Manual of Style
You should consult with your department to determine the preferred textual arrangement and style, including the presentation of footnotes/endnotes and manner in which references are to be cited for the preferred manual of style. In the absence of a departmental preference, the recommended style manual is The Chicago Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago Press.
All text should be black; font size should be no smaller than 10-point and no larger than 14-point.
Sequence of Pages
The title page, copyright page, committee page, table of contents, and abstract page are mandatory. All students must include copyright notices in their theses and dissertations even if they do not pay the $55 fee to have the thesis or dissertation registered with the federal copyright office.
Title Page
The title page consists of three main parts: title, author and degrees, and submission statement.
View a sample of a properly formatted title page.
Copyright Notice
To protect the right of authorship by copyright, it is only necessary under current law to affix a notice of copyright to the page following the title page. The copyright notice should give the full legal name of the author, centered at the bottom of the page as per this sample:
© Copyright by Suzette Van Brown 2012
All Rights Reserved
or centered, placed in the middle of the page, and double-spaced as per this sample:
copyright by
Johnathan Agonistes
2012
Unless a thesis or dissertation is copyrighted in this way, it becomes part of the public domain as soon as it is accepted by The Graduate School and delivered to the UMI Proquest website.
The Graduate School also urges students to register their thesis and dissertations with the federal copyright office. The advantage of taking this step could be considerable. In the case of plagiarism, for example, the author may bring an action against the guilty party and recover damages. In the case of scholarly work, proving and recovering damages may be difficult, if not impossible. But if the work bears a notice of copyright and has also been registered with the copyright office, statutory damages may be awarded, and may include attorney's fees incurred in prosecuting the suit. Registration of the thesis or dissertation with the copyright office entails applying at the UMI website and payment of a $55 fee. However, even without registering the dissertation with the copyright office, the copyright notice on the page following the title page is sufficient to effect a copyright for the author.
Committee Page
Since the shift to electronic filing of theses and dissertations in Fall 2005, it is no longer mandatory for the student to submit a committee page with signatures of its members. As always, the dissertation or thesis examining committee must sign the Recommendation for Award of Degree Form, and the form must be submitted to The Graduate School.
VIEW SAMPLE OF PROPERLY FORMATTED COMMITTEE PAGE, click here.
Table of Contents
Do not include line entries for the title page, copyright page, committee page, or table of contents. Per the Chicago Manual of Style, only pages appearing AFTER the Table of Contents (e.g., List of Tables, List of Figures, chapters and subsections, etc.) should be included within the contents table.
Spacing and Margins
The text of the manuscript is double-spaced. Footnotes, bibliography or list of references, tables and figure captions are single-spaced. Bibliographic entries are separated by double spacing. Margins should be one inch on the top, bottom and right side; and 1.5" on the left side. Each chapter starts on a new page, with a two-inch top margin. Justifying the text at the right margin is optional. All textual material must be double-spaced. Long quotations may be indented and single-spaced, although some disciplines prefer them to be indented and double-spaced. Footnotes/endnotes should be single-spaced. Leave a double space between notes.
Abstract
Abstract is mandatory.
The maximum acceptable length for an abstract to be published in Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) is 350 words, and 150 words for Masters Thesis Directories (MTD). However, an abstract within the dissertation or thesis need not be limited. The student may prepare a lengthy abstract for inclusion in the thesis or dissertation and a more concise summary for publication in DAI/MTD. The abstract is expected to give a succinct account of the student's work so that a reader can quickly learn the essential contents and results. A typical abstract includes a statement of the problem, an account of procedure or methods followed, and an account of main results and conclusions.
Abstracts must be prepared carefully, since they are published in DAI/MTD without editing or revision.
Page Numbering
Each page must be numbered, with the exception of the title page and the copyright page. The number may be centered at the top or bottom of the page, or may appear at the top right-hand corner. For the preliminary pages, use lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, etc.), beginning with "iii". The title page and the copyright page counts as "i" and "ii", but the numbers do not appear. For the remainder of the manuscript, including all text, illustrations, appendices and bibliography, use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). The numbering begins with "1" on the first page of text and runs consecutively to the end of the manuscript. Page numbers may fall within the one-inch top or bottom margin, but at least a one-half-inch margin should remain between the page number and the edge of the page.
Corrections and Hand lettering
No corrections in pen or pencil are acceptable. Symbols, accent marks, and equations must all be typescript.
Illustrative Materials
Static graphics (photographs, etc.) should be inserted into the body of the document. Supplementary files (images, sounds, etc.) should be submitted separately.
Tables and Figures
Tables and figures must conform to the same margins as the text. Oversized computer-generated tables can be reduced and included in the original. If a table or figure must be placed in landscape orientation (horizontally on the page), the margins and page-number location must be the same as on a regular page. Captions for tables and figures and page numbers should be in the same type as the body of the text.
Bibliography or References
The style for references should follow the format used for journal publications in the student's field of study and must be consistent throughout the manuscript. The accepted placement of the bibliography or references is at the end of the manuscript.
Print Quality
The manuscript should be clearly readable throughout, for both electronic and printed documents. Any photocopies should be checked to make sure they are legible. If there are questions regarding print quality, the student is encouraged to consult The Graduate School.
Submission
All of the following steps must take place by the deadline indicated in the academic calendar. You will review the "Graduate School's ETD Procedures", register at the actual "submission website", enter basic information about you and your work, complete the non-exclusive publishing agreement, attach your document, and hit Submit. No part of the submission is registered until you click the final Submit button. The Graduate School then reviews your submission, makes sure your academic record is complete and that all required fees are paid, then submits your work to ProQuest/University Microfilms International (UMI). You will be notified by email about the status of your submission. UMI prepares archival digital copies and microfilm copies, both of which are maintained in perpetuity and migrated to new storage media as necessary, in accord with UMI's contract with the Library of Congress. UMI then disseminates your work to various bibliographic databases and indexes, and publishes a full-text copy of your work on a website available to the Binghamton University community ("see Current Research at Binghamton"). Readers outside of Binghamton may find your dissertation and purchase copies directly from UMI.
Before you begin, be sure that you have the following:
Thesis or dissertation formatting questions should be directed to The Graduate School at (607) 777-2152.
Schedule of Graduate School Fees
Mandatory fees of $100 (doctoral dissertation) or $85 (masters thesis) must be received by The Graduate School with your unbound department copy (if required) and any other required submission items.
Payment must be received by the semester deadline regardless of the status of your thesis/dissertation formatting review. This comprehensive fee covers electronic submission; processing, indexing, and abstract services; microfilming and archiving; and digital storage and access.
Unless your department or program requires a bound copy for its office, you do not need to provide The Graduate School with any paper copy of your dissertation or thesis. (Effective Summer 2009, all programs require a bound department copy EXCEPT the following: English, Philosophy, SPEL & PPL, School of Management, and Computer Science MASTERS students only. Philosophy-PIC now requires a department copy to be delivered to The Graduate School office). Department and/or personal copies may be bound at cost if you provide paper copies of the document to The Graduate School.
During the submission process, you will have the option to request that UMI Proquest file for copyright on your behalf. If you choose this option, there will be an additional $55 fee payable directly to Proquest.
Dissertation - Microfilming, web access/distribution, and electronic archiving (required) $100 Thesis - Microfilming, web access/distribution, and electronic archiving (required) $85 Binding fee for department copy (requirement varies by program) $10 Binding fee for additional personal copies (optional) $10 each
IMPORTANT NOTES:
