Dissertation and Thesis
Formatting
Spring 2015
Before we begin…
• This is not a formatting workshop
• Contact me for specific questions and
problems with formatting
• All this information is available on the
Graduate School’s formatting page
Overview of today’s presentation
I. Dates and deadlines
II. How to submit your manuscript for a format
check
III. The format check process
IV. Common formatting problems
V. Notes and recommendations for copyediting
Dates and deadlines
Key Deadlines
December Conferral
August 1:
October 1:
November 1:
November 15*:
Last day to file an application for degree conferral
Deadline for format check submissions
Deadline for final electronic copy submissions
Deadline for final hard copy submissions
May Conferral
December 1:
March 1:
April 1:
April 15*:
Last day to file an application for degree conferral
Deadline for format check submissions
Deadline for final electronic copy submissions
Deadline for final hard copy submissions
August Conferral
February 1:
June 1:
July 1:
July 15*:
Last day to file an application for degree conferral
Deadline for format check submissions
Deadline for final electronic copy submissions
Deadline for final hard copy submissions
*Because hard copies can only be received during office hours, these dates may
change depending on weekends and holidays. Check the website.
How to submit your manuscript for a
format check
1. Create an account in Loyola’s ETD
Administrator
2. Upload your manuscript in PDF form to the
ETD Administrator
3. Complete all steps to fully submit your
document
Start at the Graduate School’s home page:
Enter the ETD Administrator
The ETD Administrator:
The Submission Checklist:
ETD will walk you through each of
these steps. They are all required, but
your selections can be changed later.
Nothing will be published or sent to
ProQuest before your actual degree
conferral.
Questions about ETD:
• I haven’t defended yet; is that okay? Yes!
• Should I email you my submission? No!
• Should I make a new account for my final copy?
No! Use the “Revise” option.
• Do I need to submit the whole thing? Not
necessarily:
What is required in your electronic
submission
 All front matter:
Title page, Copyright page, Table of Contents,
Preliminary Lists
 At least two chapters
 All back matter
Bibliography/list of references, Vita
Approval Sheet
How your format check is
conducted
Overview of the process
• After you submit your manuscript, I get an email.
You will not receive a confirmation email. Do not
be alarmed; if ETD tells you that your manuscript
has been submitted, then, barring the Zombie
Apocalypse, I received your submission.
• I review your submission to check the formatting
• I send you a list of corrections to make
Things I check and how I check them
• Spacing
– Paragraph spacing
– Footnotes/references
– Spacing around headings
• Margins
– Measurable space, not
settings
• Grammar, accuracy, and
style
– Acknowledgments, preface
dedication, abstract, vita
• Citations and citation style
– Irregularities are red flags: I
start sleuthing
– Meet with a librarian for help
• Table of Contents
– Accuracy
– Consistency
– Spacing and indentation
• Subheadings
– Follow the Manual or your
style guide
Margins
I measure the space around the text, NOT your settings.
Heading Hierarchies
These samples are taken from the Manual. If your style manual does not have a
preferred heading hierarchy, it is almost always best to adopt one of these.
After the Format Check:
• I email you the results of your format check,
including a checklist of corrections to be made
• I attach extra information
– Library and copyright information
– Thesis/dissertation checklist
– Information about the NORC survey (dissertation only)
• I note that you have fulfilled the format check
requirement in my spreadsheets
After the Format Check:
• Contact me via phone or email to ask questions
or set up an in-person meeting.
• If I have time, I’m happy to evaluate your
revisions. ETD doesn’t always send a
notification about revisions, though, so email
me after you’ve submitted it to make sure I
know it’s there.
• If you need extra help with proofreading, I
recommend visiting the Writing Center, joining
a peer editing group, or hiring a copyeditor.
Questions?
Common Formatting Problems
• Managing default settings, which are
terrible and make life difficult
• Margins and page numbers
• Landscaped pages
• Putting chapters together
Your defaults hate you and want you
to die: General Tips
• Switching between different computers (Don’t,
basically. Nothing good ever comes of it.)
• PC vs. MAC: We see fewer technical issues from
PC users, particularly with PDF conversion.
• Make each chapter a separate document. This
makes everything easier.
Your defaults hate you and want you
to die: Specifics
• Paragraph settings: make sure before/after
values are set to 0 pt.
• Header/footer from edge: set to 1 inch, but you
might need to adjust
• You can use templates but you’ll have to edit
them to meet the Grad School’s requirements.
Top margins and page numbers
• Format margins and page numbers together
• Do the first page of a chapter before moving
on to the second page
• Remember to break the “links to previous”
in both the header and the footer!
Landscaped pages
• The top margin will
become your left margin,
so it must be set to 1.5
inches.
• The page number must be
placed so that when the
document is collated, it is
positioned as for portrait
pages.
• Use a text box to place
your page number.
Incorrect! The text should look like this:
Table 4. Table of Results and Calculations
1.5” top margin.
Do not insert visible borders
around your text box.
Collating the manuscript
• Convert each Word document to PDF
• Use Adobe (or a web service) to merge the
PDFs into one PDF
Questions?
Copyediting Your Own Work
is really, really, really, really hard.
Tools for Self-Editing
• Save each chapter separately
• Create outlines of each chapter before and
after you’ve written them
• Use full citations when writing drafts and
shorten them later
• Use a style sheet
The Style Sheet
• Used by copyeditors to keep track of stylistic,
typographical, and formatting decisions
• Record your decisions while writing and editing
each chapter, then use it as a checklist when editing
your final product
• Keeps all your decisions on one page, so you can be
consistent about where you use “Abe Lincoln,”
“Abraham Lincoln,” and “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire
Hunter.”
Using the Style Sheet
Beyond the Style Sheet
• You should be using a style manual while
writing your dissertation
• The style manual you use should be
appropriate to your field
• Consult your advisor and major journals in
your field for guidelines if you manual
doesn’t cover something
Questions?