The format guidelines established by the Graduate College help guarantee a University-wide standard. Each thesis deposited in the Thesis Office is bound and made publicly available through the University Library. Format guidelines ensure the quality and legibility of available copies and subsequent reproductions of a thesis.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign grants graduate degrees in over 100 units. Due to the diversity among programs and disciplines, documentation and format styles vary widely. The Thesis Office does not mandate a single documentation style for all theses at the University of Illinois; rather it recommends using the documentation style preferred within a student’s discipline.
Many students use the Chicago, MLA, APA, or Turabian style manuals. Students in the sciences and engineering often use LaTeX style files to format their theses because it easily accommodates numerous figures and tables and aids students in the manipulation of equations. Whichever style is selected, it must be followed consistently throughout the thesis.
For binding, microfilming, and copying purposes, every page of the thesis must meet these minimum margin standards, including figures, tables and appendices:
Top: 1 inch
Bottom: 1 inch
Right: 1 inch
Left (binding edge): 1.5 inch
All materials, including tables, figures, and graphs, must fit within these requirements. A thesis with material displayed beyond these margins will not be accepted. The margins used should be consistent throughout the manuscript. Page numbers must be at least 0.5 inch from the edge of the page.
Twelve-point Times New Roman is standard, but any legible font of comparable size, except those that are script, italic, or ornamental, is acceptable for the body of the text. A consistent font style and font size must be observed throughout all sectionsof the thesis, including the curriculum vitae, with two exceptions. Italics may be used for quotations, words in a foreign language, or emphasis. The font used for appendices, charts, drawings, graphs, and tables may differ from that used for the text, but consistency throughout the document is strongly recommended. All print should be letter quality with dark black characters that are uniformly clear and dense.
The thesis, including the abstract, acknowledgments, author’s biography, and introduction, must be double-spaced or one-and-one-half-spaced. Spacing must be used consistently throughout the document. Footnotes, endnotes, bibliographic entries, long quotations, items in lists, and appendices may be single-spaced if recommended by the committee chair or department. The line spacing observed in a thesis must be consistent throughout, including the spacing between a chapter heading and the first line of text.
Every page of the entire thesis must be numbered, except for the notice of copyright page and title page. Page numbers must appear in the same location on each page, not less than 0.5 inch from the edge of the page, and must be consistent in font style and font size. The Thesis Office recommends placing page numbers at the bottom center of the page. Preliminary pages of a thesis are numbered in lowercase Roman numerals. The first page of the thesis text follows the preliminary pages and begins in Arabic numerals with ‘1’. Please double check all page numbers before deposit to assure there are no pages missing.
Both copies of the thesis must be on white, 8 ½" x 11" paper. The Thesis Office accepts 20-pound, standard grade paper.
Thesis copies submitted for deposit should be high quality. Laser copies are preferable, although many ink jet printers also produce acceptable copies. If you are concerned about print quality, bring a sample page to the Thesis Office. Photocopies without any smudges or blemishes may be submitted for deposit.
Pages with illegible or disfiguring erasures or corrections, or with changes likely to be unclear in photographic reproduction, will be rejected, and the pages will have to be replaced. All corrections should be made on the original manuscript before it is photocopied.
Color copies are acceptable and even encouraged for illustrations. However, for the purpose of microfilming, labels or symbols rather than colors should identify lines on a graph. Microfilming is done in black-and-white only. For this reason, illustrations or computer generated images in black will reproduce well, while those in color may not because colors will be converted to shades of gray and may no longer be easily distinguishable. Shaded areas, such as countries on a map, will be more distinct and have better contrast on microfilm if crosshatching is used instead of color.
Compact discs may be included with the thesis. However, it is recommended that the thesis be understandable without the material contained on the CD. These materials are best considered part of the appendix. CD-ROMs must be clearly marked with your name, degree, department, university, and thesis title.
Example:
Anne Elizabeth Garvie, Ph.D.
Coffee Consumption of Graduate Students Trying to Finish Dissertations
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
Appendix A: Interview Transcriptions
CD-ROMs should be submitted in a secured plastic CD case approved by the Thesis Office. If a CD is included, a related appendix page must be included. This page should include information about the contents of the CD-ROM, such as “Appendix C: CD of Flight Images.”
