library dissertation format

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Dissertation Formatting

Have questions on how to format your thesis or dissertation?

We’ll help you align your document to fit Rackham Graduate School requirements. 

Use our formatting guide

Our Guide to Microsoft Word for Dissertations includes a template you can modify, along with links to the Rackham Dissertation Handbook and formatting checklist. It also covers how to:

• Apply styles to maintain consistency
• Create a table of contents that keeps itself up to date 
• Include properly formatted landscape pages
• Insert page numbers, footnotes, images, figures, and more

LaTeX guidance

Most of our support is based on using Microsoft Word. If you plan to use LaTeX for your thesis or dissertation we recommend starting with  a LaTeX template designed to meet Rackham’s requirements.

We also have  a workshop recording on using LaTeX to format your U-M dissertation .

Make an appointment

We’re happy to discuss your document or help you solve a problem.

Make an appointment .

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Thesis / dissertation formatting manual (2024).

• Filing Fees and Student Status
• Submission Process Overview
• Electronic Thesis Submission
• Paper Thesis Submission
• Formatting Overview
• Fonts/Typeface
• Pagination, Margins, Spacing
• Paper Thesis Formatting
• Preliminary Pages Overview
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures (etc.)
• Acknowledgements
• Text and References Overview
• Figures and Illustrations
• Using Your Own Previously Published Materials
• Using Copyrighted Materials by Another Author
• Open Access and Embargoes
• Copyright and Creative Commons
• Ordering Print (Bound) Copies
• Tutorials and Assistance
• FAQ This link opens in a new window

UCI Libraries maintains the following  templates to assist in formatting your graduate manuscript. If you are formatting your manuscript in Microsoft Word, feel free to download and use the template. If you would like to see what your manuscript should look like, PDFs have been provided. If you are formatting your manuscript using LaTex, UCI maintains a template on OverLeaf.

• Annotated Template (Dissertation) 2024 PDF of a template with annotations of what to look out for
• Word: Thesis Template 2024 Editable template of the Master's thesis formatting.
• PDF Thesis Template 2024
• Word: Dissertation Template 2024 Editable template of the PhD Dissertation formatting.
• PDF: Dissertation Template 2024
• Overleaf (LaTex) Template
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• Last Updated: May 31, 2024 9:34 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/gradmanual

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How to find resources by format

Why use a dissertation or a thesis.

A dissertation is the final large research paper, based on original research, for many disciplines to be able to complete a PhD degree. The thesis is the same idea but for a masters degree.

They are often considered scholarly sources since they are closely supervised by a committee, are directed at an academic audience, are extensively researched, follow research methodology, and are cited in other scholarly work. Often the research is newer or answering questions that are more recent, and can help push scholarship in new directions. 

Search for dissertations and theses

Locating dissertations and theses.

The Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global database includes doctoral dissertations and selected masters theses from major universities worldwide.

• Searchable by subject, author, advisor, title, school, date, etc.
• More information about full text access and requesting through Interlibrary Loan

NDLTD – Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations provides free online access to a over a million theses and dissertations from all over the world.

WorldCat Dissertations and Theses searches library catalogs from across the U.S. and worldwide.

Locating University of Minnesota Dissertations and Theses

Use  Libraries search  and search by title or author and add the word "thesis" in the search box. Write down the library and call number and find it on the shelf. They can be checked out.

Check the  University Digital Conservancy  for online access to dissertations and theses from 2007 to present as well as historic, scanned theses from 1887-1923.

Other Sources for Dissertations and Theses

• Center for Research Libraries
• DART-Europe E-Thesis Portal
• Theses Canada
• Ethos (Great Britain)
• Australasian Digital Theses in Trove
• DiVA (Sweden)
• E-Thesis at the University of Helsinki
• DissOnline (Germany)
• List of libraries worldwide - to search for a thesis when you know the institution and cannot find in the larger collections

University of Minnesota Dissertations and Theses FAQs

What dissertations and theses are available.

With minor exceptions, all doctoral dissertations and all "Plan A" master's theses accepted by the University of Minnesota are available in the University Libraries system. In some cases (see below) only a non-circulating copy in University Archives exists, but for doctoral dissertations from 1940 to date, and for master's theses from 1925 to date, a circulating copy should almost always be available.

"Plan B" papers, accepted in the place of a thesis in many master's degree programs, are not received by the University Libraries and are generally not available. (The only real exceptions are a number of old library school Plan B papers on publishing history, which have been separately cataloged.) In a few cases individual departments may have maintained files of such papers.

In what libraries are U of M dissertations and theses located?

Circulating copies of doctoral dissertations:.

• Use Libraries Search to look for the author or title of the work desired to determine location and call number of a specific dissertation. Circulating copies of U of M doctoral dissertations can be in one of several locations in the library system, depending upon the date and the department for which the dissertation was done. The following are the general rules:
• Dissertations prior to 1940 Circulating copies of U of M dissertations prior to 1940 do not exist (with rare exceptions): for these, only the archival copy (see below) is available. Also, most dissertations prior to 1940 are not cataloged in MNCAT and can only be identified by the departmental listings described below.  
• Dissertations from 1940-1979 Circulating copies of U of M dissertations from 1940 to 1979 will in most cases be held within the Elmer L. Andersen Library, with three major classes of exceptions: dissertations accepted by biological, medical, and related departments are housed in the Health Science Library; science/engineering dissertations from 1970 to date will be located in the Science and Engineering Library (in Walter); and dissertations accepted by agricultural and related departments are available at the Magrath Library or one of the other libraries on the St. Paul campus (the Magrath Library maintains records of locations for such dissertations).  
• Dissertations from 1980-date Circulating copies of U of M dissertations from 1980 to date at present may be located either in Wilson Library (see below) or in storage; consult Libraries Search for location of specific items. Again, exceptions noted above apply here also; dissertations in their respective departments will instead be in Health Science Library or in one of the St. Paul campus libraries.

