD STUDENTS!

This guide is designed to help you understand the process of Library formatting review.

A key part of completing your thesis, project, or dissertation focuses on ensuring it is compliant with the standards of your academic department, college, and the University.  

The review team will be certifying that the following steps are completed before signing off on your thesis, project or dissertation, so before coming to your review appointment, make sure that you’ve completed the following:

• All content is aligned to the correct margins.
• All content uses the same font style and font-size throughout.
• A ll content should be double-spaced throughout.
• If your document includes images, and you are not the original owner of those images, make sure they are all correctly cited (you may need to ask your advisor on which citation style is preferred in your discipline).
• Yo ur document includes the following required preliminary pages: title & committee membership page, abstract page, table of contents, list of tables and figures (if you have them), and references.
• Title and Committee Membership page should be formatted according to the guidelines listed in the sample guide located in the  Graduate Studies checklist on step #5.
• Verify that the table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures are accurate.

It is expected that prior to your meeting with the format review team, you have reviewed the Grad Studies Checklist . A meeting with the format review team will not be scheduled until it is evident that you have done so.

Tips : How to make sure your paper is meeting the requirements? In MS Word Doc. please have your final paper and the sample guide side-by-side and compare them page by page. This will help you on how your paper formatting should look. In addition , take a look at the Sequence of Parts for the order of your preliminary  pages.  Warning : please do not use google doc and/or Microsoft 365 to format your paper. Please download the Micrsoft 365 to your computer. Please see IT in how to do that. 

Don't know what to expect when you make an appointment with a library reviewer?  

The steps/timeline tab includes a guide that will help Graduate Students who are working on their thesis or project with their submissions. Guideline includes:  A Checklist step by step to complete your submission, formatting rules, and what to do next to submit to graduate studies.

All the information on this guide is provided by graduate studies office website.

NEW Please Read!

There are two new updates on the formatting sample guide. Margins are now 1" inch all around throughout the entire paper. In addition, the signature page has been renamed to committee membership and there are some few changes that has been made please see the sample guide for instructions. 

Appointments are required and should be scheduled with:

Library format reviewers   [email protected] university library, building 15, library reviewer.

Marilu Salcedo   909-869-3076 [email protected] University Library, Building 15, Room 2334

Electronic Submissions Contact:

[email protected]

University Library, Building 15, Room 2810

Graduate Studies Office submission

For questions on the project/thesis submission process, or to schedule an appointment with Graduate Studies, please contact:

Graduate Studies Office 909-869-3331 or (909) 869-5137 [email protected] Student Services Bldg., 1st Floor, Orange Counter

GRC - Graduate Resource Center

Academic Support, financial Aid, mentoring and tutoring. Please swing by located in building 15 the University Library 2nd floor, Room 2424. For more information, please check out their website  Graduate Resource Center (GRC) (cpp.edu)

Need Help in Citation?

The University Library has a Subject Librarian that can help you if you have any questions.

• Next: Steps/Timeline >>
• Last Updated: Sep 10, 2024 12:19 PM
• URL: https://libguides.library.cpp.edu/Libraryformatreview

• Study with us
• Undergraduate degrees
• Integrated foundation years
• Postgraduate degrees
• Higher and degree apprenticeships
• Professional courses
• Short courses
• How to apply
• Student life
• Discover Gloucestershire
• Accommodation
• Student Futures
• Students’ Union
• Student Support
• Student finance
• Mature students
• Talk to a student
• International
• January intake courses
• In your country
• English language testing
• Visas and immigration
• International student support
• Research priority areas
• Research Excellence Framework
• Postgraduate research degrees
• Research repository
• Countryside and Community Research Institute
• How to find us
• Our campuses
• Campus visits
• Offer holder days
• Virtual tours
• Outreach and widening participation
• Business and employers
• Short courses for business
• Venue and facilities hire
• The Growth Hub
• Knowledge transfer partnerships
• Procurement
• Our facilities
• Academic schools
• Equity, diversity and inclusion
• Achievements and awards
• Governance and structure
• Upcoming events
• Latest news
• Accessibility

Academic regulations

Academic regulations for research degree provision 2024/25.

