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Research Guides

Dissertations and Theses

Format Guidelines

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.

Need access to the full version of MS Word?  All CUNY students can download Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus for free by logging in at https://login.microsoftonline.com, clicking on the Install Office Apps button and selecting Office 2016. Read more on the CUNY CIS website.

 

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

Sample Pages

 

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

Page Sequence

Adhere to the following page sequence when preparing your manuscript. 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
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 (February 2025 grads should have 2025 on their title page even if the deposit is in 2024)

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

Text Format Guidelines

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.

LaTeX Templates

Variable Pagination

The preliminary pages of the text must be numbered in lower case roman numerals. The body of the text is numbered with Arabic numerals.