Circulating copies of master's theses:

• Theses prior to 1925 Circulating copies of U of M master's theses prior to 1925 do not exist (with rare exceptions); for these, only the archival copy (see below) is available.  
• Theses from 1925-1996 Circulating copies of U of M master's theses from 1925 to 1996 may be held in storage; consult Libraries search in specific instances. Once again, there are exceptions and theses in their respective departments will be housed in the Health Science Library or in one of the St. Paul campus libraries.  
• Theses from 1997-date Circulating copies of U of M master's theses from 1997 to date will be located in Wilson Library (see below), except for the same exceptions for Health Science  and St. Paul theses. There is also an exception to the exception: MHA (Masters in Health Administration) theses through 1998 are in the Health Science Library, but those from 1999 on are in Wilson Library.

Archival copies (non-circulating)

Archival (non-circulating) copies of virtually all U of M doctoral dissertations from 1888-1952, and of U of M master's theses from all years up to the present, are maintained by University Archives (located in the Elmer L. Andersen Library). These copies must be consulted on the premises, and it is highly recommended for the present that users make an appointment in advance to ensure that the desired works can be retrieved for them from storage. For dissertations accepted prior to 1940 and for master's theses accepted prior to 1925, University Archives is generally the only option (e.g., there usually will be no circulating copy). Archival copies of U of M doctoral dissertations from 1953 to the present are maintained by Bell and Howell Corporation (formerly University Microfilms Inc.), which produces print or filmed copies from our originals upon request. (There are a very few post-1952 U of M dissertations not available from Bell and Howell; these include such things as music manuscripts and works with color illustrations or extremely large pages that will not photocopy well; in these few cases, our archival copy is retained in University Archives.)

Where is a specific dissertation of thesis located?

To locate a specific dissertation or thesis it is necessary to have its call number. Use Libraries Search for the author or title of the item, just as you would for any other book. Depending on date of acceptance and cataloging, a typical call number for such materials should look something like one of the following:

Dissertations: Plan"A" Theses MnU-D or 378.7M66 MnU-M or 378.7M66 78-342 ODR7617 83-67 OL6156 Libraries Search will also tell the library location (MLAC, Health Science Library, Magrath or another St. Paul campus library, Science and Engineering, Business Reference, Wilson Annex or Wilson Library). Those doctoral dissertations still in Wilson Library (which in all cases should be 1980 or later and will have "MnU-D" numbers) are located in the central section of the third floor. Those master's theses in Wilson (which in all cases will be 1997 or later and will have "MnU-M" numbers) are also located in the central section of the third floor. Both dissertations and theses circulate and can be checked out, like any other books, at the Wilson Circulation desk on the first floor.

How can dissertations and theses accepted by a specific department be located?

Wilson Library contains a series of bound and loose-leaf notebooks, arranged by department and within each department by date, listing dissertations and theses. Information given for each entry includes name of author, title, and date (but not call number, which must be looked up individually). These notebooks are no longer current, but they do cover listings by department from the nineteenth century up to approximately 1992. Many pre-1940 U of M dissertations and pre-1925 U of M master's theses are not cataloged (and exist only as archival copies). Such dissertations can be identified only with these volumes. The books and notebooks are shelved in the general collection under these call numbers: Wilson Ref LD3337 .A5 and Wilson Ref quarto LD3337 .U9x. Major departments of individual degree candidates are also listed under their names in the GRADUATE SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT programs of the U of M, available in University Archives and (for recent years) also in Wilson stacks (LD3361 .U55x).

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UCI Theses & Dissertations

Format, Submit, Discover

Formatting Manual

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Paper Formatting  / Checklist

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• Theses and Dissertations
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• Reading, Notetaking, and Time Management

What is a thesis?

What is a dissertation, getting started, staying on track.

A thesis is a long-term project that you work on over the course of a semester or a year. Theses have a very wide variety of styles and content, so we encourage you to look at prior examples and work closely with faculty to develop yours. 

Before you begin, make sure that you are familiar with the dissertation genre—what it is for and what it looks like.

Generally speaking, a dissertation’s purpose is to prove that you have the expertise necessary to fulfill your doctoral-degree requirements by showing depth of knowledge and independent thinking.

The form of a dissertation may vary by discipline. Be sure to follow the specific guidelines of your department.

• PhD This site directs candidates to the GSAS website about dissertations , with links to checklists,  planning, formatting, acknowledgments, submission, and publishing options. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus . Consult with your committee chair about specific requirements and standards for your dissertation.
• DDES This document covers planning, patent filing, submission guidelines, publishing options, formatting guidelines, sample pages, citation guidelines, and a list of common errors to avoid. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus .
• Scholarly Pursuits (GSAS) This searchable booklet from Harvard GSAS is a comprehensive guide to writing dissertations, dissertation-fellowship applications, academic journal articles, and academic job documents.

Finding an original topic can be a daunting and overwhelming task. These key concepts can help you focus and save time.

Finding a topic for your dissertation should start with a research question that excites or at least interests you. A rigorous, engaging, and original dissertation will require continuous curiosity about your topic, about your own thoughts on the topic, and about what other scholars have said on your topic. Avoid getting boxed in by thinking you know what you want to say from the beginning; let your research and your writing evolve as you explore and fine-tune your focus through constant questioning and exploration.

Get a sense of the broader picture before you narrow your focus and attempt to frame an argument. Read, skim, and otherwise familiarize yourself with what other scholars have done in areas related to your proposed topic. Briefly explore topics tangentially related to yours to broaden your perspective and increase your chance of finding a unique angle to pursue.

Critical Reading

Critical reading is the opposite of passive reading. Instead of merely reading for information to absorb, critical reading also involves careful, sustained thinking about what you are reading. This process may include analyzing the author’s motives and assumptions, asking what might be left out of the discussion, considering what you agree with or disagree with in the author’s statements and why you agree or disagree, and exploring connections or contradictions between scholarly arguments. Here is a resource to help hone your critical-reading skills:

http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/criticalread.pdf

Conversation

Your dissertation will incorporate some of the ideas of the other scholars whose work you researched. By reading critically and following your curiosity, you will develop your own ideas and claims, and these contributions are the core of your dissertation. However, your dissertation will also acknowledge the work of scholars who came before you, and you must accurately and fairly attribute this work and define your place within the larger discussion. Make sure that you know how to quote, summarize, paraphrase , integrate , and cite secondary sources to avoid plagiarism and to show the depth and breadth of your knowledge.