Last updated: 18 September 2024

• The Registration Period
• Registration
• Creative Works
• Published Work
• Supervision
• Assessment Offences
• The Examination
• The Candidate’s Responsibilities in the Examination Process
• Examination
• Right of Appeal
• Appendix One – Specimen thesis title page
• Appendix Two – Author’s Declaration example
• Appendix Three – Specimen front cover for final thesis

1. Principles

1.1. The University may award the degrees of Master of Arts by Research (MA by Research), Master of Science by Research (MSc by Research), Master of Research (MRes), Master of Philosophy (MPhil), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor of Philosophy by Publication (PhD by Publication), Professional Doctorate and International Doctorate to registered candidates who successfully complete approved programmes of supervised research. Students enrolled for any of these programmes shall be considered research students.

1.2. Programmes of research may be proposed in any field of study within the competence of the University, provided that the proposed programme is capable of leading to scholarly work and to its presentation for assessment by appropriate examiners. The written thesis may be supplemented by material in other than written form. All proposed research programmes will be considered for research degree registration on their academic merits and without reference to the concerns or interests of any associated funding body.

1.3. The MSc by Research or MA by Research may be awarded to a candidate who has successfully completed an approved programme requiring completion of taught elements and whose thesis represents an independent contribution to knowledge. The thesis should demonstrate the investigation and evaluation or critical examination of an approved topic The candidate must present a thesis for assessment and be prepared to defend it by viva voce examination, or other approved alternative examination, to the satisfaction of the examiners. If both examiners produce individual reports to indicate that the thesis is of sufficient strength not to warrant a viva voce examination, the oral (or other approved alternative) examination may be dispensed with.

1.4. The MRes may be awarded to a candidate who has successfully completed an approved programme requiring completion of taught elements and whose thesis both reflects on research methods and represents an independent contribution to knowledge. The thesis should demonstrate the investigation and evaluation or critical examination of an approved topic. The candidate must present a thesis for assessment and normally be prepared to defend it by viva voce examination, or other approved alternative examination, to the satisfaction of the examiners.

1.5. The MPhil may be awarded to a candidate who has successfully completed an approved programme requiring completion of taught elements and whose thesis represents and independent, significant contribution to knowledge. The thesis should demonstrate the investigation and evaluation or critical examination of an approved topic, together with an understanding of research methods appropriate to the chosen field. The candidate must present a thesis and defend it by viva voce examination, or approved alternative examination, to the satisfaction of the examiners.

1.6. The PhD may be awarded to a candidate who has successfully completed a programme of scholarly research and whose thesis represents an independent, significant and original contribution to knowledge, or who has completed an integrated programme of study comprising advanced instructions as well as scholarly research demonstrated by thesis. The thesis should demonstrate the investigation and evaluation or critical evaluation of an approved topic, together with an understanding of research methods appropriate to the chosen field. The candidate must present a thesis and defend it by viva voce examination, or approved alternative examination, to the satisfaction of the examiners. The work, or elements of it, should be worthy of publication, may include a proportion of published work, and in the case of a practice based study may include artworks, performance and/or artefacts.

1.7. The PhD by Publication may be awarded to a candidate where the submission consists of previously published research of doctoral standard and the accompanying critical reflection and commentary on the submitted publications demonstrates their independent, significant and original contribution to knowledge and scholarly research.

1.8. An appropriately titled Professional Doctorate may be awarded to a candidate who has successfully completed an approved programme requiring completion of taught elements at advanced level and supervised, independent research of clear value, relevance and application to a defined area of professional practice, concluded by the submission of a thesis or approved alternative to be examined by viva voce examination, or approved alternative examination, at Doctoral level.

1.9. The International Doctorate may be awarded to a candidate who has successfully completed a programme of scholarly research and whose thesis represents an independent, significant and original contribution to knowledge, or who has completed an integrated programme of study comprising advanced instruction as well as scholarly research demonstrated by thesis. The thesis should demonstrate the investigation and evaluation or critical examination of an approved topic, together with an understanding of research methods appropriate to the chosen field. The candidate must always present a thesis written in English for this award. The thesis should have been reviewed by 2 academics from 2 different countries. The candidate must defend the thesis by viva voce examination, or approved alternative examination, to the satisfaction of the examiners. The work, or elements of it should be worthy of publication, or may include a proportion of published work.

1.10. Each award title incorporating taught elements has regulations for the taught components that comply with the University’s Academic Regulations for Taught Provision .

1.11. Co-operation with industrial, commercial, professional or research establishments may be undertaken for the purposes of research leading to research degree awards. Co-operation may be formalised with one or more bodies external to the University; such bodies are referred to as collaborating establishments. Formal collaboration will normally involve the candidate’s use of facilities, data or other resources, including advice and supervision, which are provided jointly by the University and the collaborating establishments.

