Physical Standards for Theses & Dissertations

Before you begin the final formatting of your thesis/dissertation, please review these standards carefully and consult your program for any additional style guidelines. Your document should conform to these standards before your draft submission to the W&M ETD Administrator website.

Tip: Need help with formatting page numbers in Word? Here's a helpful guide.

Page Templates

The required pages are standardized for all theses and dissertations and must be completed using the templates provided below; they contain fillable fields to ensure standardized formatting. Students who use LaTeX may consult their graduate program to access a LaTeX template.

Physical Standards

Page Ordering and Numbering

Please note and follow the order of required and optional pages listed below.

Title Page. Required, not numbered, must follow template.
Copyright Page. Required, not numbered, must follow template.
Approval Page. Required, not numbered, must follow template.
Compliance Page. Required if applicable, not numbered, must follow template.
Abstract. Required, not numbered, must follow template.
Table of Contents. Required, paginated beginning with the Roman numeral i, must follow template.
Acknowledgements. Required, continued sequential pagination with Roman numerals, must follow template.
Dedication. Optional, continued sequential pagination with Roman numerals, must be listed in the Table of Contents, must follow template.
List of Tables. Optional, continued sequential pagination with Roman numerals, must be listed in the Table of Contents, must follow template.
List of Figures. Optional, continued sequential pagination with Roman numerals, must be listed in the Table of Contents, must follow template.
Body of Text. Numbered consecutively and consistently using Arabic numerals (starting with the number 1) in either the upper right corner of each page (1 inch from the top of the page and 1 inch from the right margin) or the bottom center of each page (1 inch from the bottom of the page), being careful not to go beyond the margins; must be listed in the Table of Contents.
Appendices. Optional, continued sequential numbering using Arabic numerals, must be listed in the Table of Contents.
References/Bibliography. Optional, continued sequential numbering using Arabic numerals, must be listed in the Table of Contents.
Vita. Optional, continued sequential numbering using Arabic numerals, must be listed in the Table of Contents.

Formatting

Line Spacing. Theses and dissertations must be typeset and double-spaced. Captions, footnotes, table of contents, vita, and other such text may be single-spaced.

Font and Type Size. The font for all required pages (i.e., the front matter; see templates above) must be either Arial or Computer Modern Sans Serif. Arial is most widely recommended as an ADA compliant font and is recommended for use by ProQuest. Users of LaTeX must use Computer Modern Sans Serif since LaTeX does not include Arial as a font option. The body of the text (i.e., the main text following the required pages) is not restricted to a particular font. However, it is suggested that the font used for the body of the text be the same as the font used for all required pages for reasons of both accessibility and consistency.

The templates for the required pages indicate the font size to be used. The body of the text must be set in a font size of at least 10pt but no more than 12pt.

Margins. All text pages must have a left margin of 1.5 to 2 inches. Top, right, and bottom margins must be 1 to 1.25 inches.

Footnotes. Footnotes may be placed at the bottom of each page or at the end of the document. Placement of footnotes must follow the requirements for page margins.

Title Page. The title page must conform strictly to the template. Your full legal name, or name as it appears in Banner, must be used.

Copyright Page. You must include a Copyright Page in you final submission. If you use a Creative Commons License, please include that information on the template. An Attribution-NonCommercial license would look like this on your Copyright page: © Copyright by Iam A. Student 2013, This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommericial 4.0 license. See About Copyright.

Approval Page. The Approval Page must be signed by the you and each individual committee member. See Forms and Procedures.

Compliance Page (if needed)
Please visit Forms and Procedures for information about the required Compliance Committee Form. If needed, the Compliance Page must conform to the template.

Abstract Page. Must be Left aligned and content must fit within the text box indicated in the template.

Table of Contents Page. Pagination begins with the Roman numeral i. Please note in Page Order and Numbering above which pages must be included in the Table of Contents.

Acknowledgements Page. Must be Left aligned. Continued sequential pagination with lower case Roman numerals. Acknowledgements should express gratitude to those who helped support and guided the completion of your thesis or dissertation (e.g., your dissertation advisor, examination committee members, other faculty members, mentors, college staff, family, or friends).

Dedication Page. Continued sequential pagination with lower case Roman numerals. A dedication can be to whomever you would like (e.g., your parents, your spouse, your children, your cat). It is okay to dedicate your thesis or dissertation to someone mentioned in the acknowledgments.

List of Tables Page. Continued sequential pagination with lower case Roman numerals.

List of Figures Page. Continued sequential pagination with lower case Roman numerals.