University Graduate Council

Thesis and Project Report Format Guidelines

UGC approved: April 28, 2006
This guide is designed to provide graduate students with the formatting requirements for
all theses and proe!t reports" #t !overs stru!ture, la$out, form, and st$le" %epartments
ma$ use additional requirements that do not !onfli!t with the guidelines provided in this
do!ument"
1. Thesis and Project Report Arrangement
Assem&le the thesis'proe!t report in this order:
(" Cover page: in!ludes the title, author, degree )*Thesis'+roe!t su&mitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the %egree of ,aster of - in -./, and date"
2" Thesis'+roe!t Approval 0orm"
1" +lagiarism poli!$ !omplian!e statement"
2" Cop$right page that grants 3AU the right to use and reprodu!e full$ or partiall$
the wor4 &eing presented"
5" %edi!ation page )optional/"
6" A!4nowledgments page )optional/"
6" A&stra!t: a !on!ise summar$ of the essential information of the wor4 &eing
presented, namel$ of the stud$7s s!ope, purpose and results" The referen!e8free
single spa!ed a&stra!t should not e9!eed two pages"
8" Ta&le of Contents: in!ludes all the su&se!tions of ea!h !hapter and the list of
appendi!es )if appli!a&le/ and page num&ers"
:" 3ist of 0igures: in!ludes figure num&er, !aption, and the page num&er"
(0" 3ist of Ta&les: in!ludes ta&le num&er, !aption, and the page num&er"
((" A&&reviations page: lists all the a&&reviations used in the te9t alongside their full$
written una&&reviated form"
(2" Thesis'+roe!t te9t; the la$out is des!ri&ed in the ne9t se!tion"
(
2. ayout
The following presents a framewor4 for a thesis" The information is offered as a
general guideline" <tudents should alwa$s !onsult their advisor for additional
guidelines" #n parti!ular, the la$out of proe!t reports !an &e different depending
on the t$pe and s!ope of the proe!t" =ote that ea!h !hapter should start on a new
page"
(! Introduction: &a!4ground; statement of the pro&lem; definition of terms;
purpose of the stud$; theoreti!al &asis; !ontri&utions of the stud$; organi>ation of
the remainder of the stud$"
28 Literature Review: !hronologi!al, !ategori!al or related theoreti!al view points
related to topi!"
18 Proposed Solution/Methodology: resear!h design or approa!h )quantitative,
qualitative or algorithmi!/; population and ' or sample; !olle!tion and ta&ulation
of data; and data anal$sis pro!edures"
28 Solution Validation, Analysis of the ata, Results, and iscussion:
presentation and dis!ussion of the findings, in!luding limitations"
58 !onclusions, Reco""endations: summari>es the entire resear!h effort;
addresses the initial purpose of the stud$ )stated in the introdu!tion/; stresses the
importan!e of the wor4 a!!omplished; leaves a final impression on the reader" #t
!an also in!lude suggestions for further wor4"
68 #i$liography/References: referen!es should a!4nowledge an$ wor4 done &$
someone other than the author" The referen!e should also in!lude wor4 performed
&$ the author if presented or pu&lished at an earlier date" ?eferen!es should adopt
one of the standard international st$les; the Ameri!an +s$!hologi!al Asso!iation
st$le for referen!es and !itation is re!ommended" 0or more information, !onta!t
the li&rar$"
68 Appendices: material too detailed or length$ for in!lusion in the &od$ of the
stud$ )e"g" questionnaires, maps/" Appendi!es ma$ also !ontain information that
might !larif$ the thesis &ut is routine in nature or indire!tl$ related to the thesis"
?aw data and e9amples of !al!ulation !ould &e in!orporated"
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". #tyle and Form
".1 Paper$ Use high8qualit$ a!id8free A28si>e paper, with onl$ one side of the paper"
1"2 Printing$ A high8qualit$ laser printer should &e used for the final !op$.
