Style guide

Introduction

This style guide contains most or all of the information normally provided in an academic style guide. The 1993 version of this guide was already quite modern, and this version has a few small changes. It still follows Harvard rules for bibliographies but will use Vancouver rules for references.

Although it is adequate for all normal needs, it is almost impossible that one style guide could anticipate all eventualities in academic writing. Publishers don't always follow the same rules, and publishing standards continue to evolve. Writers will always face publications for which there is no referencing rule.

Besides, writers now face a plethora of style guides. Zotero now lists about 7,000, and many publishers create their own, for a range of different reasons. US universities use different style guides for different disciplines, and undergraduates and graduates use different guides for the same disciplines. None of them is perfect or exhaustive, and most are very similar. If you need help for an unusual problem, some very good help is available online.

Guides have been modernized greatly in the last 50 years, and the main changes are as follows:

1. The Introduction is now always chapter 1, and prefatory comments are now kept to the preface.
2. References are placed in text.
3. The use of Latin terms is now minimal.
4. The references and bibliography use less punctuation.
5. The use of Roman numerals is now minimal.
6. Systems are more flexible, but usually more consistent.

In particular, referencing systems have changed for the following reasons:

• Publishers were ready to move to newer systems, partly because footnotes were expensive to produce in typesetting.
• Early word processors could not produce footnotes.
• Fewer people understand the more obscure Latin footnotes such as infra, supra, passim. Most modern readers probably don't know the difference between op. cit. and loc. cit.
• Writers want to be able to move blocks of text without revising all footnotes. (In older systems, the order of the references determined what should be included in them. For example, in the Latin footnote system, ibid referred to the same place in the same source as the previous footnote. Op. cit. and loc. cit. also depended on previous references. In another common system, the first reference to any work gave complete details and later references to the same work were abbreviated.
• Having full details in both the footnotes (or endnotes) and the bibliography is redundant. It was also inconsistent to use slightly different forms for the two sets of full details. It is better to have one set of references and get them right.

Technology has also brought about changes. Previous systems were designed for manual typewriters and paper, while modern systems are largely automated and generally easy to apply on a word processor:

1. Word processor templates and styles will do most of the work of formatting text.
2. Programs like Zotero will store and then format your references and bibliography.
3. Software can generate graphs and diagrams and place them into text.
4. Students tend to submit written works as pdf files instead of paper. Then, after graduation, theses and dissertations are circulated as pdf files, not as bound paper books.

Referencing

All work that is not yours should be referenced in the text and its source listed in the bibliography.

The main reasons for referencing are to respect the work of others, thus preventing plagiarism, and to inform the assessor which is your work and which is the work of others. If you paraphrase the work of others but do not quote it, you must provide references, because you are using their intellectual contribution.

Referencing has several main principles:

• References for written sources must be full enough for someone else to locate the document to check what you said.
• References for non-written sources provide as full as possible accountability.

Check that you have everything referenced, the wording and the layout of the references is consistent, and that all sources are included in the bibliography.

In-text referencing

The Harvard in-text referencing system is only one of many, but its main advantages are:

• It maintains all standards of accuracy and accountability.
• It is very easy to use and the procedure is easy to memorize.
• You can move sections around without having to change the references.
• You only give the full publicatio details once, in the bibliography.

If it has a drawback, it is only that readers do not have full bibliographic details of a source on the same page as the text that refers to it. The bibliography is placed at the end of the work.

In-text basics

The basic Harvard reference pattern for a source is as follows:

    (Smith, 1988, p. 54.)
    (Jones, 2001, p. 47.)

It comprises four main elements: 1. the name of the author, 2. the year of publication, 3. the page number, and 4. parentheses. It is like a sentence; the first word is capitalized and it ends in a full stop (period).

This basic pattern is primarily suited to books and journals, but the system is quite flexible and allows for a huge number of variations and combinations. It also works for:

• dictionaries and encyclopaedias
• unpublished literature
• interviews
• correspondence
• internet sources.

 

In-text reference variations

This basic pattern has many variations for different contexts and uses.

Included in sentence

If you include the reference in a sentence, do not capitalise the first word (unless it is a proper noun) and omit the full stop (period). For example:

It could also be true that birth practices reflect patterns of family solidarity (see McDonald, 1995, p. 187), but several analysts have suggested that . . .

If you include the reference at the end of a sentence, you may choose either:

• not to capitalise the first word (unless it is a proper noun), and place the full stop (period) outside the parentheses, or,
• use the base pattern described above.

For example, both the following are correct:

Some observations indicate that even the basic outline of worship is a manifestation of both an underlying cosmology as well as the more obvious social relationships (see Robinson, 1999, p. 211).

Some observations indicate that even the basic outline of worship is a manifestation of both an underlying cosmology as well as the more obvious social relationships. (See Robinson, 1999, p. 211.)

More than one mention in a paragraph

If you mention an author more than once in one paragraph, one reference at the end of the paragraph is adequate. For example:

As Callahan notes, some social insularity is normally inevitable in such cases, due mainly to the interdependence of most members. However, that kind of insularity appeared insignificant in the general community, because so many other kinds of interdependence resulted in observable social relationships with other community members. He foresaw this possibility and responded with an appropriate strategy. (Callahan, 1998, p. 81.)