A thesis is a long-term, large project that involves both research and writing; it is easy to lose focus, motivation, and momentum. Here are suggestions for achieving the result you want in the time you have.

The dissertation is probably the largest project you have undertaken, and a lot of the work is self-directed. The project can feel daunting or even overwhelming unless you break it down into manageable pieces and create a timeline for completing each smaller task. Be realistic but also challenge yourself, and be forgiving of yourself if you miss a self-imposed deadline here and there.

Your program will also have specific deadlines for different requirements, including establishing a committee, submitting a prospectus, completing the dissertation, defending the dissertation, and submitting your work. Consult your department’s website for these dates and incorporate them into the timeline for your work.

Accountability

Sometimes self-imposed deadlines do not feel urgent unless there is accountability to someone beyond yourself. To increase your motivation to complete tasks on schedule, set dates with your committee chair to submit pre-determined pieces of a chapter. You can also arrange with a fellow doctoral student to check on each other’s progress. Research and writing can be lonely, so it is also nice to share that journey with someone and support each other through the process.

Common Pitfalls

The most common challenges for students writing a dissertation are writer’s block, information-overload, and the compulsion to keep researching forever.

There are many strategies for avoiding writer’s block, such as freewriting, outlining, taking a walk, starting in the middle, and creating an ideal work environment for your particular learning style. Pay attention to what helps you and try different things until you find what works.

Efficient researching techniques are essential to avoiding information-overload. Here are a couple of resources about strategies for finding sources and quickly obtaining essential information from them.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_in_literature_detailed_discussion/reading_criticism.html

https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/learning-resources/learning-strategies/reading-techniques

Finally, remember that there is always more to learn and your dissertation cannot incorporate everything. Follow your curiosity but also set limits on the scope of your work. It helps to create a folder entitled “future projects” for topics and sources that interest you but that do not fit neatly into the dissertation. Also remember that future scholars will build off of your work, so leave something for them to do.

Browsing through theses and dissertations of the past can help to get a sense of your options and gain inspiration but be careful to use current guidelines and refer to your committee instead of relying on these examples for form or formatting.

DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard.

HOLLIS Harvard Library’s catalog provides access to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global .

MIT Architecture has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Rhode Island School of Design has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

University of South Florida has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Harvard GSD has a list of projects, including theses and professors’ research.

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Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

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:

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

Thesis & Project Formatting Electronic Submission Library Workshop

Please check with Graduate studies office for Summer Workshop

• 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.  

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!

Please make sure you follow the sample guide and instructions in this guide. Reminder Library reviewers are only doing Final Reviews . Please take a look at the Steps/Timeline tab for the steps to take to submit your paper. In addition, DocuSign has been replaced with Adobe Sign . Please follow the guides for committee members and Library reviewers on the Graduate checklist step #7 and #8. 

In other new news, 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 reviewers.

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

Gustavo Acevedo (Assisting Spring 2024 for the month of May only) 909-869-3126 gustavoa @cpp.edu University Library, Building 15, Room 2810

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.

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Format Requirements for Your Dissertation or Thesis

Main navigation.

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

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

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

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

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

Follow the specifications outlined below.

Style and Format

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

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

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

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

The font color must be black. 

Font Families

Acceptable font styles include:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The dissertation and thesis must be in English. 

Language Exceptions for Dissertations Only

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

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

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

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

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

Some reliable style guides are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow these pagination instructions exactly:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ETD Guidelines: Formatting Requirements

• Submitting Your ETD
• Formatting Requirements
• After Duquesne
• Information about Your School
• How to Tutorial
• List of Resources

1. Review Process

The ETD Formatting Review process outlined below can only begin after you have completed all three items on the ETD Submission Checklist . Once the Scholarly Communications Librarian receives all three items, the following process begins:

• The Scholarly Communications Librarian goes through your Word document to check for adherence to the formatting guidelines (found below).
• The Scholarly Communications Librarian sends you notes and asks you to make changes , if necessary.
• You return your edits to the Scholarly Communications Librarian. If there are no other changes needed, the Scholarly Communications Librarian makes a final version of your work and sends it to you for your approval .
• You approve the final work (via email). The Scholarly Communications Librarian replaces your submissions (in ProQuest and the DSC) with the final, approved version.
• The Scholarly Communications Librarian notifies the registrar that you have finished the ETD review process.

2. Guidelines for the Formatting Review

Front Matter Templates are available: Please use our template .  As it is already formatted correctly, you simply need to fill in your information.

Required Front Matter Pages

• Copyright/Blank Page
• Approval/Signature Page
• Table of Contents
• References/Bibliography

General Format

• The font must be a 12 pt, serif font, such as Times New Roman (headers can be larger; footnotes and endnotes can be smaller)
• The front matter must be filled out and correctly formatted
• The work must be double spaced
• The work must have 1” margins (1.25" allowed on the top and bottom), and all figures, tables, etc. must fit within these margins (wider tables or figures can be put on a landscape page)
• Headers must be consistent throughout
• Running heads are not allowed in the front matter, but are allowed in the main body of the text
• Page numbers should be in the bottom margin, centered and half inch from the bottom of the page
• Other formatting rules should be taken directly from the style guide you’re using (APA, Chicago, AMA, MLA, ACS, etc.)

Title Page (required)

• Title Page Example

Copyright/Blank Page (required)

Approval/Signature Page (required) The signature page in the PDF file should NOT contain signatures. A hardcopy of the signed signature page should be filed with your individual School. The date on this page is the date of the final examination or defense. Roman numeral “iii” should be used to number this page. An alternate signature page format is used by some programs in the School of Education. Please check with the School of Education ETD representatives for more information.

