Dissertation and Thesis Handbook

Manuscript Preparation

Revised 6/2/2010

NUMBER OF COPIES ETD PDF mandatory

Master's Thesis (Changes for MAY 2010 cycle)

Our January test of the ETD system for master's thesis submission is completed and the problems now resolved. Therefore, paper copies can no longer be submitted for dissertations or for theses.

Master's students must electronically submit a pdf of approved, final master's thesis through Temple's ETD site:  http://dissertations.umi.com/temple/ . This must be prepared in accordance with the specific requirements of their discipline and the Dissertation and Thesis Handbook, with fonts embedded. 

Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Thesis

Students must electronically submit pdf of approved, final version through Temple's e-dissertation site:  http://dissertations.umi.com/temple/ . This must be prepared in accordance with the specific requirements of their discipline and the Dissertation and Thesis Handbook, with fonts embedded.  The final signature page, the Survey of Earned Doctorates, and your Curriculum Vitae remain paper submissions for now.  These must also be submitted within the established deadlines.*

*Thirty days after defense, or less, depending on where we are in the academic year. For the Fall and Spring semesters (i.e., for January and May diplomas), the last day of class is the deadline for submission.  For August diplomas, the deadline is the "Last day to withdraw from graduate and undergraduate courses" listed in the University's Academic Calendar.  

PAPER (No longer applies to any dissertation or master's thesis)

PRINT QUALITY

When a dissertation or thesis is approved for content, format, and style by the faculty and accepted by the Graduate School, it then becomes a library document. Therefore, for text, only black ink is acceptable and the work must NOT contain:

• Touching or discontinuous characters
• Non-black ink for text
• Careless spacing or centering
• Script-type style
• Unnumbered or misnumbered pages

These flaws make the material difficult to read.  You've invested many years of hard work into this project; now is not the time to rush or to "settle."

TYPE SIZE AND STYLE (from ProQuest ETD site with one change for Temple)

Supplementary Materials

If supplementary materials - like audio, video, and spreadsheets - are part of your dissertation or thesis, you can submit them as supplementary files during the online submission process. Upload them as part of the submission process, and provide a description of each supplementary file or files in the abstract of your graduate work.
 Do not embed media files in your PDF:
 Upload media files as supplementary files: During online submission, you will be asked to upload any supplementary files.
 Describes files in your abstract: Add a description of each supplementary file in your abstract.

MARGINS        L = 1.5", all others 1"

Margin requirements apply to the entire document including the front matter, body, notes, and back matter.

Maintain a margin of at least 1.5" on the left side (binding side) of each page and a margin of at least 1" on all other sides.

Do not allow page numbers to encroach into the blank space of a margin. Nothing should be closer than 1" to any edge of a page.   

PAGE NUMBERING*

* Every page of your document is counted, BUT not all pages are numbered.

Two page numbering systems are used: (a) lower-case Roman numerals (e.g., iii, iv, v) for the front matter/preliminary material (everything before Chapter 1); and (b) Arabic numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) for the text and everything subsequent to it. The first page of Chapter 1 must be numbered as page 1. Pages numbered 1a, 1b, etc., are NOT acceptable.

All preliminary pages must have consecutive Roman numeral pagination, and all main body pages must have consecutive Arabic numeral pagination.

Page numbers may not be closer than 1" to the edge of any page.

MAJOR AND MINOR HEADING LOGIC* (More to come on acceptable styles...)

* Heading levels reflect the 5th edition APA style manual. 

There are 2 options that the Graduate School accepts for formatting the subheadings in your manuscript:

• The first is based on APA guidelines. This style of heading can be used regardless of your discipline or style guide. (See Appendix C for more information.)

• The second system consists of designating subheadings with numerical prefixes that reflect the chapter and level of the subheading.  This system may be used only by the "hard sciences," including Engineering and Statistics.  As an example, if Chapter 1 had two subsections and those subsections had additional subsections, the numerical prefixes would look like this:
  

CHAPTER 1
TITLE IN ALL CAPS
   

1.1 Subtitle in Initial Caps (e.g., chapter 1, subsection 1)
        1.1.1 Sub-subtitle in Initial Caps (e.g., chapter 1, subsection 1, sub-subsection 1)
        1.1.2 (e.g., chapter 1, subsection 1, sub-subsection 2)
1.2 Subtitle in Initial Caps (e.g., chapter 1, subsection 2)
        1.2.1 (e.g., chapter 1, subsection 2, sub-subsection 1)
        1.2.2 (e.g., chapter 1, subsection 2, sub-subsection 2)
    etc.

Only major division headings (i.e., level fives) are totally capitalized. The sections of the front matter, each chapter, and the reference section are all major divisions. (See Appendix C.) The headings of these major divisions must be totally capitalized. Do not capitalize every letter of any subheading. Major division headings begin at the top of a new page; these sections are NOT merged with a previous section's text.

The formatting of the text and the headings must be consistent (consistently correct) throughout the entire work, not just throughout one chapter. This includes but is not limited to:

• spacing between headings and text
• spacing between text and headings
• placement of same level headings (e.g., centered or flush left)
• appearance of same level headings (e.g., caps, punctuation, underline, bold, etc.)

Every heading will not look the same, but every heading of a level must look the same. (For an example, see Appendix D).

Do not force sections of chapters to the top of a new page and create unnecessary gaps in the text.  This is permissible only in order to eliminate a widow/orphan.
 

SPACING

Double Spacing

• Abstract
• Acknowledgments
• Body of the manuscript

Single Spacing

• Block quotations must be single-spaced and indented 1/2" from both the left and right margins.

Combination Single and Double Spacing

• Your Table of Contents and List of Tables/Figures/etc. in the front matter are a combination of single and double spacing.  Single-space within subheadings and titles of two or more lines; double-space between individual subheadings and titles. Align multiple-line titles under the first word of the title's first line.

• Footnotes and Endnotes must be single-spaced within entries and double-spaced between entries.  Keep at least two lines of an entry on each page.  (These are the numbered notes, and each first line must be indented 1/2".)

• Entries in the References Cited/Bibliography may be single-spaced within and double-spaced between, or double-spaced within and between. Indent all lines except the first. Try to avoid splitting an entry across 2 pages.

Consistently space between headings and text, text and block quotations, block quotations and text, etc. throughout the manuscript.

WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

Avoid ending a page with a subheading or with the first line of a new paragraph. (orphan)

Avoid starting a page with the last line of a paragraph or of a list. (widow)

QUOTATIONS

Long Quotations  

A long quotation (i.e., a quote consisting of 40 or more words) is formatted as a free-standing block of type.  A block quotation:

• should be single-spaced.
• should be indented 1/2 inch from the left and right margins.
• should NOT have surrounding quotation marks.
• must have the source citation after the ending punctuation of the quote.

Short Quotations  

A short quotation (i.e., one with fewer than 40 words) is integrated into the regular text.  The source citation is placed after the ending quotation mark, but before the ending punctuation of the sentence.

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