Graduate Programs Thesis and Dissertation Handbook
On this page:
- Foreword
- I. Procedures
- II. Responsibilities
- III. Sections of the Thesis
- IV. Preparation of the Manuscript
Foreword
In 1999, OhioLINK created the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Center in Columbus, at the request of the Ohio Board of Regents’ Advisory Committee on Graduate Study (RACGS). The ETD center was launched in 2001 as an online repository for master’s theses and doctoral dissertations produced by students studying at Ohio institutions.
In the Winter Quarter of 2006, the Wright State University Graduate Council approved the conversion from paper to electronic (i.e., ETD) copies for Wright State theses and dissertations deposited for graduation in Fall Quarter 2006 and beyond.
Until the Fall Quarter of 2006, the submission of a thesis or dissertation in ETD format was an option. Theses and dissertations submitted for Fall Quarter 2006 and beyond must be deposited with OhioLINK and filed as ETDs on OhioLINK’s servers.
OhioLINK, therefore, is the ETD repository for the state universities system in Ohio.
I. Procedures
This handbook sets forth minimum requirements to be followed in all master's theses and doctoral dissertations submitted to OhioLINK or to the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies. For purposes of brevity and clarity, in this handbook, the terms "thesis" and "theses" will be used to discuss both master's theses and doctoral dissertations. This handbook is basically a guide to format, not an exhaustive guide to style or to the process of developing and writing a thesis. Individual departments or programs may stipulate additional requirements, and, in matters of format, style, and procedure not specified in this handbook, students should seek the advice of their thesis directors. For matters not specified by this handbook, or by departments, you should consult the latest edition of A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian. It should be followed when departments do not specify a style manual. Other manuals can also be used, such as the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual, The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the Chicago Manual of Style, etc. All of these manuals are available as library reference materials or they may be purchased at most bookstores. Also, the University Writing Center (122 Student Success Center) provides mini-manuals, which provide basic format and citation information for APA and MLA styles. The important point to remember is that the thesis must be consistent in both the style employed and the format selected. If you have any questions or concerns about style and/or format, you should contact the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies,160 University Hall, telephone (937) 775-2976, or e-mail wsugrad@wright.edu.
Format Check
At your request, the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies will make a format check of any thesis prior to the final deposit. The format check should be submitted electronically to wsugrad@wright.edu. This review will evaluate the thesis for format and style as established in this handbook. This review is intended to minimize the likelihood of thesis rejection after the deposit deadline. However, it in no way guarantees the acceptability of the final copy. To allow ample time for completing the final deposit copy, you are advised to arrange for a format check well in advance of the deposit deadline. Format checks will be done as soon as possible, but please allow at least two (2) days for completion.
Final Deposit
OhioLINK requires that the electronic thesis/dissertation (ETD) must be submitted in PDF format. Beginning January 2023, OhioLINK also requires that the ETD meet the minimum requirements for digital accessibility:
- PDF file includes full text
- PDF accessibility permission flag is checked
- Text language of the PDF is specified
- Figures and images include alternative text
- PDF includes a title
Resources for creating an accessible pdf are available on Adobe’s Help website.
One copy of the PDF thesis must be deposited at the OhioLINK ETD Center by going to https://etdadmin.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/r/etd/admin/login not later than 30 days after the end of the semester in which the degree will be granted (due dates are published by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies and distributed to the departments and program offices). This final copy should follow the form prescribed in this handbook and should be carefully produced, free of errors in style, mechanics, and format
Instructions for submitting your ETD are on the OhioLINK Web site. You will be asked to create a user account and then provide identifying information about yourself, your department, and your ETD, and then you will be permitted to upload your pdf thesis to the OhioLINK site.
The College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies is notified by OhioLINK when an ETD is deposited, and final approval is the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies’ responsibility, not OhioLINK’s. Final copies will not be approved at OhioLINK if errors in format require corrections.
* The PDF file must include the typed thesis approval page, but without signatures.
* One (1) copy of the typed thesis approval page with signatures must be submitted to the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies for filing. The ETD cannot be approved until the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies receives the signed thesis approval page.
You should check with your advisor to determine if your department or program requires additional electronic or paper copies.