2. The Registration Period

2.1. The maximum periods of registration should normally be as follows:

2.2. A candidate must pay such fees for their programme of study as shall be determined by the University. The University publishes a Fees Policy which gives further information.

2.3. A candidate must submit the thesis before the expiry of the maximum period of registration.

2.4 . Where a candidate is prevented, by ill-health or other good cause, from making progress with the research, they may suspend study for a specific period, for not less than 3 months and not more than one year. Candidates may request suspension of studies beyond one calendar year, but this must be supported by the School. Approved periods of suspension of studies count against the maximum registration period and therefore do not change the end date for the maximum registration period.

2.5. Candidates who have been awarded a fixed term funded studentship must ensure that a period of suspension of studies is permitted under the terms of their contract. It is the student’s responsibility to check their eligibility, including any limitations on number or duration of suspension of study periods, before submitting their request.

2.6. Candidates may apply for an extension in exceptional circumstances to extend the period of registration beyond the expected period, for not less than 1 month and not more than one year.

2.7. Candidates successfully upgrading to a new award will have the period spent on studying for the initial award incorporated into the maximum submission dates for the new award.

2.8. Where the submission consists of pre-published material accompanied by a critical reflection and commentary on the submitted publications and their contribution to knowledge and research methods appropriate to the discipline, the period of registration may be shortened.

2.9. The registration period must not be less than 12 months full-time and 24 months part-time study.

3. Registration

3.1. The University Research Committee (URC) delegates its powers to the University Research Degrees Committee (URDC) to note and approve examination arrangements, examination reports, and awards of research students in the University.

3.2. URDC retains oversight of the approval of research degree projects, upgrade of registration, supervision and change of supervision and change in mode or programme of study of research students in the University.

3.3. An application should not be approved unless:

a) The candidate is suitably qualified; b) The candidate is embarking upon a feasible research programme; c) Supervisory expertise and capacity is available and likely to be sustained; and d) The University is able to provide appropriate facilities and research environment for the conduct of scholarly research in the area of the research programme.

3.4. An applicant for registration for a research Master’s degree should normally hold a first class or upper second class Honours degree or a qualification that is regarded by the University as equivalent to such an Honours degree.

3.5. An applicant for direct registration for Doctor of Philosophy should normally hold a Master’s degree in a discipline relevant to the proposed research.

3.6. An applicant for a Professional Doctorate should normally hold a Master’s degree in a cognate area, or a Bachelor’s degree in a cognate area plus at least two years’ professional practice, or be capable of otherwise demonstrating professional competence of high standing in the area of the research.

3.7. The candidate must demonstrate sufficient command of the English language to complete the programme of work satisfactorily and to prepare and defend a thesis in English.

3.8. Candidates may register on a full-time or part-time basis.

3.9. On occasion applications may be approved from a person proposing to work largely outside the UK, provided that the following criteria are met:

a) There is satisfactory evidence of the adequacy of the support and facilities available for the research both in the University and abroad, for example through the designation of an appropriate collaborating institution outside the UK. b) The supervisory arrangements enable frequent and substantial contact between the candidate and the first and second supervisor; c) Personal contact between the student and first supervisor must be sufficiently frequent for the first supervisor to have continuing confidence in the candidate’s progress.

3.10. A candidate may apply to upgrade their award in the following ways:

a) Master of Science by Research or Master of Arts by Research to Master of Philosophy or Doctor of Philosophy; b) Master of Philosophy to Doctor of Philosophy;

3.11. A candidate may apply to upgrade when all mandatory research modules (or agreed equivalent programme) have been satisfactorily completed and the supervisory team has deemed that they have made sufficient progress on the research to provide evidence of its potential development towards the intended award.

3.12. A candidate who is registered for any higher award and who is unable to complete the approved programme of work may, at any time prior to submission of the thesis for examination, apply to URDC to convert the registration to an appropriate lower award, provided that the registration period for the lower award has not been exceeded.

3.13. Where there is a requirement for the thesis to remain confidential for a period of time after completion of the work, application for approval should normally be made at the time of submission. The period approved should normally not exceed two years from the date of the viva voce examination.