Omitting parts of the reference

If the name of the author is provided in the text clearly associated to the source, you may omit the name in the reference. For example:

Jones pointed out another possibility relating to the use of sacrifice as a kind of propitiation. (1997, p. 96.)

If both name of the author and year of publication is provided in the text and clearly associated to the source, you may omit both name and year of publication in the reference. For example:

Gunther’s 1927 edition was the first to report observation of the funeral rituals, which took place over many days and involved all members of the village. (P. 54.)

Range of pages

As with any range of numbers, you may use a hyphen: 211-224. (Some style guides require an n-dash [–]).

Multiple pages: (Jones, 2001, pp. 47-53.)

Several ranges of pages: (Jones, 2001, pp. 47-53, 65-69.)

Other variations

Whole source: (Jones, 2001.)

See a page in the source: (See Smith, 1988, p. 54.)

See the whole source: (See Smith, 1988.)

Refer to source identified by volume and page: (Brown, 1979, IX:87.) In this reference, "IX:87" means "Volume nine, page eighty-seven".

Multiple sources in one reference: (See Smith, 1988, p. 43; Green, 1998, p. 7.)

Two authors: (Smith and Brown, 1986, p. 198.)

The source has no date mentioned: (Black, n.d., p. 75.)

See elsewhere in the present work: (See Chap. 3.) (See below.) (See above.)

Compare above: (Cf. above.)

Compare below: (Cf. below.)

Compare to source: (Cf. Smith, 1988, p. 54.)

Contrast to source: (Contr. Smith, 1988, p. 54.)

 

Bibliographies

A bibliography is simply a long list of all sources used, with the full details of each one. The current trend is to put everything into one list in alphabetical order, including:

• All works cited
• All unpublished or unwritten sources
• Abbreviations used for bibliographic entries.

Surnames of authors are the preferred basis for determining alphabetical order. When there is no author surname, other forms are used instead. In the case of titles, "The", "A", and "An" are ignored.

Bibliography entries are typed single-spaced, with a blank line between entries.

Check (and double-check and triple-check) that:

• All references are represented in the bibliography
• Punctuation is correct and consistent.

See an example bibliography

Books: The basic pattern

There are two basic pattern for a book’s bibliographical entry. The only difference is that one does not need to give the state in the US or the country of publication for London or New York, because these two cities are very major and unambiguous. Examples are as follows:

Smith, Ronald. 1998. The Development of Contextualization. (Austin, Tx: Andreas Press).

Jones, Richard. 1998. The Development of Emotional Intelligence. (London: Matthey Press).

It comprises the following main elements:

• the full name of the author as given in the title page, surname first, separated from the forenames or initials by a comma, and ending in a full stop (period)
• the year of publication, ending in a full stop (period)
• the full title, underlined or italicised, as given in the title page, ending in a full stop (period)
• either:
• the city of publication (followed by a comma), then the state in the US or the country of publication, followed by a colon
• the name of the major city of publication (London or New York), followed by a colon
• the name of the publisher, followed by a colon
• parentheses around the place and publisher’s name
• a final full stop (period), and
• a "hanging indent" layout, which means that all lines except the first are indented.

The layout has clear reasons for being as it is:

• The author’s surname is placed first because it determines the place in alphabetical order in the bibliography.
• The comma after the author’s surname indicates that the surname and forenames are not simply switched.
• The hanging indent makes the surname easier to see in the list of bibliographical items.
• The state in the US or the country of publication is helpful because some place names are obscure, and because two different places can have the same name.
• The parentheses around the place and publisher’s name group the publisher details, which comes in helpful when two publishers co-publish a book.

Use the form of the author's name, the full title, and the name of the publisher found on the title page. Use the title page even if the front cover says something different. The year of publication is usually found on the back of the title page as the copyright year. The place of publication might be listed on either the title page or the following page.

Italics (or underlining) of the title signifies a work that is published and circulated separately. Italics is used for titles of books and periodicals. This has two consequences. First, titles of articles in books or periodicals are not italicised or underlined, because they are only circulated as part of the book or periodical. Second, titles of unpublished sources are not italicised or underlined.

Books: The full pattern

The full pattern for a book includes other elements that don't always apply, but should be listed if they do:

Jones, Donald. 1997. The Growth of the Asian Church: An Historical Review. Four vols. Ed. Roger Gilroy. The Asian Religion Series. Second ed. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Andreas Press).

Other elements are:

• Subtitle (separated from the title by a colon)
• Number of volumes (if more than one)
• Name of any editors, revisers, or translators
• The name of the series
• The name or number of the edition if it is not the first edition. It is a first edition if no edition details are mentioned. (Editions can be named e.g. "Revised edition" or numbered e.g. "Second edition", or both e.g. "Second revised edition.")

You do not need to mention the number of the printing, unless the book states that the work was revised between printings (that is, it is actually a new edition, not just another printing).