In cases where a thesis cannot be prepared as an ETD (e.g., some creative theses, etc.), the student may request a waiver of the ETD requirement by submitting an academic petition to the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies in advance of the due date.
II. Responsibilities
College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies
The College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies is responsible for determining that all deposit copies conform to the requirements set forth in this handbook. The College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies reserves the right to refuse, for a final deposit, any thesis that does not meet these requirements. Your final copy must be approved and signed by the Dean of the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies before your degree will be posted to your academic record.
Departments and Programs
Departments and programs are responsible for developing and enforcing the procedures and regulations guiding the process of writing and approving a thesis, and for establishing matters of format and style not prescribed by this handbook. They are also responsible for making these procedures and regulations known to you. The signatures of your thesis committee members on the approval sheet certify that the content of your thesis meets an acceptable standard of scholarship and reflects a level of research, originality, and writing style appropriate for master's and doctoral candidates. In addition, the signature of the department chair/program director verifies that you have successfully passed the oral defense of the thesis and that the format is acceptable to the department/program. It is the department's responsibility to ensure that all committee members have appropriate graduate faculty status.
Students
The student is responsible for following all of the procedures and regulations governing the preparation of an approved thesis, including the standards and requirements of the department or program and the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies as outlined in this handbook. You have the ultimate responsibility for the content, scholarship, and style of your thesis, and for maintaining a high standard of written expression. If you need editorial assistance, you are responsible for securing it. Your thesis director and advisory committee members will work with you on thesis content and scholarship standards. While they may also help you in the composition and construction of the thesis document itself, please remember that proofreading and other editorial chores are not the duty of your thesis advisors. You are responsible for making any corrections and/or additions as required by the thesis director, the thesis committee, and the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies. Submission and retrieval of thesis format check documents at the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies, as well as mailing costs, when necessary, are also student responsibilities.
III. Section of the Thesis
Order of Sections
The prescribed order is given below. Asterisked (*) sections are optional (at the discretion of the student, advisor, or department), except that lists of figures and tables are required when figures and tables appear in the text. Theses that do not follow the prescribed order will be rejected for improper format.
preliminary pages:
title page
*copyright page
approval sheet (signed copy to the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies; unsigned copy with ETD to OhioLINK)
abstract
table of contents
*list of figures or illustrations
*list of tables
*preface
*acknowledgment
*dedication
body:
text of thesis
reference pages
*appendix/appendices
bibliography (or references)
*vita
*index
Title Page
The title page must conform exactly in spacing and capitalization to the sample in Appendix A (Master's) or Appendix K (Doctoral). Your name should be given in full and in all capital letters and must be followed by previous degree(s). The date at the bottom of the page should indicate the year in which your degree will be conferred. The title should clearly describe the contents of the thesis. If possible, word substitutes should be used for formulas, symbols, superscripts, Greek letters, and so on.
Below is a template for the Title Page that can be downloaded, completed, and then copied into the beginning of the thesis/dissertation Word document.
Title Page Fillable Form (DOCX)
Copyright
A copyright gives the author of a thesis or dissertation the right to exclude others from reproducing or displaying one's original work. If you are interested in applying to copyright your thesis or dissertation, you should visit the U.S. Copyright Office's official website for information and forms. (See sample copyright page at Appendix L.)
In cases where a patent, copyright, or other intellectual property issue is involved, the student and advisor can request a publication delay, or embargo, of the ETD from the Dean of the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies, for up to one year at a time. In this case, the ETD is placed on a secure OhioLINK server. The student’s name, thesis title, and thesis abstract will be the only portion of the thesis available to the public until the embargo expires.
Approval (Signature) Sheet
As stated above, a paper copy of your signed approval sheet must be submitted to the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies when or before you submit your final ETD to OhioLINK. Approval sheets are to be prepared by the students and are not supplied by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies. The approval sheets may be duplicated, but all signatures on them must be original. The approval sheet should conform to the sample in Appendix B (Master's) or Appendix M (Doctoral). You may submit additional copies of the approval sheet for the Graduate Dean's signature, which can be returned to you as needed. You must come to the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies to reclaim approval sheets, as they will not be forwarded to you.
The approval sheet in the electronic file should have printed names (see sample approval sheets at Appendices B and M but no signatures. The copy delivered to and retained by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies must be signed; the copy sent to OhioLINK with your ETD must not be signed.
