ETD Formatting
Specs and Samples for Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Students
On this webpage, you’ll find the basic format specifications (specs) for theses and dissertations at the University of Florida. All UF thesis and dissertation students must follow these specs. The links to samples on this webpage show examples of what pages within your thesis or dissertation are to look like. Questions? Consult the Guide for Preparing Theses and Dissertations or email gradedit@aa.ufl.edu.
Project in lieu of thesis students must follow their academic unit’s specific requirements, which differ from the Graduate School Editorial Office’s requirements. Need guidance with that? Contact your academic unit’s graduate coordinator or staffer: Contacts.
Thesis/Dissertation Document Organization
You must organize your thesis or dissertation into an integrated whole, a single, intact study. Your document ought to have only one abstract, table of contents, and reference list. Your text must have an introductory chapter, a main body (including tables and figures), and a closing summary chapter of conclusions or findings. Generally speaking, Chapter 1 will be the introductory chapter (often titled “Introduction”), followed by the supporting main body chapters, and wrapped up with the closing summary chapter (usually titled something like “Conclusion”).
Basic Format Requirements
- Margins: One inch (1") all around (top, right, bottom, left) on all pages
- Font: 12-point Times New Roman or Arial throughout, including tables and figures
- Alignment: Left-aligned text with ragged right-hand margin — do not justify text
- Page Numbering: Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, and so on) centered at bottom of each page
- Page Order: Arrange pages in this order:
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication (if any)
- Acknowledgements
- Table of contents
- List of tables (if any)
- List of abbreviations (if any)
- Academic abstract
- Chapters
- Appendices (if any)
- List of references
- Biographical sketch
- Spacing: Double-space paragraph text. Indent the first line of each paragraph. Single-space headings, table titles, and figure captions. The reference list is single-spaced with one blank line in between the references.
- Text Flow: Text must be continuous throughout the chapter. It’s best to place all tables and figures at the end of their chapter. Avoid inserting them into the chapter’s text, unless you can do so without leaving blank gaps at the bottom of text pages.
- Headings: Format headings with this styling:
- All major division headings are in uppercase (capital) letters, not in bold: preliminary pages, chapters, appendices, reference list; and biographical sketch.
- All subheadings and paragraph headings are in bold.
- First-level subheadings are centered and in title case.
- Second-level subheadings are flush-left and in title case.
- Third-level subheading are flush-left and in sentence case.
- Paragraph subheadings are indented and in sentence case.
- Paragraph headings end with a period or colon. Start the text on the same line as the paragraph heading.
- Paragraph headings also can be used with bulleted lists.
Samples
For more helpful resources to complete and submit your thesis or dissertation, click here:
Graduate School