MANUAL OF BASIC FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS FOR THESES AND DISSERTATIONS
Manuals of Style
Students should consult with their committee director and members of their advisory committee to determine the textual arrangement and reference format of the dissertation or thesis. It may be helpful to select a journal, in which portions of your research will likely be published, to use as a style model. The selected style must be consistent throughout the document (Be sure to note that all examples given in this manual are just samples. Check with your department for the style they prefer.).
Additional assistance in the proper use of a particular style is provided by either Joyner Library or Laupus Library. The libraries may provide access to Bibliographic Citation software which can aid in the proper citation and documentation of research. Currently, the libraries provide access to RefWorks (by Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) or EndNote Web (by The Thomson Corporation). Either citation software is available via either library electronic resources page. Also, tutorials for RefWorks may be found on the RefWorks website. Finally, librarian assistance with citations as they appear in the thesis or dissertation can be found at either library.
RefWorks
RefWorks Tutorial
EndNote
Copyright Issues
Before copyrighted materials are included in the thesis or dissertation, written permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Signed copyright forms must be included in the appendix. Students should consult ProQuest/UMI Dissertations Publishing Guide 5 to determine if permission is required for copyright materials used. A sample permission letter is shown in Appendix B. Students may want to consult with their committee director on this issue.
Preparation of the Thesis and Dissertation Manuscript
The Graduate School requires a specific page order in formatting of each page. See Elements of Theses or Dissertations.