Below is a template for the Approval Page that can be downloaded, completed, and then copied into the beginning of the thesis/dissertation Word document.
Thesis Signature Sheet Fillable Form (DOCX)
Dissertation Signature Sheet Fillable Form (DOCX)
Abstract
The abstract should succinctly summarize the contents of the thesis, stating the problem, the procedure or methods used, the results, and any conclusions. Doctoral dissertation abstracts should not exceed 350 words. Master's thesis abstracts should not exceed 150 words. For the format, see the sample in Appendix C.
Below is a template for the Abstract Page that can be downloaded, completed, and then copied into the beginning of the thesis/dissertation Word document.
Other Sections
For details of format and style relating to other sections of the thesis (including footnote and bibliography style), students should consult Turabian, the style manual recommended by their department or program, or any other standard style manual being used. The sample table of contents, list of figures, and list of tables in Appendices D, E, and F, respectively, provide examples of suitable formats for those parts of the thesis. Appendix G provides a suitable sample format for the text of your thesis. Appendix H provides a sample thesis appendix. Appendix I provides a sample bibliography. Appendix J provides a sample reference, or literature cited, a list that may be used either with or in place of the bibliography. (In certain scientific fields, a list of "References" or "Literature Cited" may be more appropriate than a standard "Bibliography." While Appendix J represents one approach, please note that lists of References or Literature Cited formats differ among various scientific fields. You should check with your thesis advisor or refer to one of the standardized thesis preparation manuals for the format which is appropriate to your academic field.) Care should be taken to maintain consistency of style and format throughout the thesis.
IV. Preparation of the Manuscript
Margins
All pages are to have approximately 1” margins on all sides (top, bottom left and right). If the thesis will be printed and bound, then the thesis pages should have approximately 1 1/2" margins on the left, and approximately 1" margins on the right, bottom, and top. The only exception is that the first page of a chapter or section must have an approximate 2" margin at the top (see Appendices A through M). Supplementary materials (printouts, tables, photographs, questionnaires, etc.) must also meet these margin requirements.
Spacing
The general text must be double-spaced. The spacing of long quotations, footnotes, tables, bibliographies, captions, etc., should conform to the specifications of this handbook, the style manual adopted by the student's department/program, or to Turabian. Spacing must be consistent throughout. See Appendix G for an example of the recommended layout and spacing for chapter titles, subheadings, etc.
Pagination
Preliminary pages. The pages preceding the text (e.g., abstract, table of contents, dedication, etc.) are to be numbered in lowercase Roman numerals (i.e., iii, iv, xi, etc.; see Appendices C, D, E, and F) and centered five lines (or, approximately 3/4") above the bottom of the page. The title page and the approval sheet are counted as preliminary pages, but they are not to be numbered. Preliminary pages are numbered consecutively, beginning with "iii" on the first page of the abstract. If, however, a copyright page is used, then the numbering begins with "iv" on the first page of the abstract.
Text and reference pages. Starting with the first page of the text, or body of the thesis, the remaining pages of the thesis (including the bibliography and appendices) are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals (i.e., 1, 2, 3, etc.), starting with page number 1 on the first page of the text. Numbers are to be centered five lines (or approximately 3/4") above the bottom of the page. All succeeding numbers in the chapter or section are to be typed in the upper right-hand corner, five lines (or, approximately 3/4") below the top edge of the page and 3/4" to 1" from the right side of the page. As an option, page numbers may be placed five lines (or, approximately 3/4") above the bottom of the page (and centered) on all pages. Do not use punctuation marks before or after page numbers, do not use the word "page" with the number, and do not underline the page numbers (see Appendix G) for examples of this requirement).
Sample Pages (Appendices A through M)
The following appendices are taken from parts of several theses submitted and approved by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies. You should view these samples as guidelines for the appropriate style and format for your thesis. Appendices A through F and K through M are samples of a standardized Wright State University format that should be followed, in all particulars, when preparing your thesis. The text of your thesis should conform to the Sample Format for Text (Appendix G) in terms of pagination, spacing, and structure. The appendices and bibliography (or references) should conform to the samples at Appendices H, I, and J. Footnoting and the displaying of tables and figures may vary, depending on the style manual used or recommended by your department or program (e.g., Turabian, APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