 

Other kinds of sources

Articles from journals or periodicals | Encyclopaedias and dictionaries | Article in a book | Formal interviews | Internet sources | Letters | Minutes of meetings | Newspapers | Quoting a quotation | Theses and dissertation | Unpublished notes

Articles from journals or periodicals

Articles from journals or periodicals have a different pattern for bibliographical entries:

Smith, Ronald. 1989. "Leadership Training in Hierarchically-cultured Churches" The Journal of Leadership Development. Vol. 2, no. 45 (June), pp. 47-62.

It comprises the following main elements:

• the full name of the author as given in the article, surname first, separated from the forenames or initials by a comma
• the year of publication
• the full title of the article, in inverted commas, as given in the article
• the full title of the periodical
• the volume and number of the edition (if given)
• the date or other identifier of the edition (e.g. "Summer Edition") Some periodicals are primarily identified by date or edition name, while others are only identified by volume and number.
• a final full stop (period),
• the page numbers of the article, and
• a "hanging indent" layout, which means that all lines except the first are indented.

Italics (or underlining) of the title of the journal signifies a work that is published and circulated separately. Consequently, titles of articles in periodicals are not italicised or underlined, because they are only circulated as part of the; periodical.

Encyclopaedias and dictionaries

Encyclopaedias and dictionaries are special cases for several reasons:

• Page numbers might be irrelevant when items are listed in alphabetical order, so you need to refer primarily to the word under which they are listed.
• Authors of individual items are not usually mentioned, so the title is the main identifier. However, titles of specialised encyclopaedias and dictionaries are often quite long, so abbreviations are necessary.

For example:

ENTL, 1993, s.v. "Patristics."

This refers to an encyclopaedia, which you will find in the bibliography under "ENTL". The reference is sub verbo ('under the word') Patristics.

Article in a book

An article in a book requires two bibliographic entries, one for the article and one for the book:

Jackson, L. P. 2002. "The Changing Worlds of Southern Africa" in K. P. Donovan (ed.), 1986, pp. 98-137.

Donovan, K. P. (ed.). 1986. Contemporary Essays on Africa. (Nairobi: University Press).

Formal interviews

Smithson, Milton. 1997. Interview held at New College, Oxford, 14 March, 1997.

Internet sources

Hamilton, Graham. 1998. "Conceptions of Fellowship in Eastern European Evangelical Churches." www.churchofhope.org/easterneurope Viewed 21 July, 2002.

Letters

Briggs, Adam. 1942. Personal letter sent to Gertrude Smythe in London, dated 12 April, 1942.

Minutes of meetings

Minutes of the Association for Old Testament Exegesis, Dundee, Scotland, 12 September, 1992.

Newspapers

If the source is a newspaper article, you need to mention the newspaper title, the article title, the full date, and page number. If volume and number are given, you should include them:

London Daily Journal. 2001, "Dynamics of African Change", 17 February, 2001, p. 22.)

Rock City Daily Express. 1999. "Changes in Education—For Better or For Worse." 21 May (Vol. 34, no. 15), p. 56.

Quoting a quotation

A quotation can be taken from a source where it is quoted even though you do not have access to the original work. It requires two bibliographic entries:

Grundy, William. 1901. The Ancient Near East (New York: Boxman Publications), p. 52, cited in Evans, 1994, p. 251.

Evans, K. R. 1994. The East-West Dialog. (Atlanta, Ga.: Johanine Press).

Theses and dissertations

Hassel, John. 1989. "Conceptions of Personal Transformation in Oral Narrative: An Indian Perspective." Thesis submitted to the University of Western Tasmania for the degree of Master of Arts.

Unpublished notes

Franklin, Ernest. 1998. "Conceptions of Hope in Chinese Christianity." Unpublished notes from a seminar held at the Centre for South American Missiology, Pasadena, Ca., 15-21 July.

 

Special cases: Author names

Organization as author | Pseudonym | Same author produces two works the same year | Same author uses two different names | Two authors with the same name | Two or three authors | More than three authors | No author | Book of articles edited by one person | A book edited or collated rather than written

Organization as author

If an organization is the author, use the abbreviation to save space. The abbreviation will be provided in one location in the bibliography and full details given elsewhere in the bibliography, so that the whole bibliography stays in strict alphabetical order.

(ASTEM, 2002, p. 34.)

ASTEM. See "Association of Scottish Teachers and Education Managers".

Association of Scottish Teachers and Education Managers. 2002. General Conference Proceedings. (Glasgow, UK.: Educational Press).

Pseudonym

If the author is confirmed to have used a pseudonym, the pattern is:

Whiteman, Robert. [Pseud. for Charles Gregson.] 1993. Changes in Yemeni Worldview. (Chicago, Il.: Mark Press).

Same author produces two works the same year

Lower case letters after the name can differentiate the two sources; they are also used in the bibliography:

(White, 1997a, p. 34.) (White, 1997b, p. 187.)

White, Glenda. 1997a. Structure in Theology. (Wilington, U.K: Pellen Press).

White, Glenda. 1997b. Finding Relevance in Dogmatics. (Carlingsgate, U.K: Wessex College Press).

Same author uses two different names

Some authors use one name on the cover and another on the title page. For example, an author might be Jim on the cover but James on the title page. Use the version of the title page.