3.14. A Project Approval of Research Degree Project shall not be considered for approval more than three times.

3.15. A Project Approval of Research Degree Project may be exempted for Masters by Research students by the Postgraduate Research Lead under the following conditions:

1) All supervisors and the Postgraduate Research Lead agree that the research proposal is of equal quality and coverage to the requirements in the Project Approval Form. 2) The project is a pre-existing supervisor designed project that the student is being engaged to fulfil.

3.16. A candidate must ensure engagement with mandatory progression monitoring points and regular recording of supervisory meetings to meet the University’s policy with regard to Engagement & Attendance. 

3.17. Failure to comply with mandatory monitoring points may result in the instigation of the University withdrawal procedures.

4. Creative works

4.1. Candidates may undertake a programme of research in which the candidate’s own creative work forms, as point of origin or reference, a significant part of the intellectual enquiry. Such creative work must have been undertaken as part of the registered research programme. In such cases, the presentation and submission may be partly in other than written form.

4.2. The creative work must be clearly presented in relation to the argument of a written thesis and set within its relevant theoretical, historical, critical or design context. The thesis must itself conform to the usual scholarly requirements and be of the appropriate length (see Section 13).

4.3. The final submission must be accompanied by some permanent record (this may be electronic or physical) of the creative work, which should, where practicable, be bound with the thesis or included in a digital submission.

5. Published Work

5.1. Candidates may undertake a programme of research in which the candidate’s own published work forms, as a point of origin or reference, a significant part of the intellectual enquiry.

5.2. Any joint publications that are included in the thesis must include a statement of contribution agreed with and signed by co-authors in the appendices to the thesis.

5.3. The published work must be clearly presented in relation to the argument of a written commentary and set within its relevant context. The commentary must itself conform to the usual scholarly requirements and be of the appropriate length.

6. Supervision

6.1. For each research degree candidate, the School within which the research will be based will approve the appointment of a supervisory team. One supervisor, who must be a member of the University staff, should be designated the first supervisor and the other(s) the second supervisor(s). A second supervisor may be external to the University.

6.2. The first supervisor has responsibility for supervising the candidate on a regular and frequent basis agreeing an adequate record of actions and plans with the student. There must be sufficient frequent personal contact between the student and the first supervisor to enable the first supervisor to assess and confirm the candidate’s progress. The first supervisor is also responsible for the recording of student monitoring data for Student Route visa students.

6.3. Individual supervisors will normally not supervise more than 8 research students at any one time unless they are highly experienced and have sufficient time allocated to them to do so.

6.4. Ultimate responsibility for progress on the research degree programme resides with the candidate who must ensure that satisfactory progress is made at all times against targets set in supervision.

7. Assessment Offences

7.1. A student’s work submitted for assessment must be their own. Practices that compromise this principle are defined by the University in their guidance on Assessments and Examinations .

7.2. If assessment offences are suspected for work completed for taught elements of research degrees then the procedures relating to these are covered by the University’s Academic Regulations for Taught Provision .

7.3. If the supervisory team suspects that formative work (produced during the preparation of the thesis but not prepared for assessment on a taught module) includes practices that compromise the principle that the student’s work is expected to be their own (as per the definitions linked to in paragraph 8.1), this must be reported to the relevant PGR Lead. The PGR Lead shall nominate an interview panel to meet with the student and the supervisory team to determine whether the work shall be deemed not to be their own. If the student’s work is not deemed to be their own, the work will be considered within the category of “errors of attribution” or “assessment offences”.

7.4. The panel will normally be chaired by the PGR Lead. Where the PGR Lead is also the supervisor of the candidate concerned, another experienced supervisor should be nominated to act as Chair. No member of the interview panel should be involved in the consideration of a case in which they have an interest.

7.5. Where “errors of attribution” are found by the nominated panel, a temporal plan should be agreed to rectify the errors and progress towards this must be reviewed at the next Progress Review. The student will be called to a formal interview if any elements of the plan have not been met.

7.6. Where “assessment offences” are found by the nominated panel, the finding should be reported to URDC acting as the Assessment Offences Board of Examiners. If the recommendation that the student has committed an “assessment offence” is upheld there, this finding must be placed on the student’s record as a first offence and must be taken into consideration in subsequent Annual Progress Reports and progression decisions. If, subsequently, a second offence is found, the student will be required to attend a formal interview at a special meeting of the Annual Progression Board and will be required to withdraw from their programme of study and the University.

