GENERAL GUIDELINES ON THESIS FORMAT, APPEARANCE

AND DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION

1. Format & Appearance

1.1 Paper Size: Final copy of the Thesis must be printed on International Standard
A4 size paper (8.27” x 11.69”).

1.2 Paper Type: Paper should be white, easy to read and reproduce (atleast 75g).

1.3 Page spacing: Should be printed on one side of paper (not back to back)

1.4 Font:
 Times New Roman typeface should be used.
 Notes at the end of table should be set in 10-font size.
 The abstract, acknowledgements, and the main body of the essay should be
set in 12-font size.
1.5 Paragraphs / Line Spacing:
 The first line of all paragraphs should be indented one tab key from the left-
hand margin.
 The main body text should be left aligned.
 In the main body, use 2-line spacing.
 Do not leave a line after the heading.
 Do not leave a line between paragraphs.

1.6 Page Numbers

 Page numbers should be placed on the right side at the bottom of the page.
 Each page in the dissertation, from the body onward, should be numbered in
consecutive order. This includes the text, references, and appendices.
 Preliminary pages carry lowercase Roman numerals.

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021

 1.7 Spellings
 British or American spellings may be used; as long as they are used
consistently throughout the paper.

1.8 Bullets
 Bullets should be aligned with the paragraph i.e. they should be indented one
tab key from the margin.

1.9 Page Setup

 For the purpose of binding, a left margin of 1.5 inches is required.
 Other margins (top, bottom, and right) should be one inch.
 These margin regulations should be met on all pages.
1.10 Page Numbers
 Page numbers not required on Title page, Copyright page, Approval sheet,
Declaration, Acknowledgment, Dedication and Preface Page.
 Preliminary pages (Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures etc)
should be numbered in lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.). The first
numbered page (i) must be the Table of Contents.
 Page numbers should be placed on the right side at the top of the page.
 Each page in the dissertation, from the body onward, should be numbered in
consecutive order. This includes the text, references, and appendices.

1.11 References
 The word ‘references’ should be centered, bold, uppercase, 12- font size.
 There should be one line space between the heading and the first reference,
and between subsequent references.

Example:

REFERENCES

Brown, J. D. (1998). Understanding research in second language learning.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021

 1.12 Appendices
 If the paper has only one appendix, it is labelled as APPENDIX (Uppercase,
bold, centred, 12-font size).
 If it has more than one appendix, each is labelled with a capital letter such as
APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B etc.
 Font size for the title and the text should be 12.
 Text should be justified.
 If, for example, there is more than one appendix for APPENDIX A, then it
will be titled APPENDIX A1, APPENDIX A2, etc.
 Sub-title: Uppercase and Lowercase, bold, centred

Example:

APPENDIX A

Effects of Mentoring

1.13 Levels of Headings

Follow the APA pattern. For help follow the link: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-
grammar-guidelines/paper-format/headings

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021

 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

 Introduction along with Literature Review

CHAPTER II

METHOD
Objectives
Tell about the objectives of your study for example:
1. To investigate the relationship between variables
2. To investigate the role of various demographic variables.
Hypotheses
List all the hypothesis of your study either in numbers or bullets for example,
1. There will be a positive relationship between bullying victimization and anxiety.
2. Male participants will score high on bullying victimization as compared to female
students.
Operational Definitions of Variables
Operationally define all of your study variables that is how you are going to
assess the targeted variable.
Research Design
Mention your research design and if your study is divided into phases mention
as well.
Sample
Mention about sample characteristics
Instruments
Mention all of the instruments that are going to be used in study with their
scoring detail, number of items, subscales if any, reverse score items if any etc.
Procedure

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021

 Mention how data was collected what ethical guidelines you followed.

CHAPTER III

RESULTS
1.14 TABLES AND FIGURES
 Title: Upper and lowercase case, flushed left, font size 12.
 Sub-title: Upper and lowercase, italicized, flushed left, font size 12.
 Text: Justified, not bold, single spaced, font size 10.
 Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.) to number the figure or table.
 For explanation of any term, use small alphabets (a, b, c etc.) and provide
explanation right below the table or figure.

Example

Table 1
Psychometrics Properties of Scales, and Their Subscales (N = ?)
No of Ranges
Scales items α M(SD) Potential Actual Ske Kur
w
S1 16 .71 10.26 (2.78) 0-16 2-16 -.29 -.25
Subscale 1 8 .60
Subscale 2 8
S2
Subscale 1
Subscale 2
Note. Skew = Skewness; Kur = Kurtosis, S1 = Scale no. 1; S2 = .
Standard Error for Skewness = ; Standard error for Kurtosis =

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021

 CHAPTER IV
DISCUSSION
Discuss your results first, then give implications, limitations and suggestions as well as
conclusion.
Note. All chapter must be started from a new page.
1.15 Citation and Referencing
 For details on citation and referencing details refer:
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references

1.16 Submission of Copies at the Time of Viva Voice:

 Three copies are required to be submitted to the supervisor.

 Soft copies required to be submitted to the Program Coordinator and the
Supervisor.

1.17 Submission of final Approved Copies:

 BS Thesis: Four copies are required to be submitted to the Research

Coordinator. All the copies must have black hard binding with silver lettering
on the front and the spine. Soft copy of data file and manuscript (CD writing)
must with these hard bind copies to the supervisor.
 MS Thesis: Four copies are required to be submitted to the Research
Coordinator. All the copies must have green hard binding with golden
lettering on the front and the spine. Soft copy of data file and manuscript (CD
writing) must with these hard bind copies to the supervisor.
 PhD Thesis: Four copies are required to be submitted to the Research
Coordinator. All the copies must have red hard binding with golden lettering
on the front and the spine. Soft copy of data file and manuscript (CD writing)
must with these hard bind copies to the supervisor.
General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021
 1.18 Length of Thesis:
 The length of BS thesis should be approximately 12,000 to 18,000 words.
Appendices, references and attachments are not counted in the total number of
word count.
 The length of MS thesis should be approximately 15,000 to 20,000 words.
Appendices, references and attachments are not counted in the total number of
word count.
 The length of PhD thesis should be approximately at least 80,000 words.
Appendices, references and attachments are not counted in the total number of
word count.

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021

General Guidelines on Thesis Format, Appearance and Document Organization 2021