MANUAL OF BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THESES AND DISSERTATIONS

• Introduction
• Manuals of Style
• Preparing your Manuscript for Electronic Submission
• The Electronic Submission Process
• Checklist for Preparation and Completion of Thesis and Dissertation
• Final Review

Final Review

The following are the major reasons that theses and dissertations are not initially approved:

1. Improper format of abstract.
2. Improper margins in any part of the thesis or dissertation.
3. Improper pagination (especially in the prefatory material). 
4. Incorrect pagination listed in the Table of Contents.
5. Inconsistent hierarchy of organization from section to section.  The same level of organization should be treated consistently as to indention, underlining, fonts, bold lettering, alphanumeric denotations (ex.  A, b, I, 1) etc. 
6. Inconsistent hierarchy of organization between that listed in the Table of Contents and found in the text. 
7. Inconsistent use of fonts. 
8. Prefatory material missing List of Tables, List of Figures, etc.  Also table/figure titles are not included in the List of Tables, Figures etc. or they have incorrect pagination. 
9. Incomplete references (Text referrals are not cited in the bibliography/references section). 
10. Inconsistent style in citing the references in both the text and the bibliography/references section. 
11. Improper grammar and/or misspelling (to a lesser extent).
12. Missing IRB, IACUC, or Biosafety Committee  approval form.  

Although all theses and dissertations should comply with the Manual of Basic Requirements of Theses and Dissertations, the Graduate School strongly suggests that each program decide upon a particular style or format by which all of their theses or dissertations will follow beyond that described herein.  This format may be either a specific style manual (i.e.  APA, Turabian, MLA) or the format of a respected journal in the field. Questions about formatting or the submission process should be addressed with the Graduate School at (252) 328-5792.   

Congratulations!