Dissertation and Thesis Handbook
This manual lays out Temple University's requirements for acceptable dissertations and theses. Individual departments or schools may have additional requirements. It is your responsibility to learn of any special requirements and to prepare the manuscript in accordance with them, as well as with the instructions in this manual. Dissertations and theses not meeting our specifications will not be accepted.
It is inadvisable to wait until the semester you anticipate graduating or until you have a defense date. Make this Handbook your best friend; check back often. Do not print a copy and expect that the criteria remain static; expect change and we will try to help you through it.
In addition to this handbook, YOU MUST CONSULT A STYLE MANUAL of a professional society in your field. Appendix A is being rewritten to direct you to the styles we see most frequently; for now, it is a bit outdated. This Dissertation and Thesis Handbook is not a style manual in and of itself. But it outlines where your dissertation or thesis might diverge from a discipline's or journal's specifications, and provides examples of what we require to approve a Temple University manuscript.
The scholarly work you have completed before the final formatting preparation is, for the most part, outside the scope of this Handbook. The Graduate School assumes that once the research is complete, your advisor (and committee) will review and approve the manuscript before allowing you to defend or to upload a copy as acceptable.
The Graduate School expects that your document will be written in clear, grammatically correct language, free of all spelling and typographical errors, and punctuated in a standard and appropriate manner. You should have reference works such as a good desk dictionary and a handbook of grammar and usage available.
DO NOT use completed dissertations or theses on file in your department office or the library as models, no matter how recent. They will not reflect current standards and requirements.
Keep a copy of the final version of your dissertation, signature page, and permissions. ProQuest checks every page and frequently finds some pages missing or areas of potential copyright infringement.