"." %eadings$
#n dis!iplines where se!tion num&ering is normall$ used, the following guidelines
appl$:
Chapter title: (8 @ 22 pt si>e, &old"
,ain <e!tion Aeadings: !an &e num&ered as !hapter8num&er"se!tion8num&er
)e"g", 1"2 for !hapter 1, se!tion 2/ in (2 pt si>e, &old"
<e!ond Aeadings: !an &e num&ered as 9"$"> )e"g", 1"2"2 for !hapter 1, se!tion 2,
su&se!tion 2/ in (2 pt si>e, &old"
0irst <u&headings: !an &e num&ered as w"9"$"> )e"g", 1"2"2"( for !hapter 1,
se!tion 2, su&se!tion 2, su&8su&se!tion (/ in (2 pt si>e, regular"
<e!ond <u&headings: prefera&l$ unnum&ered, (2 pt, itali!s"
1"2 Te&t Font$ A!!epta&le fonts generated &$ word pro!essing programs in!lude, &ut
are not restri!ted to: Times ?oman (2, Aelveti!a (2, 3etter Gothi! (2" The font
provided through 3aTeB is a!!epta&le" Cold and itali!s should not &e used
e9!essivel$ in the te9t" 0urthermore, !olored te9t should not &e used"
1"5 #pacing$ %ou&le or one and a half spa!ing is required for the te9t" Dnl$ footnotes,
long quotations, &i&liograph$ entries )dou&le spa!e &etween entries/, ta&le !aptions,
and similar spe!ial material ma$ &e single spa!ed"
1"6 'argins$ 3eft, 2 !m; top, &ottom, and right, 2"5 !m" These are ne!essar$ to allow
for &inding and trimming"
1"6 Page (um)ering$ +reliminar$ pages of the thesis, that is, those pre!eding the te9t
are to &e num&ered in ?oman numerals" The first page must not show its page
num&er" +ages of the te9t itself and of all items following the te9t should &e
num&ered !onse!utivel$ throughout in Ara&i! num&ers, &eginning with num&er (
on the first page of the first !hapter" +age num&ers should &e pla!ed in the lower
right !orner or !enter of the page" Dnl$ the num&er should appear, not page :"
1"8 Ta)les and Figures$ 0igures and ta&les should &e inserted at the appropriate pla!e
in the te9t" 0igures must have num&ers and !aptions under the figures" Ta&les have
their titles and num&ers a&ove"
1": *ra+ings: An$ material whi!h !annot &e t$ped or !omputer generated should &e
drawn with permanent &la!4 in4 in neat and heav$ lines" +hotographs of drawings
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are a!!epta&le" Bero9 reprodu!tions of drawings are a!!epta&le if the$ are of high
!ontrast"
1"(0 Photographs$ ,ount small photographs with glue" %o not use ru&&er !ement or
tape" Aigh8!larit$ Bero9 !opies of photographs are also a!!epta&le" Aowever, high8
qualit$ s!anned e8images !an also &e inserted into the thesis te9t"
1"(( Footnotes$ #n dis!iplines where footnotes are normall$ used, the$ should appear at
the &ottom of the same page as their referen!e" 0ootnotes should &e num&ered in
Ara&i! numerals" The footnote referen!e is supers!ripted and the e9planation at the
&ottom of the page &egins with the footnote referen!e num&er" 0ootnotes should
have a smaller font si>e than the te9t )e"g" (0 pt/"
1"(2 C*s and *,*s$ identif$ with title, name of student, and date"
1"(1 Computer #o-t+are$ %es!ri&e in separate se!tion in prefator$ pages )e"g", list of
figures and ta&les/" #f appli!a&le, state requirements for the use of the software
)e"g", hardware, s!reen resolution t$pe/ and an$ other information ne!essar$ for
proper viewing of the software"
1"(2 .versi/ed 'aterial$ Dversi>e foldout pages ma$ &e in!luded, though ample
margins for &inding must &e in!luded" 3eave oversi>e page unfolded" The &inder$
will fold and insert them" All pages must appropriatel$ num&ered if found in the
te9t"
1"(5 0inding$ Cinding will &e arranged &$ the li&rar$, for a fee, in order to ensure
!onsisten!$" At least two !opies of the thesis should &e su&mitted to the li&rar$ of
the !ampus !on!erned"
1. #ample Pages
The following sample pages are appended to show how these guidelines !an &e
implemented"
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