• Approval/Signature Page Example

Abstract (required)

The page should be numbered “iv” and if necessary additional pages (v, vi, etc.) can be used. ProQuest has removed the traditional length restriction on abstracts; however, UMI continues to print indices that include citations and abstracts of all dissertations and theses published by ProQuest/UMI. These indices are limited to 350 words for dissertations and 150 words for theses. UMI will truncate your abstract if it exceeds these word limits and remove any non-text content. You may wish to limit the length of your abstract if this concerns you. The abstract will not be altered in your published manuscript or in the ProQuest online database.

Table of Contents (required) The table of contents is NOT listed in the table of contents, even though it will have page numbers assigned to it. Number all table of contents pages with lower case Roman numerals.

Lists of Tables, Figures, Illustrations, Charts, or Graphs (optional) These lists should only be included in a dissertation or thesis that incorporates five or more tables, figures, illustrations, charts, or graphs. The page(s) should be numbered with lower case Roman numerals. Each list (List of Tables, List of Figures) should begin on a separate page.

List of Abbreviations or Symbols (optional) If a dissertation or thesis contains specialized symbols and/or abbreviations that have meanings outside of common knowledge, this list should be included in the preliminary pages.

Main Body (required) Chapter 1 begins the main body of the thesis or dissertation. Pages are numbered consecutively beginning with Arabic numeral 1 and continue to the end of the document.

Note that an introduction, if included, is considered part of the preliminary material. Continue numbering with lower-case Roman numerals.

References/Bibliography (required) All dissertations and theses must include a list of works cited and/or referenced; format according to the style guide selected by the department or school.

Students are encouraged to choose one of the suggested manuals of style listed below. Resources about each of these styles are readily available at the Gumberg Library Reference Desk and online . It is up to the student and committee to decide which style will work best for a particular project and to adhere to that style. The following manuals of style are highly recommended:

• APA • Chicago Manual of Style • MLA • ACS • CSE • Vancouver / ICJME • AMA

Students are also encouraged to use a citation management tool, such as EndNote or Zotero, in order to generate and keep track of citations. 

Useful Documents

The following documents and templates may be of use as you prepare your thesis or dissertation for the formatting review.

Front Matter Template : This is the entirety of the required front matter. It is already formatted correctly. You simply need to fill in your information.

• ETD Guidelines 4.3.3 This is the full set of ETD Guidelines for your reference. Last updated: May 3, 2022
• Formatting Template with Fillable Functions 2023 Download this Formatting Template with built-in fillable fields. Easily input your information, ensuring your document adheres to formatting guidelines.
• Front Matter Template 2023
• Front Matter Template with Comments
• LaTeX Template
• ETD Approval Form-2023
• Contact the   Systems and Scholarly Communications offices at Gumberg Library.
• Schedule an appointment for a video meeting with one of our ETD coordinators.
• << Previous: Submitting Your ETD
• Next: After Duquesne >>
• Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024 2:52 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.duq.edu/etd

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 ...

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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?

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• Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation | A Guide to Structure & Content

A dissertation or thesis is a long piece of academic writing based on original research, submitted as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter).

The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes:

• An introduction to your topic
• A literature review that surveys relevant sources
• An explanation of your methodology
• An overview of the results of your research
• A discussion of the results and their implications
• A conclusion that shows what your research has contributed

Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an argument by analysing primary and secondary sources . Instead of the standard structure outlined here, you might organise your chapters around different themes or case studies.

Other important elements of the dissertation include the title page , abstract , and reference list . If in doubt about how your dissertation should be structured, always check your department’s guidelines and consult with your supervisor.

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review / theoretical framework, methodology, reference list.

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation’s title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo. Many programs have strict requirements for formatting the dissertation title page .

The title page is often used as cover when printing and binding your dissertation .

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The acknowledgements section is usually optional, and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you.

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150-300 words long. You should write it at the very end, when you’ve completed the rest of the dissertation. In the abstract, make sure to:

• State the main topic and aims of your research
• Describe the methods you used
• Summarise the main results
• State your conclusions

Although the abstract is very short, it’s the first part (and sometimes the only part) of your dissertation that people will read, so it’s important that you get it right. If you’re struggling to write a strong abstract, read our guide on how to write an abstract .

In the table of contents, list all of your chapters and subheadings and their page numbers. The dissertation contents page gives the reader an overview of your structure and helps easily navigate the document.

All parts of your dissertation should be included in the table of contents, including the appendices. You can generate a table of contents automatically in Word.

If you have used a lot of tables and figures in your dissertation, you should itemise them in a numbered list . You can automatically generate this list using the Insert Caption feature in Word.

If you have used a lot of abbreviations in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetised list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

If you have used a lot of highly specialised terms that will not be familiar to your reader, it might be a good idea to include a glossary . List the terms alphabetically and explain each term with a brief description or definition.

In the introduction, you set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance, and tell the reader what to expect in the rest of the dissertation. The introduction should:

• Establish your research topic , giving necessary background information to contextualise your work
• Narrow down the focus and define the scope of the research
• Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
• Clearly state your objectives and research questions , and indicate how you will answer them
• Give an overview of your dissertation’s structure

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant to your research. By the end, the reader should understand the what , why and how of your research. Not sure how? Read our guide on how to write a dissertation introduction .

Before you start on your research, you should have conducted a literature review to gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic. This means:

• Collecting sources (e.g. books and journal articles) and selecting the most relevant ones
• Critically evaluating and analysing each source
• Drawing connections between them (e.g. themes, patterns, conflicts, gaps) to make an overall point

In the dissertation literature review chapter or section, you shouldn’t just summarise existing studies, but develop a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear basis or justification for your own research. For example, it might aim to show how your research:

• Addresses a gap in the literature
• Takes a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic
• Proposes a solution to an unresolved problem
• Advances a theoretical debate
• Builds on and strengthens existing knowledge with new data

The literature review often becomes the basis for a theoretical framework , in which you define and analyse the key theories, concepts and models that frame your research. In this section you can answer descriptive research questions about the relationship between concepts or variables.

The methodology chapter or section describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to assess its validity. You should generally include:

• The overall approach and type of research (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, experimental, ethnographic)
• Your methods of collecting data (e.g. interviews, surveys, archives)
• Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
• Your methods of analysing data (e.g. statistical analysis, discourse analysis)
• Tools and materials you used (e.g. computer programs, lab equipment)
• A discussion of any obstacles you faced in conducting the research and how you overcame them
• An evaluation or justification of your methods

Your aim in the methodology is to accurately report what you did, as well as convincing the reader that this was the best approach to answering your research questions or objectives.

