Preparation of thesis and dissertation

Type

The standard font size is 12 point and a standard typeface such as Courier, Times Roman, Arial or Tahoma should be used. Nonstandard typefaces, such as script, are not acceptable. Italics are permitted for mathematical expressions and scientific names of genera, species and the like. If students anticipate publication of their theses or dissertations, they should consider the medium of publication likely to be used when preparing the thesis or dissertation manuscript. For example, lettering on original graphs and drawings should be large enough so that it can be reduced effectively for publications.

The text of the manuscript should be double-spaced, but long tables, long quotations (defined as 100 words, or as stipulated within the student's discipline and applied consistently), footnotes and multi-line captions should be single-spaced.

Students are encouraged to provide sample pages of their thesis or dissertation to their advisors — and the graduate program director, if appropriate — to ensure that manuscript requirements are met.

Margins around the text on a page should be 1 inch. All tables and figures should conform to the margin requirements. Photographic reduction is acceptable and may be necessary.

Pagination

Every page on which any text, figure, table or drawing appears is counted and numbered, with the following exceptions: the signature page and the cover sheet preceding the appendices. The title page and the abstract are counted but not numbered.

All numbers are placed without punctuation at the bottom of the page and centered. The preliminary pages are numbered consecutively in lower case Roman numerals placed in the upper right-hand corner. The first page to be numbered will be the first page following the title page and it will be numbered ii. The text and reference pages are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, beginning with 1 on the first page of the text.

Footnotes

Footnoting practices differ widely among the disciplines. Students should follow the practice most commonly used in their disciplines, or the instructions of their thesis or dissertation advisers following approved departmental policy.

If footnotes are used, they are placed on the pages they annotate and should be separated on the page from the text by a line extending two inches from the left margin. If the discipline requires footnotes, then the footnotes are to be indicated by a superscript and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. The first line of the footnote is to be indented. If the footnote is more than one line in length, typing is to be single-spaced. When more than one footnote is used on a page, footnotes should be separated by a double space. The specified margins and font must be maintained when footnotes are used. If a footnote continues onto the following page, the numbering remains the same.

Endnotes

As with footnoting, students who use endnotes should follow the practice most commonly used in their disciplines, or the instructions of their thesis or dissertation advisers following approved departmental policy. If endnotes are used, they are placed on a separate page or pages, indicated by a superscript and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals.

The specified margins and font must be maintained when endnotes are used. The endnotes page or pages are placed after the last page of the essay and before the bibliography. The pages of the essay, the endnotes, and the bibliography are numbered consecutively using Arabic numbers.

Tables and figures

The word “table” designates tabulated numerical data used in the body of the thesis or dissertation and in appendices. The word “figure” designates all other nonverbal material, such as illustrations, charts, graphs, maps, photographs, drawings and diagrams.

Tables and figures are numbered in separate series. Each table and figure, including any in the appendix, must be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals in its own series. The captions for figures and tables must be identical with those used in the list of tables and the list of figures in the preliminary pages. Table titles are typed above the table and figure titles are typed below the figure.