Students with manuscripts over 2 ½ inches thick (more than approximately 500 pages) must consult the Thesis Office for specific deposit guidelines to facilitate binding. Manuscripts that are more than 2 ½ inches thick must be separated into two volumes of approximately equal size. Pagination should remain continuous throughout the second volume (i.e., do not begin renumbering the second volume at page 1). Each volume must be deposited with two title pages, and each title page must indicate the appropriate volume number. The phrase “VOLUME 1” OR “VOLUME 2” should appear two spaces above the heading “DISSERTATION” or “THESIS” on the title page. Please use Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals. Each volume must be deposited in its own accordion folder. The first volume will look like any other manuscript, with the required preliminary pages, etc. The second volume will have a copy of the title page added at the beginning, to identify its origin.
The manuscript must be arranged in the following sequence: front matter, text pages, and back matter. The front matter of a thesis is numbered in lowercase Roman numerals. The first page of the thesis text follows the front matter and begins in Arabic numerals with ‘1’. The following table shows the pagination and arrangement rules.
The Table of Contents and all sections occurring before the Table of Contents should not be listed in the Table of Contents. All major sections following the Table of Contents (e.g., chapters, appendices, references, author’s biography) must be listed.
| SECTION | REQUIRED | OPTIONAL | PAGINATION |
| Notice of Copyright | * | Has no page number | |
| Title Page | * | Counts as page i, but number does not appear. | |
| Abstract (For inclusion in the thesis. This is not the ProQuest abstract.) |
* | This is page ii, the first page to be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals. | |
| Dedication | * | Continue with lowercase Roman numerals throughout front matter. | |
| Acknowledgments | * | Continue numbering. | |
| Table of Contents | * | Continue numbering. | |
| List of Figures • | * | Continue numbering. | |
| List of Tables • | * | Continue numbering. | |
| List of Illustrations • | * | Continue numbering. | |
| List of Symbols • | * | Continue numbering. | |
| List of Abbreviations • | * | Continue numbering. | |
| Preface | * | Continue numbering. |
• Lists of figures, tables, illustrations, symbols, etc., may appear in any order, provided they appear after the table of contents.
The Thesis Office does not require that students include the notice of copyright—it is optional. Whether or not you include a notice of copyright on your thesis, you retain the right to publish all or any part of the work by any means at any time unless you no longer own the copyright due to an existing publishing agreement. Additional information is available in chapter IV.
If the notice is included, it must appear on a separate page immediately preceding the title page. This page does not have a page number. The copyright notice must appear in this format:
The notice of copyright must be centered vertically and horizontally, and no other information may appear on this page. Your name must be consistent with its appearance on the title page. See the sample in Appendix B.
The title page must be formatted according to the models in Appendix B and must include the following five sections:
BY
YOUR NAME
First Degree Abbreviation, Institution, Year Granted
Second Degree Abbreviation, Institution, Year Granted
DISSERTATION
(1) Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
(2) for the degree of <add earned degree> in <add major>
(3) with a concentration in <add concentration>
(4) with a minor in <add minor>
(5) in the Graduate College of the
(6) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
Note: Your major may or may not be the same as your department. You can check your major in UI-Integrate Self-Service, by going into the “Registration and Records” section and selecting “Student Records”, then selecting “View Student Information”. Your major will appear toward the bottom of the screen.
For example, a student earning a master’s degree in Physics from the Department of Physics would write:
THESIS
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science in Physics
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
A student earning a doctorate in Musicology from the School of Music would write:
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
A student earning a doctorate in Environmental Science in Civil Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering would write:
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science in Civil Engineering
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
Likewise, a student earning a doctorate in Civil Engineering, who is also in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering would write:
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
A student earning a Ph.D. in Astronomy with a graduate concentration in Astrochemistry would write:
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy
with a concentration in Astrochemistry
in the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
Urbana, Illinois
For example, an adviser would be listed for a master’s student as:
Adviser:
Professor Paul E. Morph
A final exam committee would be listed for a doctoral student as:
Doctoral Committee:
Professor John N. Quiry, Chair
Assistant Professor Colleen Vickers
Name of Committee Member #3
Name of Committee Member #4, University of Michigan
Please see Chapter II, Section 3 for information about title page checks in the Thesis Office.
An abstract is a short synopsis of the content of the thesis. The abstract should state the problem, describe the methods and procedures used, and give the main results or conclusions of the research. Inclusion of an abstract within the thesis is optional. If included, it must be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals. An abstract is usually 350 words or less, its line spacing must correspond with the rest of the document, and the heading must be consistent with all other headings in the document.
