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Format Requirements for Theses and Dissertations

Crafting academic excellence: Explore our guide to thesis and dissertation formats, ensuring your research shines in the right structure and style.

Mastering the Format: Your Guide to Theses and Dissertations

The Division of Graduate Studies reviews all dissertations before they can be submitted for publication in ProQuest. All submissions must adhere to the formatting guidelines listed below. 

  1. For technical specifications for fonts, margins, line spacing, order of pages, pagination, and setup of preliminary pages, refer to the Guidelines for Preparing the Doctoral Dissertation, pages 5–11.
  2. For guidelines regarding writing style, grammar, citation, heading levels, tables, and figures, refer to disciplinary style manuals listed on p. 3 of the Guidelines for Preparing the Doctoral Dissertation.

Dissertations that deviate from these requirements will be returned for correction.

To avoid common formatting errors, please review sample dissertation pages and checklists for both manuscript submission and disciplinary style requirements before submitting your dissertation. 


Seeking a professional editor? Please visit this page.

For writing assistance with issues other than formatting, please schedule an appointment in the Richard Wright Center.

Checklist for Manuscript Submission

Disciplinary Style Requirements

APA Style Guide  | APA Style Checklist for Dissertations

Kate L. Turabian Style Guide | Kate L. Turabian Style Checklist

The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication | Checklist coming soon

MLA Style Guide | Checklist coming soon

AMS Style Guide | Checklist coming soon

If you need help using Microsoft Word, please consult the Microsoft Word 2010 & 2013 for Dissertations guide developed by Nova Southeastern University.

The Richard Wright Center for Writing, Rhetoric, and Research

Location

H. T. Sampson Library
1st Floor
Digital Intellectual Commons

Phone

601.979.0694,
601.979.0989