Two authors with the same name

If two separate authors have the same name, use the initial or forename:

(Smith, K.L., 1934, p. 324.) (Smith, Kathleen, 1991, p. 12.)

Two or three authors

In cases of two or three authors, the pattern is:

Whitman, Derek and Evans, K.J. 1993. Changes in Egyptian Society. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Andreas Press).

More than three authors

If more than three authors, use et al. (Latin for "and the others"):

(Jones et al., 2002, p. 345.)

Jones, Donald, et al. 2002. Asian Cities and Their People. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Andreas Press).

No author

If no author is listed, the work is anonymous (anon.):

The World of Old India. (Anon.) 2001. (Fresno, Ca.: Intentional Press).

Book of articles edited by one person

A book that is edited by one person but comprises articles written by many others. It also works similarly if it has multiple editors:

Donovan, K. P. (ed.). 1986. Contemporary Essays on Africa. (Nairobi: University Press).

A book edited (or collated) rather than written

Johnson, Patrick L. (ed.). 1995. Folk Tales of the Congo. (Deerfield, Il.: Atlantic Educational Press).

 

Special cases: Publishers and places

Two publishers | No publisher | Publishers with many branches | No place

Two publishers

If two publishers publish it simultaneously, the pattern is:

Whitelaw, E.R. 1996. Contrasts in Russian Perspective. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Andreas Press) (London: Sceptre Publishing).

No publisher

If no publisher is given, use the abbreviation "N.p." for ‘no publisher’ (the two meanings of the same abbreviation can be differentiated by their location):

Jones, Donald. 2001. The Shape of Japan. (Ithaca, N.Y: N.p.).

Publishers with many branches

If the publisher lists many branches all over the world, the place of publication is the one nearest the printing.

No place

If no place of publication is given, use the abbreviation "N.p." for ‘no place’:

Jones, Ken. 2001. Context and Theology: Contemporary Essays. (N.p.: International Books).

 

Special cases: Edition names

No edition details

It is a first edition, so the edition details need not be mentioned.

Reprint editions

Reprint editions are often identical to the old original editions, but are actually produced by different publishers in a more recent year.

Fellows, James. 1893. Word Studies in the Classics. [Repr. Delman Books, 1976] New York: Greenmeadows Press.

 

Typing and layout

Format | Electronic formats | Paper | Font | Underlining or italics | Page margins | Page numbering (pagination) | Chapters | Chapter beginnings | Spacing and indenting | Orphans and widows | Section headings | Specific typing rules | Common typing errors

Format

Different institutions vary in the required format:

1. The most common procedure is to require paper copies. Any content on media other than A4 paper must be included in a pouch inside the rear cover, and listed in the table of contents as an enclosure.
2. Some institutions now allow theses and dissertations in electronic form and do not require paper copies.
3. Institutions increasingly require both paper and electronic formats. If so, they must be exactly the same.

Electronic formats

Electronic formats are best for online institutions and those that want the option of including dynamic graphics in theses and dissertations. The preferred electronic format is a pdf file because it is very stable. However, if you need to include dynamic graphics, check with your supervisor on whether it can be included in the text or enclosed as a separate file.

Paper format

Use good quality, plain white paper of 70 gsm or 80 gsm. Bonded paper is preferable to other papers. Print only on one side of the paper.

Font

Almost all institutions prefer a serif font because it is easier to read for works printed on paper, and is traditionally a requirement. If your institution has this requirement, use a plain book-face font, preferably a version of Times Roman , but other book-face fonts are often permissible (e.g. Garamond, Book Antiqua). Everything should be in the book-face font, and the same size, 12 point. The only exceptions are excerpts in languages that use other orthographies (e.g. Greek, Hebrew).

A book-face font is the kind of font that is used for the ordinary text of a published book. Book-face fonts have the following characteristics:

• They use space efficiently on the page.
• They help the reader to read rapidly in print.
• They are plain and unobtrusive. (You probably never notice them.)
• They are serif fonts. A Serif font has the little feet or hooks at the ends of many strokes. Here's an example with some of the serifs arrowed:

A Sans Serif font is a font without the serifs. If your institution requires a serif font, Sans serif fonts are not permissible because they are harder to read on paper.

Fonts: Some exceptions

Sans Serif fonts are easier to read on a computer screen. Online institutions might require a Sans Serif font such as Calibri if work is submitted on line to be read on screen and there is no immediate plan to print it on paper.

Some other practices are not recommended although a supervisor may permit them, such as the use of a smaller size for footnotes, or the use of a plain typewriter font.

Underlining or italics

Use italics consistently and do not use underlining. Underlining and italics mean the same thing. In a manuscript going to the publisher, underlining indicated to the typesetter any text that is to be set in italics. Consequently, you may not use both in the same item of written work.

Page margins

In all kinds of written work, every page must have margins.

For theses and dissertations, leave a 2.5 cm. margin at the top, bottom and right hand side of the page. The left hand margin should be 4.5 cm. wide to allow for binding.

Margins are also required for all pages of essays. The only variation is that you may instead have a left margin of only 2.5 cm. because essays are not bound.

