Thesis / Dissertation Formatting Manual (2024)

Text and References is the body of your thesis or dissertation. It is written in consultation with and approved by your committee. Please comply with the general Font guidelines as well as Pagination, Margin, and Spacing guidelines that apply for the entire manuscript. 

Specific formatting for the Text and References section may also be determined by your department, school, and/or field of study. Please comply with the style and citation guidelines for your field.

Typical elements include:

• Introduction or preface
• Main body (usually consisting of well-defined subdivisions such as chapters, parts, etc.)
• Conclusion
• Bibliography or References (may appear at end, or with each subdivision)
• Appendices (if applicable)
  • List each appendix separately in the Table of Contents
  • Tables, figures, charts, or photos placed at the end of the manuscript form an appendix and should not be in a list of figures, tables, or illustrations in your Preliminary Pages

The main text of your manuscript is numbered with Arabic numerals.

• The page that follows your Abstract should be numbered 1.
  • Depending upon the structure of your manuscript, this may be an Introduction, Prologue, epigraph, Artist Statement, Chapter 1, or equivalent. Regardless of section, it should be numbered 1.
• All subsequent pages should be numbered consecutively through the end of your manuscript.
  • This includes the Bibliography and any Appendices. Do not restart page numbering for your Appendices.
• Dashes, periods, underlining, letter suffixes, and other text are not permitted before, after, or under your page numbers.

Consult with your academic department or discipline to select a style guide most applicable to your thesis/dissertation. You should select the style manual that is most commonly used in your field of study, and you should follow it consistently. The UCI Libraries does not review or edit your manuscript to check for compliance with any particular style guide.