See Appendix B for a sample abstract. Many students confuse the optional abstract that may be included within the thesis with the ProQuest abstract. The ProQuest abstract is only for doctoral deposits, and its heading is formatted differently from the optional abstract. See Section 4 below for more information on the ProQuest abstract.
Inclusion of a dedication is optional. However, many students wish to dedicate their work to a friend, parent, or mentor. The heading “Dedication” should not appear on the dedication page. The text of the dedication should be centered vertically and horizontally, and the page must be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals. See the sample in Appendix B.
Inclusion of acknowledgments is optional. The line spacing of the text must be consistent with the spacing in the rest of the document, and the heading must be consistent with all other headings. This page must be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals. See the sample in Appendix B.
A table of contents is required in all theses deposited at the University of Illinois. It must list all major sections that follow the table of contents. This includes lists of figures and tables, introductions, bibliographies, appendices, author’s biographies, and any similar sections used. Listings for subsections in the table of contents are not required by the Graduate College. However, if subsections are listed for one chapter or section, all corresponding levels of subsections in other chapters or sections must also be listed. No pages prior to, or including, the table of contents may be listed in the table of contents. See the sample in Appendix B. The table of contents page(s) must be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals.
The wording and appearance (i.e., font style and capitalization) of all chapters, sections, and subsections in the table of contents must match those in the text. The only exception to this is the use of boldface, which is optional for the table of contents. The most common style of presentation is to use single spacing within entries and double spacing between entries. Use left justification for major entries. Subsections can be indented as long as the use of indentation is applied consistently to all entries and clearly expresses the hierarchy of the subsections. See the example in Appendix B. If a chapter or appendix title is long enough to require a second (or third) line in the table of contents, the words should not intrude upon the page number column. Generally all entries require leader dots and page numbers. Page numbers must be justified right.
The table of contents is sometimes problematic. Following are some basic guidelines for setting up a table of contents using Microsoft Word:
Establish these settings before you begin typing your table of contents.
These lists are not required by the Graduate College, but department requirements may differ. The format for these lists must be consistent with the format used for the table of contents. If included, this information immediately follows the table of contents on a new page. Be consistent in the inclusion of tables or figures; if tables from one chapter are included in the list of tables, then tables from all the other chapters and any appendices must be included. Each entry must list the same caption or title used for a table in the text, although a long caption may be abbreviated with only the first full sentence or clause. Single-spacing within entries and double-spacing between entries is typical, but not required. These pages must be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals.
The text must be divided into chapters or sections. The pages of the text must be numbered using Arabic numerals, beginning with the number ‘1’, and this number must be displayed.
Theses rely upon both secondary and primary source material. Copyright laws and professional ethics call for the acknowledgment of these sources. The Graduate College does not endorse a specific documentation style, but permits students to employ the documentation style preferred within their field of study. Footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations are acceptable. The font style used for footnotes and endnotes must be the same as the text. They can, however, be set in a smaller font size, as long as this is used consistently throughout the document.
All major headings and subheadings must be presented consistently throughout all chapters and major sections, in terms of capitalization, placement on the page, font style, and font size used. For instance, if the heading for chapter one appears centered in all capital letters, then the other chapter headings must also be centered, in all capital letters. The word “chapter” and the title of the chapter must be consistent in capitalization or mixed case. If the word “chapter” is part of the chapter titles in the table of contents it must also be part of the chapter titles in the text.
All major sections (including sections like the abstract, acknowledgments, table of contents, list of figures, chapters, bibliography, appendices, and author’s biography) must begin on a new page, but this is not true of subsections. Subsections must continue to fill a page within a chapter. A list of references included at the end of a chapter is considered a subsection, and, therefore, may not begin on a new page. Whenever the heading of a section or subsection appears near the bottom of a page, it must be followed by at least one line of text, or the heading should be forced to the top of the next page.
See the section of chapter III entitled "Table of Contents" for additional information about headings and subheadings.
A thesis may include tables, figures, photographs, musical examples, charts, graphs, line drawings, maps, and other illustrative materials. For discussion purposes, these media will be called figures.