Page numbering (pagination)

The first page of the Introduction is page 1 and pagination continues from there to the end of the thesis, dissertation, or essay. The page numbers are numerals placed at the center bottom of each page.

Essays normally take only one word processor file, but managing a large thesis will be easier if each chapter is a separate file. The template will automatically do all pagination.

The preliminaries (i.e. all pages before the beginning of the introduction) are numbered using lower case roman numerals i, ii, iii, iv, v and so on. These are only placed on the bottom of the page in the case of the Preface, Acknowledgements, and lists, which are mentioned in the table of contents.

Chapters

If you're writing a thesis or dissertation, you must divide it into chapters. If you're writing an essay, you may not divide it into chapters.

Chapter one is the introduction. It is an integral part of the work, containing the statement of the problem, the approach, and the assumptions.

If a well-meaning soul tells you that introductions should not be chapter one, it is because introductions were once used as a kind of longer preface. Besides, in published works, some authors once got an introductory article from a better-known author, which was basically a marketing ploy. Some of these introductions were substantial writings in their own right.

Chapter beginnings

The top one third of the first page of each chapter should be blank with only the chapter number and chapter title in it. The reason is that the white space makes chapter beginnings easier to find, and it also makes the page more attractive. The current trend is to use a numeral for the chapter number rather than to spell it out as a word.

Spacing and indenting

The text of the chapters or the body of an essay should be double-spaced, so most of the work will appear double spaced. (Option: Some institutions allow use one-and-a half spacing if you leave an extra line between paragraphs.)

First lines of paragraphs are indented one centimetre.

Short quotes (up to four lines) use quotation marks and are put into the double-spaced text of the paragraph with in-text references.

There are exceptions to double spacing; the following must be single-spaced:

• long quotations (also indented)
• footnotes
• preface
• acknowledgments
• bibliography
• abstract

Orphans and widows

Definitions of orphans and widows vary greatly but try this: An "orphan" is the last line of a paragraph printed by itself at the top of a page. A "widow" is the first line of a paragraph printed by itself at the bottom of a page.

Watch out for them. Some word processors can protect you against them. In particular, you may not leave a page at the end of a chapter with only an orphan on it.

Section headings

In essays and longer thesis chapters, you might need sub-headings for sections. It is possible to have a hierarchy of headings, so that larger sections can be divided into smaller sections. As a general rule, the fewer levels you use the better. Below are three levels in red, and these are sufficient for almost all kinds of work.

MAJOR SECTION HEADINGS

This kind of heading is most suited to unavoidably long chapters that need to be clearly broken into several large sections.

Lesser Headings

This is the most common level of heading, and will probably meet all your needs.

      Lower level headings. This level is suitable for individual paragraphs, and is run into the first line of text. It is the only kind of heading for which a full stop (period) is permitted. Use italics. (It would not be wrong to underline it instead of italicizing, as long as you are consistent. Underlining is equivalent to italics; authors once used underlining to instruct typesetters which words were to be italisized.)

The introductory paragraph in a chapter does not need a separate "Introduction" title. It is obviously the chapter introduction, being directly under the chapter title. However, if you write a separate section as a chapter conclusion, then it does need a title to identify its beginning.

Hint: You can use the lesser heading with a subtitle to reduce the number of levels of titles. For example, here's an example of a series of headings that avoids a separate higher level heading for "Social Structure":

Social Structure: The Extended Family
Social Structure: The Village
Social Structure: The Urban Fringe Community
Social Structure: The Clan

Specific typing rules

1. Leave only one space after periods between sentences. (In the days of manual typwriters, it was two spaces, but word processing technology has required the change to one space.)
2. Right margins should be jagged.
3. The order of appendices must follow the order they occur in the text. This also applies to tables, plates and diagrams.
4. Place one space before and after mathematical operators + =
5. Italize pi Π
6. Use colons to start lists.
7. Use an m-dash for a dash. (—)

Common typing errors

These errors might appear unimportant, but they can result in theses and dissertations being rejected:

1. Failing to follow the institution's style guide exactly, for example, failing to follow specific guidelines for page layout, margins, headings, spacing, and punctuation.
2. Typing spaces at end of a sentence · .
3. Typing two spaces between sentences. "This sentence is ending. · · The next sentence begins ..."
4. Capitalizing words for no reason.
5. Capitalizing names of fields of academic study. This practice was discontinued early last century.
6. Incorrect use of italics and underlining.
7. Failing to indent paragraphs.
8. Numbering section titles. This was common in Europe, but is not standard in English.

 

Graphical content

Graphical content includes figures, plates, maps, and graphics. (For some strange reason, diagrams are called figures.)

Figures and maps should preferably be in black and white so that they can be photocopied effectively. Use gif files. Use grayscale for figures only if the grayscale is essential to the information. In these cases, .png files are best, but your supervisor might allow high quality .jpg files. Figures should not be in color.

Plates are usually photographs but some are printouts from data-collecting equipment. The principles are the same as diagrams. Use black and white if possible, grayscale if essential to the information, and color only when it is essential to the information. Again .png files are best.