The examination

8.1. The examination may not take place until the examiners have been approved. The viva voce examination should normally be completed within 3 months of the formal submission of the thesis for examination, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

8.2. The examination for a research degree should have two stages: first, the candidate’s submission of the thesis and the examiners’ independent preliminary assessment of it; and second, the defence of the thesis by viva voce or approved alternative examination. In the case of the MA/MSc by Research and the MRes, where the Examiners’ independent preliminary assessments agree that the thesis reaches the required standard for the intended award, they may recommend that the viva voce is dispensed with.

8.3. A candidate should be examined orally or by another approved alternative on the programme of work and on the field of study in which the programme lies.

8.4. Where valid reasons are presented in advance that the candidate would be seriously disadvantaged if required to undergo a viva voce examination, an alternative form of examination may be approved by URDC. Such approval will not be given on the grounds that the candidate’s knowledge of English is inadequate.

8.5. All candidates must attend their viva voce examination or approved alternative. Failure to attend may result in actions up to not being awarded any degree and not being permitted to re-submit the thesis unless independent notice of serious mitigating circumstances is received.

8.6. The viva voce examination should normally be held in the University and must be attended by all examiners. In special circumstances URDC may give approval for the examination and/or resubmission to take place elsewhere.

8.7. URDC will approve examination arrangements using the most appropriate platform for the candidate. This may be either face to face examination, or online.

8.8. If it is proposed that the examination is held away from the University, the application for examination arrangements must specify the location.

8.9. The candidate’s supervisor(s) may, with the permission of the student, be present at the viva voce examination in a non-speaking capacity. Others may, with the permission of the candidate and agreement of the examiners, be present at the viva voce in a non-speaking capacity.

8.10. URDC should make a decision based on the reports and recommendation(s) of the examiners in respect of the candidate. The formal power to confer the degree rests with URDC.

8.11. Where evidence of the use of unfair means, such as plagiarism , in the preparation of the thesis comes to light during examination this must be discussed in detail in the joint examination report to assist URDC in its consideration of the matter, if necessary in consultation with the examiners URDC will undertake an investigation and if the use of unfair means is upheld by the investigation panel, they will take appropriate action, which includes failing the thesis with no possibility of re-examination.

8.12. URDC should ensure that all examinations are conducted, and the recommendations of the examiners are presented, wholly in accordance with these regulations. In any instance where URDC is made aware of a failure to comply with all the procedures of the examination process, it may declare the examination null and void, and appoint new examiners.

8.13. The degree of MSc/MA by Research, MRes, MPhil, PhD, PhD by Publication, Professional Doctorate or International Doctorate may be awarded posthumously on the basis of a thesis completed by a candidate, which is ready for submission for examination. In such cases URDC should seek evidence that the candidate would have been likely to have been successful, had a viva voce examination taken place.

9. The candidate’s responsibilities in the examination process

9.1. The candidate should submit one digital copy of the thesis before the expiry of the registration period. The candidate should submit the author’s declaration and candidature form with the thesis:

9.2. The submission of the thesis for examination should be at the sole discretion of the candidate. Although a candidate would normally be unwise to submit the thesis for examination against the advice of the supervisor(s), it is their right to do so. The supervisor(s) should record in writing that the thesis has been submitted against advice and submit a copy of this record to both the School PGR Lead and Research Administration Office. The supervisor’s agreement to the submission of a thesis does not guarantee the successful outcome of the examination.

9.3. The candidate should satisfy any conditions of eligibility for examination required by the Committee including the successful completion of any mandatory taught modules, or Annual Progress requirements.

9.4. The candidate should take no part in the arrangement of the examination and should have no contact with any of the examiners between the appointment of the examiners and the viva voce examination.

9.5. The candidate should ensure that the thesis format is in accordance with the requirements of the regulations (see section 13 below).

9.6. Any work which breaches the University’s Research Ethics: Handbook of Principles and Procedures will not knowingly be assessed.

10. Examiners

10.1. A candidate should be examined initially by at least two and not more than three examiners, of whom at least one is an external examiner. The first supervisor is responsible for contacting and nominating the examiners, and should consult with the candidate concerning the suitability of the examiners. Should the candidate and supervisor(s) disagree on the proposed appointment of external examiners, the matter will be referred to the University Research Degrees Committee for a final decision.

10.2. Examiners should not be appointed unless experienced in research in the area of the candidate’s thesis. At least one examiner should also have experience of examining at least two candidates at the level of award being sought.

