Preparation of a Culminating Project
for Electronic Submission
Electronic submission is the preferred submission process. Theses, dissertations, creative
works, or starred papers may be submitted electronically. Students may request a paper
submission process by following the guidelines for paper submission.
Preliminary Information
1. Attend a culminating project workshop addressing formatting guidelines and ETD
submission.
2. Talk to your culminating project advisor about departmental requirements regarding style
guides (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) for your culminating project. All matters of style
should be consistent throughout your document and conform to accepted practices in the
discipline.
3. Copyright permissions: Obtain permission letters for use of copyrighted materials used in
the culminating project beyond Fair Use guidelines.
a. Note: Since the culminating project is submitted in satisfaction of a part of the
requirement for an advanced degree, the student grants to the University a nonexclusive right (license) to archive, reproduce, and distribute the document in
electronic format via the Internet, as well as the right to migrate or convert your
submission, without alteration of the content, to any medium or format for the
purpose of preservation and/or continued distribution.
b. The copyrights of the culminating projects remain with the author; subsequent
uses of the culminating projects by the authors or subsequent copyright holders
are not restricted by this license.
c. During the online submission process, you will be asked to select a Creative
Commons license; see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ for definitions. The
default license, “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs,” is considered the most
restrictive. It allows users to download your work and share it with others as long
as they credit you, but they cannot change your work in any way or use it
commercially.
4. If you need further information about style guides, contact: Melanie Guentzel, Director
of Graduate Students Services, at mjguentzel@stcloudstate.edu or Corey Fitzgerald,
Format Review and ETD Support graduate assistant, at gagrad6@stcloudstate.edu.
Document Formatting
Regardless of the disciplinary style guidelines selected for a culminating project, certain
specifications and guidelines must be adhered to. The following specifications and guidelines
will aid in ensuring that the culminating project is compliant with the School of Graduate Studies
(SGS) requirements:
1. File
o Size: There is no specific size limit for culminating projects submitted to the
Institutional Repository (IR).
o Names: Use only Roman letters, underscore lines for blank spaces, and Arabic
numbers for file name (e.g., ksmith_androgyny_patriarchy_rev2).
o Formats: The text of the culminating project must be submitted in one of the
following formats to assure the best chance for future migration as formats
evolve:
 MS Word (.doc or .docx)
 Rich Text Format (.rtf)
 PDF (.pdf) with embedded fonts
Note: Multimedia content may be submitted in any of the following formats
 TIFF (.tif)
 JPEG (.jpg)
 GIF (.gif)
 MPEG (.mpg)
 MPEG 3 (.mp3)
 WAV (.wav)
o Multimedia video or audio files that are part of a culminating project should be
submitted as supplemental files during the submission process.
o Security restrictions: Do not incorporate restrictions (e.g., password protection,
copy/paste prohibition, or compression prohibition) into your document. They are
not allowed for several reasons:
 Security restrictions inhibit future document management and migration.
 Security restrictions reduce the functionality of your document for users.
 Security restrictions prohibit adding archival information to the document
file.
Note: For most culminating projects, the online submission process will automatically convert a
Microsoft Word document to a PDF. However, if your culminating project uses special
characters, such as foreign language fonts, Greek fonts used in mathematics, or the International
Phonetic Alphabet, you should use a current version of Adobe Acrobat Pro to convert your file to
a PDF prior to submission. For further information, see “Embedding Fonts” below.
Adobe Acrobat software, required to create a .pdf document, is available as part of the Adobe
Creative Suite in general-access computer labs across campus.
2. Bookmarking
To improve the usability and navigation of your culminating project, you must bookmark
the following sections: Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents (TOC), Introduction, each
Chapter, each Sub-section within a Chapter, each Appendix, and References or
Bibliography. Set your document to open with bookmarks visible.
o Bookmarks allow readers to jump between sections of your culminating project
by clicking on bookmark links.
 In Word:
1. Select (highlight) the text (e.g., chapter title, sub-section title, or
bibliography) where you want to insert a bookmark.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Bookmark.
3. On the pop-up screen, enter the name of the bookmark, usually the
highlighted heading as it reads.
4. Click the Add button.
To display where there are bookmarks in a Word document:
5. Click on the File tab, then scroll and select Options.
6. Click on Advanced.
7. Scroll down to the section Show Document Content and click on
Show Bookmarks.
8. Bookmarks will display in [brackets].
 In Adobe Acrobat Pro
1. Click on the File tab, and then select Document Properties.
2. Select Initial View from the left in the Dialog Box.
3. Select Bookmarks Panel and Page from the Show options.
3. Font (Typeface)
a. Use the font type and size recommended by the selected disciplinary style
guide or use the following guidelines.
b. General
Consistency of font use and text size within your culminating project is important
to enhance readability and use.