If your institution permits theses and dissertations to be only in electronic form, your supervisor can permit you to include dynamic graphical data representations, such as moving parts in a diagram, and three-dimensional representations of data. The general principle is that the software format must be a public standard (not private proprietary software) and suited to all major browsers.

For each kind of graphical content, give each item a number and a brief descriptive caption. The numbers follow the order they occur in the text. This means that you could have Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Plate 1, Plate 2, Plate 3, Map 1, Map 2, Map 3.

Tips

1. Detail should be at least 300 x 300 pixels per inch.
2. gif files are suited to solid blocks of color.
3. png and jpg files are suited to photographs.
4. png files do not reduce the actual data. jpg files always reduce data, even if the loss is imperceptible to the eye.
5. Do not use .bmp files for anything because they are very large for the same amount of data. Some publishers, however, still want them for book manuscripts.

 

Portfolio presentation

The basic idea is to present a collection of essays, formally typed up, and presented like a thesis. It should be also bound if it is the culminating effort for the qualification.

The essays will normally be presented as separate works. However, they may also be combined in various ways to make a smaller number of essays. If you want to combine parts, the key is to locate papers on the same topic that prove the same point, to eliminate redundancies, and to smoothe the structure. In combinations, literature reviews normally belong at the beginning of a piece of work and analyses belong toward the end. The bibliography for each essay is placed at the end of the essay, not at the end of the portfolio.

The title page is much like a thesis and everything on it is centred. (View example.)

The contents page is also similar to that of a thesis, except that the essays are not chapters.

 

Hint 1

• You can use free software like Zotero to help you collect and cite research.
• Otherwise, keep your bibliography file on the desktop, especially while writing literature reviews. That way, when you use a source (for example, quoting a book) you can go straight to your bibliography, type the reference and check it. By doing the referencing and the bibliography at the same time, you'll save a lot of work. Save often, so you don't have to do it all again if the computer crashes.

Hint 2

• Save your work regularly and keep back-ups. (Trust me, hard drives fail and electricity flickers.)

Hint 3

• Before your final print out, check that no titles are left alone at the bottoms of pages with no text under them. Some word processors don't print out exactly as they appear on screen. Watch out especially for changes in page break locations.

Hint 4

• When you have finished writing and on-screen editing, print out the chapters and bibliography. It is easier to proofread hard copy than on screen, and you will see more errors.

Hint 5

• To produce a table of contents on a word processor, a template works best. Some people have successfully used software, and the template in this ebook contains a MSWord table of contents. However, it hasn't worked equally well for everybody, but is so easy that you should get advice or do an internet search. (The second-best way to do it is to use a table and make the table lines invisible. It is easy to manipulate and makes fewer mistakes than tabs.)

Hint 6

• Some kinds of newer software can now edit writing style. WordRake is recommended, and often offers a free seven-day trial version. (http://www.wordrake.com/). If you don't want to pay full price, wait until you've done your own edit of the whole manuscript and then try Wordrake.
  See also Grammarly, PaperRater, StyleWriter from Editor Software, and ProWritingAid. Beware, this kind of software is not always perfect, but is often better than MS Word.

 

Preliminaries

The preliminaries for a thesis are the same as those for a project.

Title page

On the title page, the title should be a quarter way down the page and should follow the inverted pyramid shape. The date should sit on the bottom of the page. See an example title page. When you write your name, omit prenominals and postnominals.

Choosing a title

Even if you have a working title from the early stages of planning, choose the final version last to make sure you get it exactly right.

Choose an objective title that reflects the topic of the paper. It needs to sound like a research report, and your readers need to be able to identify the topic easily from the title alone. Resist the temptation to make a big impression with something that sounds creative, glitzy, cute, or eye-catching.

The title must be a phrase, not a sentence, and should not be so long that it is unwieldy. For an essay, the arbitrary length limit is ten words. For theses and dissertations, try to keep the main title within a limit of ten words, and if necessary, use a subtitle to specify the exact topic any further. Consider that in many cases, your prospective readers are researchers who will be looking through a list of titles looking for relevant topics. The title needs to be clear enough for them to know whether or not they need to access an abstract or perhaps the full text.

Contents page

The title nowadays is just CONTENTS. (It was once TABLE OF CONTENTS, but that is now considered old fashioned.) There is no need to put a row of dots between the title and the page number. This is also old-fashioned and makes the page look cluttered.

If all titles are relatively short, you can make the table a little narrower so it is easier to relate each title to its page number. See an example of a contents page.

Indexes of other items

Include lists of tables, maps, graphs, diagrams, or abbreviations (as appropriate). If these lists are short enough and you have more than one, you can put more than one on the same page. Each list must be included in the table of contents.

About prefaces

A preface states the author’s personal background in relation to a thesis. For example, it would be important for the reader to know if you were the person in charge of a project discussed in the thesis, or have lived on location in a tribal village for ten years before you described an aspect of its culture. If you took a personal role in events beyond your role as a researcher, you should recount it briefly, especially if you were an important participant in historical events. The preface also includes brief acknowledgements of help, funding, or cooperation.

In short:

• If you are writing a thesis, omit the preface if you have nothing relevant to say.
• If you are writing an essay, omit it unless it is quite unavoidable.

