Your master’s *thesis must comply with certain formatting guidelines. Be sure to read through this list of requirements thoroughly before you submit.
*Thesis must be content complete, committee approved, and publication ready before submission.
If you plan to have your thesis bound, make sure that all of the pages are in correct numerical order and that they are right-side up.
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Here is the order of pages your master’s thesis must include. Optional pages are listed as such.
Note that the resume/curriculum vitae belongs at the end of the thesis, after the main content, whereas all other sections belong before the main content.
The title page should be a separate page and no longer than one page. All content on this page should be centered horizontally and vertically. Keep in mind that the title must be able to fit on the spine of a bound manuscript.
TITLE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
Author's Name
Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Master of [Arts or Science]
in the Department [or School] of [Department/School Name],
Indiana University
* Month Year
* The month and year is the date when all requirements have been completed for the awarding of your master’s degree by the University Graduate School. This is not necessarily the month in which you submit your thesis.
This page confirms the committee's approval and acceptance of your thesis.
The acceptance page should be a separate page and no longer than one page. Adding lines for the signatures is optional. The first sentence should be centered, “Master’s Thesis Committee” should be left-aligned, and all other content should be right-aligned.
Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
Master's Thesis Committee
[Chairperson's signature]
[Chairperson's name typed, Ph.D.]
[Second reader's signature]
[Name typed]
[Third reader's signature]
[Name typed]
Within the electronic submission, the acceptance page cannot contain signatures. Signatures will be collected electronically. Students will find the Defense Signatures edoc on the University Graduate School One.IU task page.
Learn about submission methods »
The copyright page should be a separate page and no longer than one page. All content on this page should be centered.
Copyright © [year]
[Student's Name]
Depending on your personal inclination, you may wish to include a dedication, a preface, or a set of acknowledgments. The latter are designed to recognize people or agencies to whom you feel grateful for any academic, technical, financial, or personal aid in the preparation of your thesis. As a matter of courtesy, you would ordinarily mention the members of your committee here, as well as institutions that provided funding or anyone else who helped.
The abstract page should be a separate page and no longer than one page. Your name and the thesis title should be centered, while the rest of the content should be left-justified. Do not type “Abstract” at the top of the page.
The abstract is double-spaced and limited to 350 words. In an average abstract, there will be about 70 characters per line, with a maximum of 35 lines.
As many people will learn about your work through your abstract published in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database, you should spend a good bit of effort in the composition of both the abstract and the title of your work. Try to convey the flavor of your work, not just the bare bones of your findings. You should also work to phrase your title so that it truly describes the contents and will be easily found in the index of the database. The index is based on key words, so be as specific as you can be about your subject.
[Student's Name]
[Thesis Title (may be underlined or in caps)]
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Include a table of contents to guide readership of your thesis.
Add an entry/entries (as is appropriate) for the reference/bibliography page/pages to the table of contents.
Add an entry for your curriculum vitae (CV) to the table of contents. The CV should be the last item in your dissertation and listed last on the table of contents. Since CV pages should not have a page number, the table of contents entry for it should note only the presence of the CV at the end with no page number indicated.
Include lists of tables, figures, appendixes, abbreviations, or other supplemental materials, if appropriate.
Include a resume/curriculum vitae at the END of the thesis, after the main content. This should not include page numbers.
Your CV should be in the same font and have the same margins as the rest of your dissertation and should not contain your home address, phone number, nor any page number. Please list your Masters degree as completed in the same month as listed on the title page. Additionally, it is not recommended to list personal references on your CV.
Font size should be either 11 or 12 point for the entire document with the only exception being the title on the title page, footnotes, tables/charts, and picture/table descriptions. Font up to size 16 point may be used for the document’s title on the title page, only. Font as small as 10 point may be used for footnotes, the content of tables/charts, and picture/table/chart descriptions.
Script fonts (e.g., Monotype Corsica) and italicizing large sections of text are not allowed for the main body of your text, although italics may be used appropriately. Additionally, black font is used throughout the dissertation with the only exception being areas where a different font color serves a purpose in explaining or highlighting some aspect of the research/dissertation in a way black font could not.
Be consistent in font style throughout your dissertation. The following font styles are recommended for the ease with which they convert to a PDF. All dissertations have to be converted to a PDF in the electronic submission process.
If photographs or detailed graphics are part of the work, make sure they are crisp and clear when printed. It is acceptable to use special laser or photo paper for the page of the thesis that contains images to achieve the best possible quality. The IU Seal or Branding should not be used on any portion of the submission. These items may be used only with the written permission of the university.
Top, Right, and Bottom margins must be one inch. If dissertation will only be electronically accessed, a one inch left margin is acceptable. Left margin should be one inch if the dissertation will be bound in paper form by ProQuest. If using a bindery other than ProQuest, please consult with the bindery about the size of the left margin needed for their binding process.
Learn about submission methods »
Running heads are not used in thesis submissions. Please limit the content of your header and footer space to the page number, only.
Theses should be written in English, unless you and your department/committee have decided otherwise.
Check with your department on this requirement. This format depends largely on your particular field or topic.
For example, footnotes can appear either on the page where the annotation occurs, the end of each chapter, or the end of the thesis. Be sure to follow the conventions of your department or discipline.
