Formatting Guidelines

Home Students Formatting Guidelines

Please note that every dissertation that is uploaded to the digital system is reviewed by the Dissertation Office for formatting, and that if there are any issues, the file will be bounced back to the student for revisions. Uploading the revised dissertation is a simple process. If you are aiming to deposit in time for a particular deadline, then it is your responsibility to upload the document several days in advance, to allow for any formatting issues to be identified and corrected. Dissertation files are large -- please do not send them to us by email! Margins All four margins of the page must be at least one inch, and the left and right margins should be equal. All material, including figures, tables, headers/footers, footnotes/endnotes, and images, must appear within the margins of the manuscript. Page numbers are the only exception; these must appear at least three quarters of an inch (3/4) from the edge of the page, but can appear in the one-inch margin. Charts, graphs, and illustrations may be placed horizontally in order to conform to the margin requirements as long as they remain clear and legiblewhen this occurs, however, the page number must still appear "right-side up," matching the rest of the page numbers in the manuscript. Musical scores must have at least one inch margins on each side. Spacing The text, abstract, dedication, acknowledgments, and table of contents are doublespaced. Normally, quotations of eight lines or more are indented and single-

spaced. Footnotes,endnotes, and bibliographic entries should be single-spaced with double spacing between each entry. Required order and page numbering All dissertations should be structured according to the table below. The three broad sections (cover pages, prefatory pages, and the main body and other pages) each have a different convention for page numbering; please see the more specific notes below the table. Please pay careful attention to the requirements for page numbering, as they are necessary to ensure that your dissertation is properly formatted and prepared for possible printing. Required Order 1. Title Page Cover pages and abstract 2. Copyright Page 3. Abstract 1. Table of Contents 2. List of Charts, Graphs, Illustrations Prefatory pages 3. Acknowledgments 4. Dedication 5. Preface (if applicable) 1. Main body of the dissertation (including all introduction and chapter pages, graphs, photos, Arabic numerals beginning with figures, and tables) "1" on the top right corners (see 2. References and/or below for details) Bibliography 3. Appendices (if applicable) Cover pages (title page, copyright page, abstract) are NOT numbered. All prefatory pages are numbered continuously using lower-case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii...) centered at the bottom of the page. All other pages, including the main body of the dissertation, references, bibliographies and appendices, are numbered continuously using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3...), starting from the number "1". The basic requirement for these Arabic numerals is that they appear on the top right corner of each page. Lower case Roman numerals beginning with "i" centered at bottom of page No page numbers; pages are not counted Page Numbering

Main body and all other pages

However, please note that if the dissertation is ever printed double-sided on paper (by ProQuest, for example), having the page numbers in the top right corners means that every page that is on the left side of the spine when the book is open flat will have its page number near the spine of the book rather than near the edge of the page. Since most dissertations are reviewed electronically, this will not be a concern for the majority of doctoral candidates. If you anticipate that someone may purchase a printed copy of your dissertation from ProQuest, and if you do not find the "top right corner only" page numbering to be acceptable, you may choose to have the Arabic page numbers alternate from the top left to the top right corners. This type of page numbering is referred to as the top outside corners. (Imagine a printed book open flat on your desk. On the two pages that are visible, the page on the left side of the spine has its page number on the upper left corner, while the page on the right side of the spine has its page number on the upper right corner.) Again, this type of alternating Arabic page number is optionalwe will accept a dissertation that has all its Arabic page numbers on the top right of every page. Please take into account that ProQuest inserts an extra page with cataloguing information after your title page, which may affect your formatting for alternate page numbers. The version of your dissertation available on Academic Commons will not have this extra page. It is possible to set up section breaks in Microsoft Word to account for the three different types of page numbering while keeping the entire dissertation in one file. We are putting together a guide to setting this up, which will be available soon. Please note that any page that contains a large chart, graph or image that has a "landscape" orientation must still have a page number in the top right corner that has a "portrait" orientation and therefore matches all the other page numbers in a printed copy of your dissertations. These individual pages may then be oriented "landscape" within your PDF file if you wish, to make them easier to read. If a part of the dissertation is a reproduction that has already been paginated in another source (e.g. a journal article), page numbers must be added as described above, running continuously with page numbers in the rest of the dissertation. Font Any legible serif or sans-serif standard font may be used, as long as it is equivalent in scale to 10pt. Arial or 12 pt. Times New Roman. Script or ornamental fonts should not be used. The font should be uniform throughout the text, although a separate font or a slightly smaller size may be used for footnotes, tables, graphs or appendices, pagination, the abstract, and the table of contents. All fonts must be embedded in the PDF file. Title page