Next, you report the results of your research . You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses, or topics. Only report results that are relevant to your objectives and research questions. In some disciplines, the results section is strictly separated from the discussion, while in others the two are combined.

For example, for qualitative methods like in-depth interviews, the presentation of the data will often be woven together with discussion and analysis, while in quantitative and experimental research, the results should be presented separately before you discuss their meaning. If you’re unsure, consult with your supervisor and look at sample dissertations to find out the best structure for your research.

In the results section it can often be helpful to include tables, graphs and charts. Think carefully about how best to present your data, and don’t include tables or figures that just repeat what you have written  –  they should provide extra information or usefully visualise the results in a way that adds value to your text.

Full versions of your data (such as interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix .

The discussion  is where you explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research questions. Here you should interpret the results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data and discuss any limitations that might have influenced the results.

The discussion should reference other scholarly work to show how your results fit with existing knowledge. You can also make recommendations for future research or practical action.

The dissertation conclusion should concisely answer the main research question, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your central argument. Wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you did and how you did it. The conclusion often also includes recommendations for research or practice.

In this section, it’s important to show how your findings contribute to knowledge in the field and why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known?

You must include full details of all sources that you have cited in a reference list (sometimes also called a works cited list or bibliography). It’s important to follow a consistent reference style . Each style has strict and specific requirements for how to format your sources in the reference list.

The most common styles used in UK universities are Harvard referencing and Vancouver referencing . Your department will often specify which referencing style you should use – for example, psychology students tend to use APA style , humanities students often use MHRA , and law students always use OSCOLA . M ake sure to check the requirements, and ask your supervisor if you’re unsure.

To save time creating the reference list and make sure your citations are correctly and consistently formatted, you can use our free APA Citation Generator .

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents you have used that do not fit into the main body of your dissertation (such as interview transcripts, survey questions or tables with full figures) can be added as appendices .

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• msstate.edu
• MSU Directory

Graduate Student Center / Thesis and Dissertation Office

The Graduate Student Center / Thesis and Dissertation Office, located on the first floor of Mitchell Memorial Library, reviews theses and dissertations for formatting compliance based on the standards required by Mississippi State University. Our review process begins after your committee has approved all content within your document.

We offer workshops and consultations, both face-to-face and online, to help alleviate confusion and to make this process more bearable. You can find a list of our workshops below as well as contact information. Feel free to call or email to set up a consultation or to ask questions!

We look forward to helping you in the final stages of your thesis or dissertation process!

Related Links

• Standards for preparing theses and dissertations
• Survival Skills for Graduate Students
• Frequently Asked Questions
• MSU English Department's Writing Center (662-325-1045)
• Office of the Graduate School
• Graduate Faculty
• Office of the Registrar

Upcoming Workshops

Today's hours, contact info.

Center for Digital Scholarship

University-Wide Requirements for the Ph.D. Dissertation

Dissertations must comply with the specifications set by the Library, by the author's department, and by the University. Departments, divisions, and schools may have requirements in addition to those described in this booklet. Students are responsible for informing themselves of these additional requirements.

The Dissertation Office provides information on the University’s dissertation policies. We help doctoral students understand dissertation formatting and submission requirements, and we assist with the submission process. Students are welcome to contact us with questions.

Contact the Dissertation Office

Web: phd.lib.uchicago.edu Email: [email protected] Phone: 773-702-7404 Visit: Suite 104D, Center for Digital Scholarship, Regenstein Library

Routine Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Actual hours vary to accommodate meetings, workshops, and training. The office will close during the interim between quarters.

Dissertation Requirements

Doctoral dissertations are original contributions to scholarship. As a condition for receipt of the doctorate, all students are required to submit their dissertations to Knowledge@UChicago, the University’s open access repository. If a dissertation includes copyrighted material beyond fair use, the author must obtain permission from the holder of the copyright.

The public sharing of original dissertation research is a principle to which the University is deeply committed, and dissertations should be made available to the scholarly community at the University of Chicago and elsewhere in a timely manner. If dissertation authors are concerned that making their research publicly available might endanger research subjects or themselves, jeopardize a pending patent, complicate publication of a revised dissertation, or otherwise be unadvisable, they may, in consultation with faculty in their field (and as appropriate, research collaborators), restrict access to their dissertation for a limited period of time according to the guidelines outlined by the Dissertation Office. If a dissertation author needs to renew an embargo at the end of its term or initiate an embargo after graduation, the author must contact the Dissertation Office with the embargo request. Embargo renewals may be approved only in rare instances, and in general no more than one renewal will be allowed.

All dissertations must follow the formatting and submission requirements stated in the University-Wide Requirements for the Ph.D. Dissertation , available from the Dissertation Office on the first floor of the Joseph Regenstein Library in the Center for Digital Scholarship.

Dissertation & Doctoral Project Formatting & Clearance: Formatting Manual & Forms

• Submitting to the Library
• Formatting Manual & Forms
• APA Style 7th Ed.
• Submitting to ProQuest ETD

SPRING 2024 CHANGES TO THE DISSERTATION CLEARANCE PROCESS

In order to streamline the dissertation clearance process, the following changes have been made, effective 3-1-2024 .

1. The Dissertation Cataloging Form is no longer necessary.

2. The Dissertation Clearance Form is now initiated directly by the student, and only through Adobe Sign - Signed PDFs and scanned forms have been replaced by Adobe Sign.

3. Students completing dissertation clearance are no longer required to schedule a meeting with their DCR (Dissertation Clearance Representative). If they have questions about what to do, they are welcome to schedule a DCR appointment, but it is not required.

If you have questions about these changes or other aspects of the process, contact [email protected] and we will be happy to assist.

