Required Formatting

The information here is intended as an extremely brief overview. For complete details and explanations, you should download and print a copy of the complete Dissertation and Thesis Manual. Check here if you are writing a creative ETD!

For information about binding or about section breaks in Word, see our FAQs!

Important note: If the Dissertation and Thesis Manual and a selected style guide/journal format are in conflict regarding a specific format issue, the Manual takes precedence. See p. 5, General Guidelines, in the Dissertation and Thesis Manual.

1. The abstract is not considered part of the thesis or dissertation; it is a separate and independent entity. Abstract pages are not numbered.
   • For your abstract (and only for your abstract), a Word formatting template is available here. (In Internet Explorer, you can right-click the link and click "Save Target As" to download the Abstract Template.)
   • For the rest of your dissertation/thesis, you can find information here from the University of Kansas on using Microsoft Word.
   • If you are using the LaTex formatting system, check here!
2. Document elements and their order:
   1. Title page (required)
   2. Copyright notice (as appropriate)
   3. Acknowledgments (as appropriate)
   4. Table of Contents (required)
   5. List of Tables (as appropriate)
   6. List of Illustrations (as appropriate)
   7. Body of work (required)
   8. Appendix (as appropriate)
   9. References/Bibliography (required)
3. Page numbering: Every page of the thesis must bear a number except the title page.
   1. All front matter pages should be numbered with small Roman numerals (e.g., ii, iii, etc), centered, one-half (0.5) inch from the bottom.
   2. Title page is always considered page i but the page number never appears.
   3. The first page of the body of the document (usually first page of the first chapter) is numbered Arabic style 1.
   4. The number of pages referred to in the abstract header refers to the number of Arabic-style pages. Do not include front matter pages in the page count.
   5. Regardless of orientation (see item 7), page numbers must be bottom center.
4. Headings in text:
   1. First level headings: All caps, centered on line.
   2. Second level headings: Headline style cap, centered on line.
   3. Optional: Authors are permitted to insert an extra double-space above subheading titles on a page, that are preceded by text. Important: Authors must be consistent - either *always* insert the extra double-space above all subheading titles on a page preceded by text, or never insert the extra space.
   4. Heading levels below second level should follow the format specified in the style manual relevant to your discipline.
5. Headings in the table of contents:
   1. Only first level appears in all capital letters.
   2. All other headings use headline style cap.
   3. Fifth level and beyond should not appear.
6. Optional: Margins: 1 inch all the way around for all pages except the title page.
7. Optional: Landscape pages: Leave as landscape orientation, i.e., no need to rotate 90 degrees.
8. Optional: Font style. Sans serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica and Tahoma are strongly encouraged. Courier is strongly discouraged.
   • Office 2007 - Microsoft's Office 2007 is being rolled out for the entire campus, beginning fall 2007. In Office 2007, the default font for all applications is Calibri (a sans serif font; see http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=47&aid=78683). Having a single default font for all applications is a good thing, because it will cut down on the number of varied-font errors in the documents submitted (entire thesis or dissertation must be one font style, all the way through). However, some students may want to use some other font. Using a different font is not a problem unless one forgets to change the default font. If the default font is not changed, then page numbers, footnote numbers and text, numbered lists and so forth are unaffected! Save time and trouble by learning how to change the default in ALL programs (including Excel and PowerPoint) if you are thinking about using some other font!
9. For information on citation of on-line sources and other writing matters, see our Writing page.
10. See also our Copyright and Trademark page.
11. To locate a typist, see our General FAQs page!

More questions about required formatting and elements? E-mail us!