 Use no more than two font types or styles.
 Use either sans serif (Arial) or serif (Times) fonts for headings and labels,
but not both.
 Use serif fonts for the body of your culminating project.
c. Title
 Font style may be either a serif font (such as Times New Roman, Goudy
Old Style, Book Antiqua, or Bookman Old Style—to match the body
of the text) or a sans-serif font (Helvetica, Arial—to match the headings
and sub-headings).
 Font size: use 12-pt font in bold for the Title.
 Use Headline Capitalization: capitalize initial character of all words in
title, except a, an, the, at, by, for, in, of, on, to, up, and, as, but, it, of, nor.
Only capitalize exceptions when they are the first word of the title or
subtitle following a colon (example):
The Androgyne Patriarchy in Thailand: Contemporary Issues in Gender
d. Body
 Format as recommended by the selected disciplinary style guide or use
the following guidelines:
 Select an easy-to-read font. Generally, serif font (such as Times New
Roman, Goudy Old Style, Book Antiqua, or Bookman Old Style) is
preferred for the body of the text. Use the same font throughout the body
of the text.
 Font size: Use 11- or 12-pt. font for the text body.
 Do not bold, underline, or italicize text in the body unless required.
 Use italics for titles of journals, books, newspapers, films, television
shows, long poems, plays of three or more acts, operas, musical albums, or
works of art (e.g., American Historical Review, Moby Dick, Rubber Soul,
or Mona Lisa).
 Use italics for names of individual trains, planes, or ships (e.g., Spirit of
St. Louis, Sunset Limited, USS Eisenhower).
 Use italics for Latin names for genus and species (e.g., Cypripedium
reginae).
e. Embedding fonts
If you use special fonts in your culminating project, consider embedding the
fonts in a PDF prior to submission. See
https://www.miami.muohio.edu/documents/graduatestudies/embedding_fonts.pdf for information on embedding fonts.
4. Headings and Sub-headings
SCSU accepts five levels of headings:
 If the selected disciplinary style guide allows for more than five levels of headings,
please use the top five levels as recommended by your style guide or follow the
following guidelines:
 Culminating projects must contain chapter headings and a minimum of one subheading.
 Use either the same font as the text body or a sans-serif font (Helvetica, Arial) for all
levels except the Fifth Level (which should always be the same font as the text body).
 Use bold for all headings.
 First-level heading: Chapter number and title, in all capital letters (e.g., Chapter I:
INTRODUCTION).
o First-level headings should use 12-pt font.
 Second-level heading: Sub-heading (e.g., Statement of Problem)
o Second-level headings should use 12-pt font.
 Third- and Fourth-level sub-headings: use same font size as text body.
 Fifth-level sub-headings are used only for paragraph headings where they are useful
and are not included in the Table of Contents. Use same font type as body of text.
Page Formatting
1. Line spacing: Use either one-and-one-half spacing or double-spacing for the body of the
text, including headings. Footnotes, bibliographic citations, and long quoted passages
should be single-spaced.
2. Margins: One-inch on all sides—top, bottom, and sides. Larger margins are acceptable
when approved by the culminating project committee.
3. Justification: Left justification should be used in the body of the culminating project.
“Orphans” (headings or sub-headings not followed by text at the bottom of a page) and
“widows” (short lines ending a paragraph at the top of a page) should be avoided.
4. Page Numbering: Page numbering begins with the title page. Page numbers appear
starting on page 2 (that is, there is no page number appearing on the title page).
5. Placement:
a. Format as recommended by the selected disciplinary style guide or use the
following guidelines:
b. Page numbers may be placed on the top right corner within the side margins, 1inch from the top of the page (set header to 1-inch; hit return after typing page
number—this assures the 1-inch margin is maintained); OR
c. Page numbers may be centered within the side margins, 1-inch from the bottom of
the page (set footer to 1-inch; hit return after typing page number—this assures
the 1-inch margin is maintained).
6. Font: use the same font style and size as the body of the text. Be consistent.
7. Format: use only the plain Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). Do not use leads (e.g.,,
………1……..) or dashes (e.g.,, -1-) or bold (e.g.,, 1)
Page Order
1. Title page
o Bold font may be used for the title only. (see the Title Page example at the end of
this document)
2. Abstract (not required for creative works or starred paper)
o Use a Level 2 heading for this page.
o The body of the abstract must be single-spaced and should not include graphs,
charts, tables, or other illustrations. List any multimedia supplements included
with the culminating project submission.
3. Preface and/or acknowledgment (optional)
o Use a Level 2 heading for this page.
4. Quoted statement or short poem significant to the culminating project
o Do not use bold font on this page.
5. Table of contents
o Use a Level 2 heading for this page.