1. Alliant International University Dissertation/Doctoral Project Style and Format Manual

• 2020 Dissertation/Doctoral Project Style & Format Manual

The APA Publication Manual is primarily for submitting papers for journal publication, so it lacks guidelines specific to dissertations and doctoral projects.  To fill this gap, Alliant has created systemwide guidelines for you to follow. This document provides details on those guidelines.  You will need to refer to both manuals to format your dissertation correctly.

The 2020 Alliant manual incorporates elements of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manua l. When the Alliant manual differs from APA, follow the Alliant manual. If the Alliant manual is silent on an issue, then follow APA. The formatting requirements in the Alliant manual supersede program-specific dissertation manuals, but program manuals’  other content is not affected.

2. Library Clearance Form - Dissertations/Doctoral Projects

To launch your library dissertation clearance form using Adobe Sign, you will click on the link below that corresponds to the number of committee members you have. 

In order to see all of the places you need to enter information, you will need to click to expand different sections of the form, as shown in the image below.

Near the bottom of this page, there is a link to a YouTube video showing a quick demonstration of how to use the Adobe Sign process.

NOTE: When entering the library signer information, if you attend the Fresno campus, use [email protected]. Otherwise, use [email protected].

Library Dissertation Clearance – 1 Committee Member

• Student - signer
• Dissertation Chair - signer
• Committee Member1 - signer
• Program Director - signer
• Library - signer
• copy:  [email protected]

Workflow instructions: Please complete & enter information for ALL participants by scrolling down & expanding each participant (Dissertation Chair, Committee Member1, Program Director, Library Staff) Dissertation Chair Dissertation Committee Member #1 Program Director Library Staff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH A CLEARANCE FORM WITH ONE COMMITTEE MEMBER +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Library Dissertation Clearance – 2 Committee Members Workflow:

• Committee Member2 - signer

Please complete & enter information for ALL participants by scrolling down & expanding each participant (Dissertation Chair, Committee Member1, Committee Member2, Program Director, Library Staff) Dissertation Chair

Dissertation Committee Member #1 Dissertation Committee Member #2 Program Director Library Staff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH A CLEARANCE FORM WITH TWO COMMITTEE MEMBERS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Library Dissertation Clearance – 3 Committee Members Workflow:

• Committee Member3 - signer
• copy:  [email protected] 

Please complete & enter information for ALL participants by scrolling down & expanding each participant (Dissertation Chair, Committee Member1, Committee Member2, Committee Member3, Program Director, Library Staff) Dissertation Chair

Dissertation Committee Member #1 Dissertation Committee Member #2 Dissertation Committee Member #3 Program Director Library Staff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH A CLEARANCE FORM WITH THREE COMMITTEE MEMBERS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Library Dissertation Clearance – 4 Committee Members  Workflow:

• Committee Member4 - signer

Please complete & enter information for ALL participants by scrolling down & expanding each participant  Dissertation Chair

Dissertation Committee Member #1 Dissertation Committee Member #2 Dissertation Committee Member #3 Dissertation Committee Member #4 Program Director Library Staff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH A CLEARANCE FORM WITH FOUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  

3. Dissertation Manuscript Template

• Dissertation Manuscript Template - APA 7th edition

In response to commonly asked questions, the library has provided the following Microsoft Word dissertation template for students to use if they find it helpful. DISCLAIMER : it is not official or required, nor is it fool-proof. All dissertations, regardless of whether they use the provided template or not, must follow the guidelines contained within the Formatting Manual. While library staff are not able to assist with using MS Word or the template, many helpful tutorials can be found at https://support.office.com/en-us/word

Who is my DCR (Dissertation Clearance Rep)?

EMERYVILLE Scott Zimmer 858-635-4553 [email protected]  

FRESNO Adan Ortega 559-253-2288 [email protected]

IRVINE Scott Zimmer 858-635-4553 [email protected]  

LOS ANGELES Scott Zimmer 858-635-4553 [email protected]  

ONLINE Scott Zimmer 858-635-4553 [email protected]  

SACRAMENTO Scott Zimmer 858-635-4553 [email protected] 

SAN DIEGO Scott Zimmer 858-635-4553 [email protected]  

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• Last Updated: May 20, 2024 9:49 AM
• URL: https://alliant.libguides.com/LibraryClearance

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Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs)

• Submission Checklist
• Formatting Requirements
• Submission Deadlines

An Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) is a requirement for graduation from Doctoral programs and available to graduates from Masters programs.

What is an ETD?

An electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD) is a digital version of a thesis or dissertation that will be deposited in the JScholarship repository managed by the Sheridan Libraries and be available online to the public.

Universities and colleges in the United States and abroad have been moving toward this type of publication for the past decade. Johns Hopkins started its own ETD program beginning in the fall semester of 2013.

Who does this apply to?

• Required for all PhD Students
• Optional for Masters students with a required thesis; contact your graduate office for information
• Other graduate degrees: Consult with your graduate office

How and when do I submit my ETD?

• Submit after you have defended your thesis or dissertation and made all edits required by your committee
• Follow the formatting requirements
• Login with your JHED ID to the JHU ETD submission system , fill in the required metadata, and upload a PDF/A file of your thesis or dissertation
• The required PDF/A file format is different from a standard PDF. Please see the formatting requirements for further instructions

Fee Payment

The ETD submission fee is $60 and may be paid by credit card or by funds transfer from your department. The fee is due at the time of submission; payment verification is required for approval.

Pay by Credit Card – $60

IMPORTANT: If the card you are using is not your own (e.g., spouse or parent’s card), proceed with the payment at the site, but then email your name, your JHED ID, and the name of the credit card owner to [email protected] so we can link your submission with the payment.

Pay by Department Funds Transfer

NOTE: This option is available at departmental discretion. Request that the department administrator fill out the PDF form and submit it to [email protected] .

Learn More about ETDs

Video tutorials.

A video tutorial of the entire ETD process can be viewed on YouTube

Frequently Asked Questions

No. If your department does not coordinate printing and binding, you might consider Thesis on Demand or PhD Bookbinding . You can upload your PDF, and they will print it, bind it, and ship it to you.

Yes. No individual file can be larger than 512 MB, and the total size of all files cannot exceed 4 GB. If your thesis or dissertation is larger than that, please email [email protected] .