In the title of your dissertation, use full proper names of people, organisms, places, etc. For example: "Samuel Clemens," not "S. Clemens"; Caenorhabditis elegans, not C. elegans. Spell out abbreviations, and use word substitutions for formulae, symbols, Greek characters, etc. For example: "Triassic," not "Tr."; "carbon dioxide," not "CO2"; "first," not "1st"; "delta," not "". Use italics for the titles of other works or for the scientific name of an organism. Be sure to include all appropriate accent and diacritical marks. Choose the relevant example to see how the information on your title page must be presented. There are differences in text for each one, so be sure to choose the correct example. Ph.D. in: Architecture Biomedical Informatics Biostatistics Business Cellular, Molecular & Biomedical Studies (Integrated Program) Chemical Physics Classical Studies Communications Environmental Health Sciences Ph.D. in: any other Ph.D. program D.M.A. Doctor of Musical Arts (Department of Music) D.E.S. Doctor of Engineering Science (SEAS; this is not the Ph.D.) Epidemiology Neurobiology and Behavior Nursing Nutritional and Metabolic Biology Social Work Sociomedical Sciences Teachers College (all Ph.D. programs) Theatre Urban Planning USE THIS EXAMPLE

USE THIS EXAMPLE USE THIS EXAMPLE USE THIS EXAMPLE USE THIS EXAMPLE USE THIS EXAMPLE

D.N.Sc. Doctor of Nursing Science (School of Nursing; this is not the Ph.D.) J.S.D. Doctor of the Science of Law (School of Law)

The year on the title page must be the calendar year in which the degree is conferred. This may in some cases differ from the year on the copyright page (see below). Copyright page The copyright page should immediately follow the title page. Centered at the bottom of an otherwise blank page, there should be three lines, substituting your own name and the year the manuscript was completed:

 20xx Jane Smith All rights reserved Click here for an example page. The year on the copyright page should be the calendar year in which the manuscript was completed, and in certain cases this may differ from the year on your cover page. If, for example, you complete and deposit your dissertation in late October, November, or December, your degree will be conferred the following February. This means that your copyright page will have one year on it (the year in which the manuscript was completed) and the cover page will have the following year on it (the year in which the degree will be conferred). While your dissertation will be as a rule made available openly through Academic Commons, Columbia's institutional repository, you may also wish to apply a Creative Commons license to your dissertation rather than a traditional copyright. For more information on how this works, please consult this page. The copyright page should not have a page number, and is not counted toward the page count of your prefatory pages. The Columbia Copyright Office is an excellent source of information about copyright. Their website is at copyright.columbia.edu. Abstract The abstract page(s) should immediately follow the copyright page. At the top of the page should be the following header, substituting your own name and the title of your dissertation: ABSTRACT The Title of a Fantastic Dissertation about Very Important Things Jane Smith The abstract itself follows below. It should be double-spaced, and there is no word limit. Do not include diagrams, images, abbreviations, or formulae in the abstract. Click here for an example page. The abstract should not have a page number, and is not counted toward the page count of your prefatory pages. Footnotes Reference notes may be placed at the bottom of the page, at the end of the chapter, or at the end of the dissertation before the bibliography. Dissertations in the natural

sciences and in some social sciences place citations to the reference or source material in parentheses throughout the text itself with a list of all references in the latter part of the work. The student should verify the desired footnote style with the advisor or the department/program. Style The author should follow the leading manuals in his or her field regarding style unless it conflicts with the requirements set out in these instructions. Check with the advisor and department/program about their policies on style. Any quotations, references and phrases in foreign languages should follow departmental or disciplinary style. GSAS recommends the most recent editions of these style manuals: Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, University of Chicago Press; MLA Style Sheet, New York Modern Language Association of America; The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press; Publication Manual, American Psychological Association. Dissertations written in foreign languages Students whose dissertations were approved to be written in a language other than English should consult this page.