A dissertation or thesis constitutes an original contribution to a field of knowledge, and library deposit ensures that the work will be accessible to researchers. Some degree programs at The Graduate Center require library deposit for capstone projects. Format requirements remain consistent regardless of which type of document you submit to the Dissertation Office.

You will need to prepare your manuscript according to the Graduate Center's format requirements, detailed below. These requirements are designed to work with a variety of scholarly conventions and citation styles across the disciplines. If your question is not addressed on this page, chances are that we defer to your disciplinary style guide (see links to major styles on this guide). When in doubt, please check the Format FAQs and use the Ask-a-Librarian service or email us with specific questions.

Adhere to the following page sequence when preparing your manuscript. Preliminary pages constitute everything before the Body of Text and provide crucial information about the author, the document's creation, and what to expect in the text to come. The back matter, or the sections that come after the Body of Text, also contains further information about sources of information or context for portions of the document. Note that bibliographic references should be the last section of the document, appearing after all appendices, glossaries, illustrations, or other back matter.

Title page (no pagination appears)*
Copyright page (starts at p. ii)
Approval page
Abstract
Preface, Foreword, and/or Acknowledgments (optional)
Table of Contents (required)
Lists of Tables, Illustrations, Charts, Figures, Diagrams (required)
Body of Text (begins with Arabic numeral 1)
Appendix (optional)
Bibliography
Autobiographical Statement (optional)

* use the degree year regardless of deposit date, approval date or copyright date (June 2025 grads should have 2025 on their title page)

Additional pages may be required for students submitting digital projects as part of their thesis or dissertation deposit:

Use the follow sample pages based on your degree and/or program for clear formatting examples of the Title page, Copyright page, Approval page, Abstract page, Acknowledgments page, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, and how to start the Body of Text.

For more examples of acceptable manuscript format, view the Deposit Information Slides linked below.

View Information Session Slides

Abstracts: There is no word limit for abstracts associated with dissertations or theses. Abstracts will be published in the CUNY Academic Works repository and ProQuest (if applicable) with author, title, and descriptive information, even if the work is embargoed. An abstract in English is required, even if the text is in a language other than English.

Approval Page: The full title, author, manuscript statement, and month/year that the manuscript was approved are included on this page (see sample pages). The approval page lists the primary advisor(s), executive officer or program director, and supervisory committee (if applicable) for the work being submitted.

Color: PDF and print reproductions may include color, and ProQuest reproductions will include any color submitted.

File Formats: ProQuest requires Adobe PDF (not Word) for text. Rather than embedding audio and video files in the PDF body of a work, submit as supplemental files. For a list of manageable supplemental file fomats, see ProQuest's Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission (Including Supplemental Files).

Font: Any legible TruType type 1 font is accepted (except script, italic, or ornamental fonts) if equivalent in scale to Arial (10 pt) or Times New Roman (12 pt). Acceptable fonts and sizes for print and web include: Arial (10 pt), Courier New (10 pt), Georgia (11 pt), Times New Roman (12 pt), Trebuchet MS (10 pt), Verdana (10 pt). See ProQuest's Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission (Including Supplemental Files) for recommendations about choosing and embedding fonts, selecting formats, and creating PDFs.

Line-spacing: Double-space abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, table of contents, and body of the manuscript. Follow your disciplinary style manual for single- or double-spacing block quotes, captions, items in tables, lists, graphs, charts. Single-space footnotes/endnotes.

Lists of Contents: A table of contents is required. If illustrations, charts, diagrams, figures or other tables appear in the work, a list of each named element, with corresponding pagination, is required. Formatting and sample pages in Chicago/Turabian style are available online. 

Margins: left: 1”; right: 1″; top and bottom: 1″ for all text (except page numbers and headers/footers) and figures, footnotes/endnotes, and images

Page numbers: must appear at least ¾” from any edge of page

Pagination: Pages preliminary to the body of the text must be numbered with lowercase Roman numerals. Do not number the title page but count it in the preliminary pagination. The body of the text is numbered with Arabic numerals beginning with the first page of text and including illustrations, appendix, and bibliography. Except for the title page, all pages must be numbered. The numerals may appear in any location on the page (bottom middle, bottom right, upper right), but must be consistent throughout the work. See Variable Pagination for formatting in Microsoft Word and this helpful blog post.

Page Sequence

Title page (no pagination appears)
Copyright page
Approval page
Abstract
Preface, Foreword, and/or Acknowledgments
Table of Contents (required)
Lists of tables, illustrations, charts, figures, diagrams (required)
Body of Text (begins with Arabic numeral 1)
Appendix
Bibliography
Autobiographical Statement (optional)

Quotations: Consult copyright fair use guidelines. Include permission letters for use of copyrighted materials that exceeds fair use (photographs, charts, tables, etc.). Submit copyright permission letters as supplemental files as part of your online submission.

Style and Style Manuals: Use the style manual for your discipline except when in conflict with these instructions. Consult dissertation advisors as necessary.

Title Page: The title page must include the full dissertation title, the complete name of the author, the dissertation statement, and the year of the degree. Use words to spell out titles including formulas, symbols, superscripts, subscripts, and Greek letters. While prohibited from the title, symbols may be used throughout the text.

The library reviews all submissions for adherence to the formatting guidelines listed on this page. Please pay special attention to the required Page Sequence and pagination requirements outlined below. Review our manuscript format checklist before submitting to avoid some of the most common formatting errors, and check out our formatting FAQs for additional guidance:

Looking to hire a professional editor for help with formatting? See this list of freelance academic editors. For issues other than formatting, the GC Writing Center offers remote consultations to offer help with style and structure.

If you need help using Microsoft Word, please consult the University of Michigan's guide to MS Word for Dissertations, which addresses many of the most common problems encountered by students.

If you are writing with LaTex, templates that are compliant with the format requirements are available at the bottom of this page; there is also an R markdown / LaTex dissertation template that follows the library's guidelines available from Nicholaus Brosowsky (Psychology, '19): https://github.com/nbrosowsky/dissertate-CUNY