10.3. An independent internal examiner shall be defined as an examiner who is:

a) A member of staff of the University, but not a member of the supervisory team; or

b) A member of staff of the candidate’s collaborating establishment, but not a member of the supervisory team.

10.4. Where the candidate is on the permanent staff of the institution no member of staff may serve as an examiner.

10.5. The internal examiner should not :

a) Have/have had any significant collaboration with the candidate nor have given any substantive advice to the candidate on their research (except in the case of a resubmitted thesis).

10.6. The external examiner should not :

a) Have/have had any significant collaboration with the candidate nor have given any substantive advice to the candidate on their research (except in the case of a resubmitted thesis);

b) Be either a current or former member of staff, governor or near relative of a member of staff of the University of Gloucestershire, unless at least 5 years have elapsed since their relinquished the post;

c) Be a former higher degree student of the University of Gloucestershire or of any of the supervisors at another higher education institution, unless at least 5 years have elapsed since the degree was conferred;

d) Normally be invited on a regular basis (more than once every 2 years) to examine research degrees at the University of Gloucestershire;

e) Show evidence of reciprocal examining arrangements to an extent that could encourage unprofessional, biased assessment.

10.7. No candidate for a research degree should act as an examiner.

10.8. The University shall determine and pay the fees and expenses of the external examiners.

11. Examination

11.1. Each examiner must read and examine the thesis and submit an individual preliminary report on it to the School.

11.2. The preliminary reports will indicate whether the thesis is of a sufficient standard to go forward for viva voce or other approved alternative examination, or in the case of the MA/MSc by Research or MRes, whether the thesis is of a sufficient standard for the viva voce to be dispensed with.

11.3 . The preliminary reports should either indicate an agenda for discussion in the viva voce examination or form the basis for the compilation of a joint report by examiners in cases where the viva voce examination is to be dispensed with.

11.4. In the case of the MPhil, PhD and the Professional Doctorates, the preliminary report should be sent to the relevant School at least 7 working days before any viva voce examination is due to be held.

11.5. In the case of the MA/MSc by Research and MRes, the preliminary report should be sent to the relevant School at least 14 working days before the proposed viva voce.

11.6. The examiners cannot recommend that a candidate fail outright without holding a viva voce examination or other approved alternative examination. However, students may use the maximum period of registration permitted for the programme (para. 2.1) and examiners may recommend that the thesis be returned to the student for further work if time in registration remains

11.7. Following the viva voce or other approved examination, the examiners should prepare a joint report that must be sufficiently detailed to enable URDC to make a well-founded decision about the award. A summary of the report may be made available to the student and only if the examiners have agreed upon an unequivocal recommendation. They should make it clear to the candidate at the end of the viva voce examination that their joint report is their recommendation, but that the final decision on the award rests with URDC.

11.8. The report should make one of the following recommendations. That:

a) The candidate be awarded the degree unconditionally;

b) The candidate be awarded the degree subject to the correction of typographic and similar errors to the satisfaction of the first supervisor. Typographic errors or similar may be communicated via an annotated copy of the thesis or through a list in the examination report. Such corrections should be of a scale capable of completion by the candidate within one month of the viva voce;

c) The candidate be awarded the degree subject to minor amendments, to the satisfaction of the internal examiner where present or a nominated external examiner if not. In this case the examiners should provide in writing for communication to the candidate by the viva chair a list of the minor corrections by the candidate within three months of the viva voce examination;

d) The candidate be awarded the degree subject to major amendment to the thesis to the satisfaction of a nominated examiner. In this case the examiners should provide in writing for communication to the candidate by the viva chair a list of the amendments and corrections required. Corrections should be made within six months of the relevant meeting of URDC;

e) The candidate not be awarded the degree, but be permitted to re-submit the thesis in revised form and be re-examined, with or without a viva voce examination. The examiners should recommend resubmission only if there is sufficient evidence of original work and if the amount of further work to be undertaken is not so substantial as to constitute a new thesis. A recommendation should be made concerning the maximum period of time for resubmission, which is normally between 6 and 12 months from the relevant meeting of the URDC;

f) In the case of a PhD examination, the candidate not be awarded the degree of PhD, but be awarded the degree of MPhil subject to the presentation of the thesis amended as necessary to the satisfaction of the examiners. The amendments should be made within three months of the relevant meeting of URDC

In the case of a Professional Doctorate, the candidate not be awarded the Doctorate but be awarded a lesser award consonant with the assessed work completed and /or thesis submitted.