Figures may be presented within the text, at the end of chapters, or in a comprehensive section at the end of the text section. The arrangement of figures within the thesis is the decision of the student and adviser. However, keep in mind that grouping the figures at the ends of chapters or at the end of the text section is often easier than positioning them next to their corresponding text. When tables or figures are grouped together at the end of a chapter, they are considered a subsection, and should appear as such in the table of contents.
Format figures so that the figure, number, and caption are placed on the same page. Figures must fit within the required margins (see Section 2, “General Guidelines,” above) either vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). If a figure is too large to fit on one page, it may be divided or folded using one of the methods described below. In all cases, page numbers must be placed on figure pages to be consistent with page number placement in the rest of the thesis.
Numeration for figures
All figures must be numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis. You may follow a straight sequence (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) or use a decimal system (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, etc., where the first digit corresponds to the chapter number and the digit after the decimal point is the figure number).
Captions for figures
Each figure must have a caption. Single-spacing within captions is acceptable, and often helps the reader distinguish between text and caption. Some students prefer to use a slightly smaller font size for captions, and this is acceptable, provided it is consistently used for all captions and easily legible. Captions should appear on the same page as the figure to which they refer. They may appear either above or below a figure, as long as they are consistent. If a figure is rotated, the corresponding caption must also be rotated, but not the page number.
Rotating Figures
Figures may be presented horizontally (i.e., using the landscape setting on the printer). When placing horizontal figures within the document, the top of the figure should be placed toward the binding (left) edge. When a figure is rotated, its caption must also be rotated, but not the page number. See example in appendix B. If a heading is needed on a page with a rotated figure, the heading should not be rotated.
Oversized Figures
If reducing a figure to fit on a single page would jeopardize its legibility, the following options are generally acceptable; however, it is best to consult with the Thesis Office in advance:
If neither of these options is suitable, it is essential that you consult with the Thesis Office.
White Space
Avoid large blank areas without text or figures. In general, do not allow more than one-quarter of the page to be blank. Grouping figures or tables together on the same page can often be used to minimize white space. Chapter or section titles should not appear by themselves on an otherwise blank page.
| Reference Pages | Required | Optional | Pagination |
| Bibliography or List of References | * | Continue numbering in Arabic numbers following the text. | |
| Appendix or Appendices | * | Continue numbering. | |
| Curriculum Vitae or Author's Biography | * doctoral candidates |
* master's students |
Continue numbering. |
Note: the bibliography may appear either before or after the appendices. If the appendices cite sources reported in the bibliography, however, the appendices should appear before the bibliography.
All theses must have a bibliography or list of references, and the documentation style should be appropriate to the discipline of study. If only the works referred to in the text are included in the list, then the title “Works Cited,” “Literature Cited,” or “References” should be used. If the list is more comprehensive and includes sources consulted for research and preparation, then it should be titled “Bibliography.” References must be in the same font style and size as the rest of the thesis. Reference lists are commonly single-spaced within and double-space between each listing. When placed at the end of the document, the reference section is not considered a chapter and, therefore, should not have a chapter number, however, the heading should be formatted in the same way as the chapters.
Avoid having a page break in the middle of a citation; instead, arrange page breaks to fall between citations.
In some scientific and engineering disciplines, the references may be given at the end of each chapter instead of at the end of the thesis. In this case, the heading “List of References” or “Literature Cited” is acceptable, but not “Bibliography,” which is only used for a summary of source material at the end of a thesis. When the list of references appears at the end of a chapter, it should not begin on a new page since it is considered a subsection of the chapter. Instead, as part of the chapter, it should begin immediately following the text.
Authors may wish to include additional supporting materials at the end of their theses. This information should be organized into an appendix or series of appendices. Appendix material may include tables, figures, maps, photographs, raw data, computer programs, musical scores, interview questions, sample questionnaires, CDs, and many other types of material. Appendices are placed only at the end of the thesis text: they may not appear at the end of a chapter. Any headings or subheadings used in an appendix that also appear in the table of contents must correspond in font style and size with headings and subheadings used elsewhere in the thesis. The font style and size of the materials in the body of the appendix, however, do not have to correspond with those used in the body of the thesis. Similarly, material in an appendix may be single-spaced. If there is more than one appendix, they should be numbered as A, B, C, etc.
Pre-rendered material included in an appendix, such as scanned images of questionnaires or release forms, should be reduced in size in order to allow for a heading that is formatted the same as similar headings elsewhere in the thesis. See the section entitled “CDs and Other Non-print Media” in Chapter III, Section 2, for additional information.