6. List of tables (required when tables are used in the body of the paper)
7. List of figures (required when figures are used in the body of the paper)
8. List of files (required only when supplementary files are submitted in addition to the
culminating project).
9. Body of text
o This section must be divided into appropriate chapters or sections appropriate to
the culminating project.
10. Bibliography and/or references
o The bibliography is a comprehensive list of resources used in research and
preparation of the culminating project, whether those sources are cited or not.
o References are those works cited in the text.
11. Appendix/Appendices as necessary
o If IRB approval was sought, include the approved IRB application and supporting
documents.
Tables and Figures
1. Tables and figures should be formatted as recommended by the selected disciplinary style
guide or use the following guidelines.
2. Placement
Tables and figures should be included as reference throughout the culminating project,
not grouped at the end.
a. Triple-space before and after tables.
b. For a small table or figure, place as close as possible to where it is mentioned in
the body of the culminating project. Do not wrap the body of text around the
table or figure. Provide sufficient room for a heading and caption on the same
page as the table or figure.
c. For a large table or figure, place on a separate page following the page where it is
mentioned in the body of the culminating project. Provide sufficient room for
heading and caption on the same page as the table or figure.
d. For very large data sets that would require an oversize sheet to display (e.g.,
larger than 8.5” x 11” paper), submit the data set as a supplemental file and
reference by file name and title in the body of the culminating project.
3. Numbering
Each table or figure should be numbered sequentially according to the chapter in which it
appears; number tables and figures separately. For example, Table 1.1 (chapter 1, table
1), Table 1.2, and Figure 1.1 (chapter 1, figure 1) could be in the same chapter.
4. Headings
a. Table headings must be placed above each table using the same font size as used
in the body of the text. Font face should either match the serif font used in the
body of the text or match the serif or sans serif font used for headings. Table
headings should be centered or justified with left edge of table.
b. Figure or Image headings may be placed either above or below, depending upon
the convention used in the discipline. Figure or image headings should be
justified with left edge of table, or centered.
c. For large tables or figures using landscape page preference, headings must be
oriented to the table, either above or below.
Submission Information
1. Pre-pages and content must be one merged document.
2. PDF Format
a. Submit your final approved culminating project in PDF format. This is especially
important when the “Work” contains special characters (e.g., use of International
Phonetic Alphabet or formulas that use Greek characters or other symbols).
3. Filename Format – [LastName]_[FirstName]_[SubmissionDate]
a. LastName: Full family name, including hyphen (e.g., Smith-Brown)
b. FirstName: First name as it appears in University records (e.g., Robert, rather than
Rob or Bob)
c. SubmissionDate: Use YearMonthDay format (e.g., 20140430 for April 30, 2014)
d. Complete example: Guentzel_Melanie_20140430
4. Submission Process
a. Please be prepared to input the following required information:
b. Complete TITLE of culminating project.
c. Full NAME of author and preferred email address.
d. Expected date of AWARD (e.g., date of graduation ceremony).
e. TYPE of degree (choices are “thesis” or “dissertation).
f. DEGREE NAME; this is the program name for your degree (e.g.,, “Education
Administration and Leadership: MS” or “Higher Education Administration:
EdD”).
g. DEPARTMENT; this is not the program, but the department through which the
program is offered.
h. FIRST ADVISOR; this is your culminating project chairperson/supervisor.
i. SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, and FIFTH ADVISOR; these are members of your
culminating project committee other than your culminating project
chairperson/supervisor. The Fourth and Fifth Advisors are often only for
dissertation committees.
j. KEYWORDS; you may enter up to six keywords (individual words or phrases),
separated by commas. This improves indexing and retrieval of your culminating
project.
k. ABSTRACT; the full text of the abstract as it appears in your thesis or
dissertation. Not required for a starred paper or creative work.
5. Supplemental Content (optional)
a. You may submit supplemental content, such as raw data collected for the study,
or digital video or audio of a performance of an original work, as a separate
document (e.g., a spreadsheet) in the submission process.
b. If you have supplemental files that are not included in the body of your
culminating project, such as research data (e.g.,, Excel files) and video or audio
files, please check the Additional Files box. Another submission screen will
allow you to upload these files.
SAMPLE TITLE PAGE ON NEXT PAGE
The Title will be Title Case:
Centered on the Page
by
Full Name [Your Official Name on Record with the University]
A Thesis [Dissertation]
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of
St. Cloud State University
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree
Master of Science [Arts, Social Work, Doctor of Education]
Month, Year
Thesis [Dissertation] Committee:
Faculty First and Last Name, Chairperson
Faculty First and Last Name
Faculty First and Last Name
[Faculty First and Last Name]
[Faculty First and Last Name]