In the case of an MPhil examination, the examiners may recommend that the candidate not be awarded the degree of MPhil, but be awarded the degree of MSc or MA by Research subject to the presentation of the thesis amended to the satisfaction of the examiners;

g) The candidate not be awarded any degree and not be permitted to re-submit the thesis. In this case the examiners should prepare an agreed general statement of the deficiencies of the thesis and the reason for their recommendation, which should be submitted to the Research Administration Office for transmission to URDC and subsequently to the candidate;

h) No recommendation can be made for reasons outlined within the examiner’s report. Further investigation will be required to provide a decision based on categories a – g above.

11.9. One re-examination may be permitted by URDC, subject to the following requirements:

a) A candidate who fails to satisfy the examiners at the first examination (including at the viva voce or approved alternative examination, or any further examination required) may, on the recommendation of the examiners, and with the approval of URDC, be permitted to revise the thesis and be re-examined;

b) The examiners must provide the candidate, through URDC, with written guidance on the deficiencies of the first submission; and

c) The candidate should submit for re-examination normally within the period of one calendar year from the date of the relevant Committee meeting. Where the viva voce examination has been dispensed with, the re-examination should take place within 6 months of the resubmission of the thesis. URDC may, where there are good reasons, approve an extension of this period.

d) Where the viva voce examination has not been dispensed with for the re-examination, the candidate must attend their viva voce.

11.10. URDC may require that an additional external examiner be appointed for the re- examination.

11.11. On completion of re-examination the examiners should make one of the following recommendations to URDC in accordance with paragraph 12.8, excepting that 12.8.g shall not apply to the re-examination.

11.12. Where the examiners’ recommendations are not unanimous, URDC will normally appoint an additional external to give a ‘blind’ reading of the thesis. Following this appointment, a report should be submitted to URDC within one month and URDC will make a decision based on this report.

11.13. If the degree is not awarded, the examiners should prepare an agreed statement of the deficiencies of the thesis and reason for their recommendation, which should be forwarded to URDC and to the candidate by the Research Administration Office.

11.14. Failure to submit amendments as recorded on the approved examination report to the satisfaction of the nominated supervisor or examiner to the timeframe agreed by URDC will result in the recording of a no award outcome

12.1. The written language of the thesis must be English unless it is the purpose of the thesis to translate or otherwise engage with a language other than English. This intention should be noted on the Project Approval Form.

12.2. If the candidate proposes a change to the approved title of the thesis after the Project Approval, they must submit the amended title to the Research Administration Office

12.3. An abstract of approximately 300 words must be bound into the thesis on the page following the title page. The abstract should provide a synopsis of the thesis, stating the nature and scope of the work undertaken and of the contribution made to the knowledge of the subject treated.

12.4. The thesis must acknowledge published or other sources of material consulted and any assistance received. It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that the final version of the thesis lodged with the University’s Research Repository carries full and acknowledged permissions for any copyrighted materials. For more information about including copyrighted materials, please refer to Keeping Your Thesis Legal , a booklet available from the Library, Technology and Information Services.

In the event that permission cannot or will not be granted by the copyright holder, it will be the student’s responsibility to submit a second digital version of their final thesis which redacts the items or sections which do not carry the appropriate permissions.

12.5. Where a candidate’s research programme is part of a collaborative group project, the thesis should indicate clearly the candidate’s individual contribution and the extent of the collaboration. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that a signed declaration is included in the final copy stating how far the work contained in the thesis was the candidate’s own work, or how far it was undertaken in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others.

12.6. The candidate is free to publish material from the thesis in advance of its submission, but reference should be made in the thesis to any such output.

In the event that a publisher does not permit the candidate to deposit a full text version of their thesis to the Repository it is the candidate’s responsibility to submit a second redacted version with links to the DOI or a publisher’s URL of the publication(s).

12.7. The text of the thesis is

• for an MSc or MA by Research 30,000 words for an MRes 25,000 words
• for an MPhil 50,000 words
• for a Professional or International Doctorate 60,000 words for a PhD 80,000 words

12.8. The final word count must not be exceeded by more than 10% of the stated amount for the award. Ancillary data, bibliography, appendices, and footnotes or endnotes are not included in the word count.

