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Overall Thesis/Dissertation Format Requirements
Home >> Current Students >> Progressing Towards Your Degree >> Thesis/Dissertation Preparation and Support >> Overall Thesis/Dissertation Format Requirements
Organization
Most theses/dissertations at ASU are organized into three sections:
Style
Students are required to follow a standard style guide or accepted journal in their field. A style guide should be used in addition to the Format Manual, but Graduate College requirements for the document as a whole, as outlined in this manual, supersede those of your style guide or journal.
Some departments and degree programs have recommended one or two style guides/journals for student use (view the list of Department Recommended Style Guides at graduate.asu.edu/recstyleguides.html). Commonly used style guides are listed on the next page. If you use a journal style instead of one of the guides listed below, you must include a complete copy of a journal article that includes the same elements as your thesis/dissertation (e.g., figures, tables, and equations, if applicable) when you submit your document for format review. Your document will not be evaluated if you neglect to provide a copy of a journal article representing the style you have followed.
Print/Paper Quality
The printer you use for your document must generate dark, distinct, and consistent laser quality throughout to ensure readability. This requirement is stipulated by UMI/ProQuest. No handwritten marks, correction fluid, or typed-over corrections are allowed in the final copies of the document. To ensure archival quality, the university requires that the final copies of your thesis/dissertation be printed or copied on 24 lb.-minimum, acid-free paper. The copy you submit for format review should be of good print quality but need not be on special paper.
Margins
A margin is defined as a space in which no text appears. Every page of your document must meet the margin requirements of 1.5 inches on the left and 1 inch on the top, right, and bottom. All materials, including appendices if you choose to include them, must meet the margin requirements.
Font and Size of Text
The Graduate College requires that students employ one of the following fonts in 10, 11, or 12 points when composing their documents: Arial, Century, Garamond, Georgia, Lucida Bright (10 point only), Sans Serif, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS (10 point only), or Verdana. UMI/ProQuest recommends that students use a font size of no larger than 12 and no smaller than 10. Some common fonts are Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica. Use caution when using Courier New font as it presents difficulties in properly formatting the approval page. Please see a format advisor for more information.
You should retain the same font and font size throughout your document.
Line Spacing
All text should be double-spaced, except the optional biographical sketch (which must be single-spaced). You must single-space individual footnotes and reference entries, then double-space between each note and entry. Although consistency with the sample pages is ideal, line spacing in the table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures can be adapted to your document's and readers' needs, with your chair's written approval.
Consistency
You should make every effort to apply formatting, as indicated by your style guide and this manual, throughout your document consistently. Also, it is important to use terms, abbreviations, word order, capitalization, and punctuation (i.e., hyphenation) consistently in your preliminary matter, main text, and back matter.
Most theses/dissertations at ASU are organized into three sections:
- Preliminary matter (title and approval pages, abstract, table of contents, list of tables, etc.)
- Main text (introduction and sections or chapters, with appropriate headings; footnotes or endnotes)
- Back matter (notes, references or bibliography, appendices, and biographical sketch)
Style
Students are required to follow a standard style guide or accepted journal in their field. A style guide should be used in addition to the Format Manual, but Graduate College requirements for the document as a whole, as outlined in this manual, supersede those of your style guide or journal.
Some departments and degree programs have recommended one or two style guides/journals for student use (view the list of Department Recommended Style Guides at graduate.asu.edu/recstyleguides.html). Commonly used style guides are listed on the next page. If you use a journal style instead of one of the guides listed below, you must include a complete copy of a journal article that includes the same elements as your thesis/dissertation (e.g., figures, tables, and equations, if applicable) when you submit your document for format review. Your document will not be evaluated if you neglect to provide a copy of a journal article representing the style you have followed.
- American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001. www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html
- The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003. www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/about.html
- Gibaldi, J. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. www.mla.org/style
- Gibaldi, J. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1998. www.mla.org/style
- Turabian, K. L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996.
www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/12917.ctl
Print/Paper Quality
The printer you use for your document must generate dark, distinct, and consistent laser quality throughout to ensure readability. This requirement is stipulated by UMI/ProQuest. No handwritten marks, correction fluid, or typed-over corrections are allowed in the final copies of the document. To ensure archival quality, the university requires that the final copies of your thesis/dissertation be printed or copied on 24 lb.-minimum, acid-free paper. The copy you submit for format review should be of good print quality but need not be on special paper.
Margins
A margin is defined as a space in which no text appears. Every page of your document must meet the margin requirements of 1.5 inches on the left and 1 inch on the top, right, and bottom. All materials, including appendices if you choose to include them, must meet the margin requirements.
Font and Size of Text
The Graduate College requires that students employ one of the following fonts in 10, 11, or 12 points when composing their documents: Arial, Century, Garamond, Georgia, Lucida Bright (10 point only), Sans Serif, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS (10 point only), or Verdana. UMI/ProQuest recommends that students use a font size of no larger than 12 and no smaller than 10. Some common fonts are Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica. Use caution when using Courier New font as it presents difficulties in properly formatting the approval page. Please see a format advisor for more information.
You should retain the same font and font size throughout your document.
Line Spacing
All text should be double-spaced, except the optional biographical sketch (which must be single-spaced). You must single-space individual footnotes and reference entries, then double-space between each note and entry. Although consistency with the sample pages is ideal, line spacing in the table of contents, list of tables, and list of figures can be adapted to your document's and readers' needs, with your chair's written approval.
Consistency
You should make every effort to apply formatting, as indicated by your style guide and this manual, throughout your document consistently. Also, it is important to use terms, abbreviations, word order, capitalization, and punctuation (i.e., hyphenation) consistently in your preliminary matter, main text, and back matter.