Dissertation and Thesis Submission Guidelines

Completing a dissertation or thesis is the culmination of your academic journey. To ensure your work is properly archived and accessible to the scholarly community, all graduate students must adhere to the following formatting and submission requirements.

General Formatting Requirements

• Margins: All pages must have a 1-inch margin on the top, bottom, right, and left sides.
• Font: Use a professional, readable font such as Times New Roman (12 pt), Arial (11 pt), or Calibri (11 pt). Font size must remain consistent throughout the document.
• Spacing: The body of the document should be double-spaced. Block quotations, footnotes, and bibliography entries may be single-spaced according to your specific discipline's style guide.
• Pagination: Preliminary pages (Abstract, Table of Contents, Acknowledgments) must be numbered using lowercase Roman numerals. The main body of the document must use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3...), starting with page 1 on the first page of the first chapter.
• Alignment: Text should be left-aligned with a "ragged right" edge, unless specified otherwise by your department.

Required Structural Components

The manuscript must be arranged in the following order:

1. Title Page: Must include the full title, your name, the degree sought, the name of the department, and the date of submission.
2. Abstract: A concise summary of the research, usually limited to 350 words.
3. Dedication/Acknowledgments: Optional sections placed before the table of contents.
4. Table of Contents: A comprehensive list of chapters, sections, and appendices with corresponding page numbers.
5. List of Tables/Figures: Required if the document contains five or more tables or figures.
6. Body Chapters: The core content of your research.
7. References/Bibliography: A complete list of cited works formatted according to the required style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
8. Appendices: Supplementary materials such as raw data, surveys, or extended technical calculations.

Submission Procedure

Students are required to submit their final documents electronically via the Graduate Studies portal. Please ensure you have completed the following steps before uploading:

• Format Review: Ensure your manuscript has been reviewed by your committee chair for stylistic compliance.
• PDF Conversion: Convert your document to a high-quality PDF file. Ensure all fonts are embedded within the file to prevent display issues.
• Copyright Permission: If you have included copyrighted material (e.g., images, long excerpts from published works), you must obtain and provide documentation of written permission from the copyright holder.
• Digital Signature: Ensure that all required signature pages have been scanned and included in the master document.

Final Review and Archiving

Once submitted, your manuscript will undergo a final review by the Office of Graduate Studies to verify compliance with formatting requirements. You will be notified via email if any corrections are necessary. Once approved, your thesis or dissertation will be uploaded to the Universitys digital repository, making it available for future researchers. Please note that once the final version is accepted and archived, no further changes can be made.