The University reserves the right to suspend the examination process if the thesis is found to be in breach of the stated word count (excluding appendices, tables, diagrams, bibliography and references).

12.9. Where the thesis is accompanied by material in other than written form, or the research involves creative writing or the preparation of a scholarly edition, or the thesis is related to an integrated programme of taught study, or the thesis contains previously published material, the balance of the thesis should normally be within the range:

• for an MSc or MA by Research 10,000 – 12,000 words for an MPhil 15,000 – 20,000 words
• for a PhD 20,000 – 40,000 words
• for a PhD by Publication 10,000-25,000 words
• for a Professional or International Doctorate 40,000 words – 50,000

12.10. The following requirements should be adhered to in the format of the submitted thesis.

a) Upon initial submission for examination, the thesis will be submitted in digital form. b) The thesis should be formatted in A4 portrait format. c) Text should be present in 12point size, in a clear font such as Times New Roman or Arial d) A consistent margin should be applied throughout the thesis e) Double or one-and-a-half spacing should be used in the typescript except for indented quotations or footnotes where single spacing may be used. f) Pages should be numbered consecutively through the main text including photographs and/or diagrams included as whole pages. Page numbers should be printed in the header or footer of each page title page. g) The title page should give the following information in the following order (see also specimen title page below):

i. The full title of the thesis (including any sub-title), followed by the volume number if there is more than one; ii. The full name of the author; iii. ‘A thesis submitted to the University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements for the degree of…in the School of…’; iv. The name of the collaborating establishment(s) if any; v. The month and year of first submission; and vi. The word count (appendices, tables, diagrams, bibliography and references are excluded from the word count).

h) Text placed within headers should be excluded from the title page; abstract page; author’s declaration; acknowledgements (if applicable); and table of contents.

i) The candidate should include on the page following the abstract page a signed author’s declaration confirming that the material presented for examination is their own work or how far the work contained in the thesis was the candidate’s own work, , or how far it was conducted in collaboration with, or with the assistance of others, and stating that the thesis is not being submitted for any other academic award and where necessary include evidence showing where permission(s) for copyrighted material have been received.

j) The candidate should not be precluded from incorporating in the thesis, covering a wider field, work which has already been submitted for a degree or comparable award, provided that it is indicated which work has been so incorporated. In addition, a disclaimer that the views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author and not of the University should be included on this page.

See Appendix Two for an example Author’s Declaration.

k) Following successful completion, a ‘perfect’ digital copy of the final thesis should be submitted to the Research Administration Office for retention by the University. No award can be made until the digital copy has been submitted.

l) The ETHOS electronic deposit form should be submitted with the final thesis. As well as being deposited into the British Library’s EThOS (national online thesis scheme site) the candidate’s thesis will also go into the University’s Research Repository. A digital copy must be submitted even if the candidate has been granted an embargo or temporary moratorium. In this case, the thesis will be will be placed in a dark-archive or kept securely by the Research Administration Office. For details, please refer to Keeping Your Thesis Legal , a booklet available from the Library, Technology and Information Services.”.

m) The copyright in the thesis should normally be vested in the candidate, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Right of appeal

13.1 Students have the right to appeal against a decision of a Board of Examiners and will not suffer any disadvantage or recrimination as a result of making an appeal in good faith. Students considering making an appeal should consult the University’s guidance on Appeals and Complaints .

13.2 Procedures for submitting and hearing an academic appeal are documented in the assessment procedures section of the University’s Academic Regulations for Taught Provision .

APPENDIX ONE – Specimen thesis title page

A PROFESSION UNDER PRESSURE:

THE INCREASING INCIDENCE OF STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS AMONGST CONTRACT RESEARCHERS

BLANCHE DELAMERE

A thesis submitted to The University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Health

Word Count: ______            

APPENDIX TWO – Author’s Declaration example

I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas.

Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University.

Signed …………………………………………….. Date ……………………………….

APPENDIX THREE – Specimen front cover for final thesis

B. DELAMERE

Was this article helpful?

Academic calendar – term dates  .

Jump to: Academic calendar 2024: January startAcademic calendar 2024-25Academic calendar 2025:…

Academic Regulations for Taught Provision 2024/25  

Contents 1. Scope 1.1 The Academic Regulations for Taught Provision, referred to here as the…

Academic Regulations for Research Degree Provision 2015/16  

Contents Appendix OneAppendix Two 1. Principles 1.1. The University may award the degrees of Master…