The Graduate College requires that either a curriculum vitae or short biographical paragraph be included with all doctoral dissertations.
A curriculum vitae (CV) is a comprehensive list of your educational credentials and teaching experience, research interests and areas of specialization, awards, presentations, and publication experience. All information on a CV should be arranged in reverse chronological order. A CV may be several pages long, but information on the CV appears in short, well-organized sections or lists. Examples are available on the Graduate College Career Services Office Web site at www.grad.uiuc.edu/careerservices/academic/cvs/.
Note: There is often confusion over the terms “curriculum vitae” and “vita.” The two are interchangeable and both are singular. “Vita” is the Latin word for “life” and is a singular nominative noun. The Latin phrase “curriculum vitae” translates into English as “course of life.” The word “vitae” is not plural in this instance; rather it is a genitive singular noun. You can use “Vita” or “Curriculum Vitae” as a heading, either is correct, but do not write “Curriculum Vita.”
An author’s biography is a short biographical paragraph that may include date and place of birth, educational institutions attended (after high school), degrees and honors won, publications, and teaching and professional experience. It should be written in the third person in paragraph form and begin with the name of the author and must be concise. The heading for this option should be “Author’s Biography.”
In either case, the font style and font size must correspond with the rest of the thesis. The appropriate heading “Curriculum Vitae” or “Author’s Biography” must appear at the top of the page. It must be included as the last item in the table of contents. Your name and previous degrees must be consistent with those listed on the title page. A sample author’s biography can be found in appendix B.
All students are required to submit one (1) signed Department Format Approval form and one (1) signed Certificate of Committee Approval Form. In addition, doctoral students are also required to submit a signed ProQuest/UMI Publishing Agreement, an abstract formatted for ProQuest, and a completed Survey of Earned Doctorates.
See Chapter II, section 4 for information regarding the departmental format review. The Departmental Format Approval form is available at www.grad.uiuc.edu/forms/DeptFormAppr.pdf. The Thesis Office will not begin the format review of your thesis without a signed approval form from your department.
This form certifies that the academic department has approved the thesis to partially fulfill degree requirements. Previously known as the “red-bordered form,” this form is available in PDF format at www.grad.uiuc.edu/forms/certificate/. You can either download this form or open it directly in your browser to complete and print the form. We highly recommend that you use the PDF version of the form.
If your thesis title contains special characters or is longer than four lines, you may not be able to complete the PDF form online. The Graduate College provides a Microsoft Word template version of the CCA form, called a .dot file, which accommodates longer titles. To use the Word template, you will need to download and install the template in your Word document template directory. Instructions for downloading and using the Word template can also be found at www.grad.uiuc.edu/forms/certificate/.
The CCA form must contain the student’s University Identification Number (UIN) in the upper right corner and must indicate a date that includes month, date, and year. For doctoral students, this date must be the date of the final examination. For master’s students it is usually the date the thesis was approved by the research adviser or the date of an oral examination, if applicable. A CCA form without the correct date of the final examination for a doctoral student or the correct date of approval by the research adviser (or oral examination) for a master’s student will not be accepted.
The student’s name and thesis title should appear in all capital letters on the CCA form.
Doctoral students must have the signatures of their entire committee, as well as their department chair and adviser. Master’s students need only the signatures of their department chair and adviser. Your department or college may require more. No one can “sign for” a committee member or department head on the CCA form, although persons authorized, via the Graduate College authorized signature form, to sign doctoral committee forms and theses can sign in place of the department head. Electronic or faxed signatures are not accepted. See the sample in Appendix B.
The Proquest/UMI Publishing Agreement and related material are available at www.grad.uiuc.edu/thesis/ProQuest.htm. See Chapter IV, Section 1, for more information.
The ProQuest abstract is not included in the thesis but it will be published in Dissertation Abstracts International (for more information, see www.umi.com/products_pq/descriptions/dai.shtml). For formatting see the sample in Appendix B and note that the abstract must observe the following five guidelines:
THESIS TITLE (ALL CAPS)
Your Name, Degree Abbreviation
Department or Unit Name
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 200x
Adviser’s Name, Adviser
The survey is located online at www.grad.uiuc.edu/forms/SurveyofEarnedDoctorates.pdf. Doctoral students are required to complete this survey. However, students may refuse to answer specific questions by writing the word “Refused” in the space provided for the answer.