If you do need to write it, keep it as brief as possible and avoid flowery or emotive language. A matter-of-fact tone is best for an academic work. You may write your name or initials at the end of a preface, but it is not a requirement. If you write your name, omit any prenominals and postnominals.

Acknowledgements

You may need to acknowledge special permissions, funding, or other assistance. You should not acknowledge the assistance of your assigned supervisor or any assistance for which you paid in full.

If you write a preface, acknowledgements should be included in the preface, usually separately in the last paragraph. If you do not write a preface, the acknowledgements page is a brief statement on its own page. The layout is the same as a preface.

Do not include a dedication.

 

Cover to cover outline: Qualitative field data

If you're doing a thesis or dissertation with qualitative field data, your research will probably follow the outline below:

Preliminaries

The preliminaries are written last of all and comprise:

• A blank page inside the cover
• The title page
• An approval page
• Contents
• Lists of tables, maps, graphs, diagrams or abbreviations (as appropriate). If these lists are short enough and you have more than one, you can put them on the same page.
• A Preface or Acknowledgments, but only if necessary.

Chapters

The chapters are the longest section of the thesis:

• Introduction (Chapter 1) Explain the need for the research, the purpose or problem, assumptions, definitions, the group of people you researched. The introduction is written second-last; although you will make notes from the very beginning that you might use in the introduction, you will need to include in the introduction things that crop up during the research process.
  
• Literature review The literature review contains an explanation of how much is already understood on the topic and the deficiencies of what is written.
  
• Research methodology Explain in detail how you went about collecting information, because this is important in establishing the credibility of your information and how you interpret it. If the methodology needs very little explanation (such as a standard procedure), you can put it in the introduction because it won't need to be a separate chapter.
  
• Field data If you're doing descriptive research, you can put your field data here and perhaps do the analysis alongside it instead of in a separate chapter. And if you're an ethnographer, this will be most of your work and probably run into a series of chapters.
  
• Analysis This is to report how you interpreted the data. Make sure that your readers can see the relevance of the data to the conclusion, because you are using the data and its analysis to support your conclusion. If you’ve done your planning right, raw data won’t be enough to directly draw a conclusion because the problem has a conceptual aspect. (That's why data-gathering alone is not really research.)
  
• Implications If your study has interesting and important implications, this is the place to explore them. This chapter is optional because not all researches have enough implications to make a separate chapter.
  
• Conclusion (Final chapter) The conclusion reviews briefly what you have done, what you have found, and its general implications.
  It shows that you argued for a particular conclusion and recaps on how you have reached it. The core of the conclusion (the thesis for which you have argued) should be expressed in a single sentence. However, you must avoid at all costs bringing up new issues that could be interpreted to challenge the thesis for which you have argued.
  Conclusions from descriptive research tend to be sentences that encapsulate the description, and are a little tricky because they can easily become vague and rather meaningless.
  The conclusion might also mention leftover topics that arose such as side issues that need further separate research.
  

Appendices

Appendices are placed before the bibliography, because they can include references to sources that are included in the bibliography.

• If you used data-gathering instruments (e.g. questionnaires), this is the place to put them.
• You may need to enclose copies of letters of permission if it was complex or non-routine.
• Your raw data often needs to be put in appendices. It is usually boring reading and distracts the readers' attention if put in the text, but you need to make it available to readers so they can see what you interpreted. For example, in quantitative studies, it often comprises large tables filled with lists of numbers. In other cases, it comprises data printouts.
  
• Unless your supervisor allows otherwise, treat the full text of long verbatims as raw material and put them in appendices. The post-modern trend, however, is put them in the main text. The rationale has been that they are valid research because they let the speakers speak, without of the researcher’s interpretation and editorializing.

Bibliography

The bibliography includes not only the books and journal articles, but formal interviews, website materials, and details of unpublished materials.

Blank page inside rear cover.

 

Cover to cover outline: Quantitative data

If you're doing a thesis or dissertation with quantitative data, your research will probably follow the outline below:

Preliminaries

The preliminaries are written last of all and comprise:

• A blank page inside the cover
• The title page
• An approval page
• Contents
• Lists of tables, maps, graphs, diagrams or abbreviations (as appropriate). If these lists are short enough and you have more than one, you can put them on the same page.
• A Preface or Acknowledgments, but only if necessary.

Chapters

The chapters are the longest section of the thesis:

• Introduction (Chapter 1) Explain the need for the research, the purpose or problem, assumptions, definitions, the group of people you researched. The introduction is written second-last; although you will make notes from the very beginning that you might use in the introduction, you will need to include in the introduction things that crop up during the research process.
  
• Literature review The literature review contains an explanation of how much is already understood on the topic and the deficiencies of what is written.
  
• Research methodology Explain in detail how you went about collecting information, because this is important in establishing the credibility of your information and how you interpret it. If the methodology needs very little explanation (such as a standard procedure), you can put it in the introduction because it won't need to be a separate chapter.
  
• Analysis This is to report how you interpreted your data. Make sure that your readers can see the relevance of the data to the conclusion, because you are using the data and its analysis to support your conclusion. If you’ve done your planning right, raw data won’t be enough to directly draw a conclusion because the problem has a conceptual aspect. (That's why data-gathering alone is not really research.)
  