Within two months following degree conferral, ETDs are published to  JScholarship , our institutional repository. There are separate sections in JScholarship for masters theses and doctoral dissertations . If you placed an embargo on your ETD, only the metadata (author, title, abstract, etc.) will be available until the embargo period is up.

Your ETD will be published to our institutional repository, JScholarship , within two months following degree conferral. An ETD is considered published when it is deposited in JScholarship, even if it is under embargo.

Once published, changes cannot be made to your ETD. Your ETD will be published within two months following degree conferral. You are responsible for ensuring your ETD has been thoroughly proofread before you submit to the library.

Students submitting Electronic Theses and Dissertations are responsible for determining any copyright or fair use questions. For assistance, please consult the Copyright LibGuide or contact the librarian listed on the guide.

By default, ETDs are published to JScholarship within two months after you graduate. If you wish to temporarily restrict public access to your ETD, during the ETD submission process you can embargo your document for up to four years. Please note that the title and abstract of your document will still be visible during your embargo. You may release your document from embargo early or extend it up to the four-year maximum by emailing [email protected] . Once your document is publicly accessible, however, we cannot make changes to embargoes.

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 .

Theses and Dissertations

Congrats on working towards your thesis or dissertation at UTA! The UTA Libraries Digital Publishing Librarian, Digital Publishing Specialist, and entire Open Partnerships & Services Department team are here to help you submit your documents, so they become part of the publicly accessible scholarly record. This important practice is part of the growing movement for open access scholarship around the world to ensure that EVERYONE has access to the results of scholarly research.

ETDs are openly published in UTA's institutional repository, called MavMatrix (formerly  UTA ResearchCommons ). The UTA institutional repository offers metrics about how many users are engaging with your ETD in a variety of ways! Make sure to check back after graduation to see what impact your thesis or dissertation is making in the world! For example, Amy Holmes’ dissertation from 2016 has nearly 6000 abstract views and almost 1000 downloads on our site alone!

Process and Deadlines to submit your approved Thesis or Dissertation to the ResearchCommons

We are currently migrating to a new and much improved platform for our institutional repository. For those submitting during the Summer 2024 semester , we have a different process than usual. Before any submission can be made, please send an email to  [email protected] identifying that you will be submitting a thesis or dissertation this semester and include your degree and department name . After that step, you will receive an email with instructions on when and how to submit to our new repository. 

***Please note: When you create an account on MavMatrix, please use an email address that you will continue to have access to after graduation. For example, don't use a UTA STAFF email address (ending in only uta.edu) unless you will continue your employment after graduation. Access to those emails terminates immediately upon graduation. Student email addresses (ending in mavs.uta.edu) should have longer access periods. We recommend using a personal, non-UTA email address to ensure continued access and communication.***

As part of this process, all students must agree to the Intellectual Property Statement and Non-Exclusive Copyright Release. This Non-Exclusive Copyright Release ensures that YOU RETAIN YOUR COPYRIGHT as author of your thesis or dissertation. Doctoral students must also complete the  Survey of Earned Doctorates  and submit via email to  [email protected] .

When submitting your thesis or dissertation, the date on the title page of your document should match your graduation month and year. The month must be listed as either:  May, August, or December  (e.g. May 2024). 

Deadlines to submit your approved Thesis or Dissertation to the Libraries ***Submitting prior to these deadlines will ensure enough time to complete required revisions.  PLEASE NOTE: If you wait to submit until just before or on the deadline,  processing of your submission and graduation milestone WILL BE DELAYED.

After your initial submission, be sure to check your email to receive either an acceptance of your submission or a request for required changes and resubmission.

If an extension is required, please complete the online  extension request form . If you have further questions, contact your advisor or the  Graduate School at  [email protected] .

An  embargo  is   a delayed release or temporary access restriction to the full-text PDF of your work. Common reasons to request an embargo include:

• If your thesis or dissertation material is to be published in a journal that requires no prior publication
• If you plan to file for a provisional patent relevant to the work published in your thesis or dissertation

Please note that you RETAIN your copyright as author of your thesis or dissertation when you sign the Non-Exclusive Copyright Release. This means that you are free to publish your work anywhere else you see fit without permission from UTA. Most journals and publishers today are aware that theses and dissertations are already published by universities in their institutional repository and/or must abide by mandates for federally funded research to openly publish outcomes and data.

Embargoed works are still visible as an entry in the UTA institutional repository with title, author, date, and abstract details. For those requesting an embargo for patent-filling reasons, please ensure that your abstract is written without revealing patent-relevant information or trade secrets.

If you require an embargo, they are requested when you submit your ETD to the Digital Publishing Team. You can add an embargo period of 6 months, one year, or two years. Two years is the maximum embargo time unless there are extenuating legal circumstances.

To request an embargo extension, consult either the Graduate School or the Office of Innovation and Commercialization (for patent/legal needs) to provide clear rationale as to why your work should be embargoed for longer than 2 years. That information can be provided to [email protected] .

Additional Resources for thesis and dissertation writing

• UTA Graduate School Dissertation Completion Resources
• How to Format Landscape Page Numbers
• Create a Table of Contents and Table of Figures
• The Research Process: Step-by-Step

Please note these changes from previous policies and workflows

• Strict adherence to the embargo maximum period and visibility of all but the full-text PDF for embargoed works changed as of March 2023 in consultation with the Graduate School. Refer to [email protected] with questions.
• We are no longer supporting submission to ProQuest because it is a paywalled database.
• The library does not provide templates. The Graduate School offers manuals linked below. We strongly encourage you to contact your committee chair to discover which manual is recommended by your academic unit.  For specific examples of previously published theses and dissertations, you can visit your department's community in the  UTA institutional repository .
• Guides and Examples of Elements of Theses and Dissertations

Binding Personal Copies of Theses and Dissertations

**Effective January 1, 2024, UTA Libraries will no longer be providing bindery services for theses and dissertations. If your work has been deposited with ProQuest, you may order a print copy from them online . ProQuest may also be able to support printing of documents that have not been deposited with that service.

Still have questions? Check the FAQs!