• Conclusion (Final chapter) The conclusion reviews briefly what you have done, what you have found, and its general implications.
  It shows that you argued for a particular conclusion and recaps on how you have reached it. The core of the conclusion (the thesis for which you have argued) should be expressed in a single sentence. However, you must avoid at all costs bringing up new issues that could be interpreted to challenge the thesis for which you have argued.
  Conclusions from descriptive research tend to be sentences that encapsulate the description, and are a little tricky because they can easily become vague and rather meaningless.
  The conclusion might also mention leftover topics that arose such as side issues that need further separate research.
  

Appendices

Appendices are placed before the bibliography, because they can include references to sources that are included in the bibliography.

• If you used data-gathering instruments or procedures, this is the place to put them.
• You may need to enclose copies of letters of permission if it was complex or non-routine.
• Your raw data often needs to be put in appendices. In many cases, it is simply large tables filled with lists of numbers. In other cases, it comprises data printouts. It is usually boring reading that distracts the readers' attention if put in the text. However, you need to make it available to readers so they can see what you interpreted.

Bibliography

The bibliography includes not only the books and journal articles, but formal interviews, website materials, and details of unpublished materials.

Blank page inside rear cover.

---

Notes

Abstract You may be required to submit separately an Abstract, which is like a summary that states in a limited number of words what the research covered and its conclusions. The abstract will include your name, the title and length of the thesis, the year, the award for which it is submitted, and the name of your institution.

Index Students ask about indexes. They are not submitted with theses, although, if subsequently published, the later published form might include an index.

 

Binding

Colleges with substantial numbers of distance and on-line students (especially if they are overseas) often have policies that the soft pdf copy is the the final copy. If the institution wants a paper copy, the librarian will make and bind hard copies, and a fee might be payable.

Campus colleges almost always require hard copies, and major projects (theses and dissertations) need to be bound at the student's expense. The guidelines from one institution are as follows.

1. Do not organize binding until the document is in its final form. (It is very unpleasant to have already bound it when changes might still be required.) Provide a pdf file for final checking and the supervisor's preliminary assessment. Then use temporary binding during the assessment process and oral defense, because assessors often require minor changes.
2. When approved, print the final version on white bond paper of 70 or 80 gsm A4. Your options are:
• Print one copy and photocopy other copies. Photocopies must be good quality. The standard is "good enough to use to make other good photocopies."
• Print multiple copies directly from your computer, as long as they are all exactly the same.
3. The final version is to be hardbound in the color specified by the institution (e.g. dark blue buckram). The title, student's name, and year of submission should be stamped on both the front and spine. Gold-colored stamping is preferred to black, which disappears on a dark background.
4. The institution will specify the number of copies required. For example:
   • one for official institutional records
   • one for each supervisor and assessor (this number can vary)
   • one copy to be returned to the student.
5. You will almost certainly need to make extra copies for:
• persons or organizations who provided your research funding
• organizations in which you have done research
• organizations for which you have done research
• libraries associated with you or your project (e.g. colleges where you teach).

Variations

1. Some institutions require that you pay their library to bind the submitted copies. This gives a high quality uniform result.
2. Colors of covers vary greatly.
3. Some specify sewn binding.
4. Most specify the color of printing and the wording on the spin and cover.
5. Buckran is standard, but some institutions allow other kinds of material.

Tips

• Keep a backed-up copy of your word processor file.
• Some people and organizations will be satisfied with soft pdf copies.
• Keep photocopy masters for making more photocopies. If photocopies are sufficiently high quality to be submitted as originals, you may be able to keep the real original.

 

Examples and templates

Essay examples

Title page | A brief article (Links open new windows.)
The brief article about a fictitious scoundrel is written in the style of a biography of a national hero. It demonstrates many of the writing conventions for layout, references, and bibliography.

 

Bibliography example

Bibliographies are the same for essays, theses and dissertations: Example (Link opens new window.)

 

Thesis and dissertation examples

(Links open new windows.)
Title page | Title page for two languages | Contents page | Chapter page (Links open new windows.)

 

 

Thesis and dissertation template

Below are links to templates for theses and dissertations:
Serif dissertation template.

How to use a template:

• The templates use pre-formatted word processing styles.
• Do your writing and editing in your normal word processor in a separate file. It will be easier to keep track of chapters if each chapter is a separate file.
• When you are ready to put your text into the template, copy it and then paste it as unformatted text into the template. Unformatted text will take the format of the template. (If you paste it in as formatted text, it will follow the formatting of your original and not of the template.)
• Use word processing styles to format any headings, extended quotes, etc. Most word processors have a selector at the top of the page. Simply block the heading or paragraph to be re-formatted and select the style.

 

Bible references

The abbreviations for the books of the Bible below are in common use although they have not been standardized, and most have several varients. The two-letter version is prefered if it is already quite clear. In a few cases, a whole syllable seemed more pleasing to the eye (e.g. Numbers). Otherwise, a longer variant is chosen if it would reduce confusion or possible ambiguity (e.g. Ezra cf. Ezekiel, Philippians cf. Philemon).