FAQ: I just defended my thesis or dissertation. How do I submit my documents to fulfill the requirements of the Graduate School?

Answer: Please first review the information provided above. If you have not found information you seek, please contact [email protected] .

FAQ: How to access past theses and dissertations of UTA Students?

Answer: Older theses and dissertations are searchable in the library catalog here: https://uta.summon.serialssolutions.com . These are physically bound and available upon request.Newer theses and dissertations are only available in the UTA institutional repository. Browse to your department and refer to the theses and/or dissertations sections to find recent examples.

FAQ: I need to see examples of article-based dissertations.

Answer: For several years, all dissertations produced at UTA have been published openly in the UTA institutional repository . On the home page, use the search bar to search “article-based” or “article-based” AND a keyword from your discipline/topic to find an example closer to your field. For example, you could find “Smoking Cessation within the Federal Employee Population, an article-based dissertation by Brenda Ross Swilley from 2020 .

FAQ: Does the Library have a template for theses and dissertations?

Answer: The Library does not have any official templates for theses and dissertations. Each discipline has different requirements that they follow. Students need to contact their department for specific information about what their dissertations should and should not have. The Graduate School does have guidelines of elements that should be  included in its manuals . Please note: these are only to be used as a guide or starting point. As stated above, each department has specific guidelines that the student must follow. 

FAQ: Does the Library provide formatting and manual check services for theses and dissertations?

Answer: No, the Library does not provide these services. We encourage students to reach out the UTA Writing Center and/or the Graduate School for guidance on formatting and manual checks. There are Plagiarism Checkers freely available through services like Canvas, the Learning Management System used at UTA.

FAQ: I’m submitting my thesis or dissertation. Do I need to select an embargo?

Answer: Please refer to the information on embargoes offered above. Only select an embargo period if you want a delay in publication for your thesis or dissertation on the UTA institutional repository because you plan to publish in a venue that requires no prior publications or apply for a patent within two years. Most students select the “NONE” option to not request an embargo.

Please note that most academic publishers are now aware that high-level research institutions like UTA require all theses and dissertations to be made openly accessible via an institutional repository and therefore the stipulation that work cannot be published elsewhere does not apply if it was a thesis or dissertation in an institutional repository. If you would still like to embargo your work, please note that the embargo only applies to the PDF of your full text. The title, authorship, and abstract of your work will still be visible (per our policies with the Graduate School). You have the following embargo options:

Publication/Patent Hold 6 months  - The full text of this work will be held/restricted from worldwide access on the internet for six months from the semester/year of graduation to meet academic publisher restrictions or to allow time for publication.

Publication/Patent Hold 12 months  - The full text of this work will be held/restricted from worldwide access on the internet for twelve months from the semester/year of graduation to meet academic publisher restrictions or to allow time for publication.

Publication/Patent Hold 24 months  - The full text of this work will be held/restricted from worldwide access on the internet for twenty-four months from the semester/year of graduation to meet academic publisher restrictions or to allow time for publication.

FAQ: What is ORCID? Do I need an ORCID iD to submit my thesis or dissertation?

Answer: ORCID  is a “persistent digital identifier” that many researchers use to increase the visibility of their research across multiple platforms like Web of Science, publisher websites, and institutional websites. An ORCID is meant to serve as an overarching way to identify yourself as a researcher in the global scholarly community. When you create an ORCID, you receive a webpage listing all the publications you have published under your iD. It is free to sign up for one and add to your manuscript; however, it is  not required  to submit a thesis or dissertation.  

FAQ: I found errors in the thesis or dissertation I submitted to the institutional repository and I need to resubmit. How do I do that?

Answer: Congratulations on completing your thesis or dissertation! Do not submit a new ETD. For revisions, please contact [email protected] for information about changes.

FAQ: Does the library offer a service for binding of UTA theses or dissertations?

Answer: No. Effective January 1, 2024, UTA Libraries no longer provides this service due to a lack of requests. 

Any Questions?

If you have questions or need additional assistance, please submit this form:

Dissertations & projects: Formatting

• Research questions
• The process of reviewing
• Project management
• Literature-based projects

Jump to content on these pages:

You are not being examined on your ability to use Microsoft Word. The Skills Team have therefore provided you with a template that already has most of the formatting work done for you. This has been approved centrally by the university.

This page has links to the template, guidance document and videos to support you with using the official University of Hull MS Word templates for creating undergraduate dissertations or independent projects or taught masters dissertations. This is not a mandatory template, but using it will streamline the formatting of such a long document.

University templates

The University has created templates which can help take the stress out of formatting your dissertation or final year project.

Students studying any subject other than those listed below can use the general template provided:

Download the undergraduate final year project or dissertation template here

Download the taught masters dissertation template here

Modified versions

In some disciplines, the undergraduate template has been modified and is available via your dissertation or independent project module's Canvas site. Currently this is the case for the following subject areas:

• Biomedical Sciences

Guidance document

Templates guidance document

It includes information on:

• Working with template files
• Working with text (styles, table of contents)
• Working with images and tables (captions)
• Adding landscape pages

Whilst this says it is for undergraduate dissertations, it is also relevant to the taught masters template.

Video support

We have created a set of videos to support you with using the template. These can be accessed below.

The videos below cover the following (click or tap to jump to video):

• Downloading the template and filling in the title page.
• Using styles and updating the table of contents.
• Labelling your figures and tables.
• Using the cross-referencing tool to refer to figures and tables.
• Adding a landscape page to your document.

​​​​​​​ Please note that there is a separate playlist for using the History template: Using the UoH undergraduate dissertation template for History .

Video 1: Downloading the UG dissertation or independent project template and filling in front matter

Note that if you have downloaded the template already from the link above, you can skip to 1 min 30 sec.

Video 2: Using styles and updating the table of contents

Video 3: Labelling your figures and tables

Video 4: Using the cross-referencing tool to refer to figures and tables

This is an optional feature - if you don't have many tables or figures you may wish to do this manually.

Video 5: Adding a landscape page to your document

Not everyone will need this feature but it is useful for large tables or some figures.

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• Last Updated: Apr 24, 2024 1:09 PM
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