Master's Thesis and Project Formatting

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Publishing a Master’s Thesis or Project on ScholarWorks

Students who complete a master’s thesis or project as their culminating activity will have their work published on California State University’s (CSU) ScholarWorks, a digital repository providing access to the research and creative projects of students, faculty, and staff from 19 CSU campuses.

To publish, students must submit their thesis or project to the Office of Graduate Studies for formatting review. Once approved and the student’s degree is awarded, the work is sent to the library for cataloging in OneSearch, the Meriam Library catalog. It will also be discoverable via Google Scholar and will start its digital life as part of the CSU community’s diverse range of academic and creative works.

Ensure your master’s thesis/project is correctly formatted for publication by following these guidelines.

Structuring Your Thesis/Project

 A thesis/project comprises four major parts:

1. Pre-text pages (Title to Abstracts pages, see list below)
2. Text (Chapters)
3. Documentation (e.g., References, Works Cited, etc.)
4. Appendices

Follow this order when structuring your thesis/project:

• Title Page
• Graduate Advisory Committee Page
• Publication Rights (optional)
• Dedication (optional)
• Preface/Acknowledgments (optional)
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables (if used)
• List of Figures (if used)
• List of Symbols or Nomenclature (if used)
• Abstract
• Chapters
• Documentation (e.g., References, Works Cited, etc.)
• Appendices

Table of Contents

Follow the structure of the Table of Contents provided in the Thesis and Project templates and the guidelines below:

• Main headers need to be in all capitals (PUBLICATION RIGHTS, DEDICATION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, LIST OF TABLES, LIST OF FIGURES, LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABSTRACT, CHAPTER and CHAPTER TITLES (e.g., INTRODUCTION, LITERATURE REVIEW, METHODOLOGY, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, and SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS). The Table of Contents heading is not listed in the Table of Contents. 
• Dot leaders (the dots that lead from the heading to the page number) need to be aligned and are already set up in the Thesis and Project Templates (for more information on how to set Dot Leaders in MS Word visit Microsoft Support Dot Leaders in TOC). 
• Be sure to set up the headings in the Table of Contents correctly. Only chapter titles, center headings and flush-left headings are listed in the Table of Contents. The Thesis and Project Templates show examples of how to set up the headings (see the Title's and Headings web page and Thesis and Project Templates for more information). 

For more information on the content and structure of a thesis or project, visit the Thesis Overview and Project Overview webpages. 

Thesis and Project Templates

• Accessible Thesis Template: (DOC)  Editable Thesis Template MS Word
• Accessible Project Template: (DOC) Editable Project Template MS Word

Resources

• Thesis/Project Research and Writing Canvas page: To request access to the Canvas page, email the Graduate Research and Writing Coordinator. 
• Thesis/Project Formatting Checklist: (PDF) (PDF) This checklist includes common formatting issues and how to fix them. 
• Thesis/Project Formatting Workshop Slides: (PDF) (PDF) The workshop slides have several links and tips on how to organize your document. 
• Note: Only use the template as an aid. You are entirely responsible for meeting the formatting requirements outlined below.
• Working with a Formatter: Link to information regarding Working With a Formatter(opens in new window)

Final Formatting

The Graduate Research and Writing Coordinator's role is to support students with thesis/project formatting and general writing issues before the final submission and, once submitted, will review and approve the final thesis/project formatting. 

Students will use the combination of their discipline's designated style guide and the University Format guidelines (see below) to format their thesis/project document. The students use the style guide for formatting their in-text citations, all tables, captions for figures and tables, and the documentation (e.g., References, Works Cited, etc.).

With direction and written approval from their advisory committee chair and graduate coordinator, students may select a format consistent with professional publications in their area for the body of text (e.g., formatting the chapters and chapter reference section, if applicable). However, specific University Format guidelines must still apply to the pre-text pages and other University Format requirements.

Departmental Style Guides

Students are responsible for using the appropriate departmental style guide and must follow the specifications in that guide. Each department selects its style guide, which in turn determines the format for the following:

1. Referencing system (in-text citations) throughout the thesis/project.
2. Formatting and captioning of all tables.
3. Format of captions for all figures.
4. Documentation (e.g., References, Works Cited, etc.).  

Please speak with your Graduate Coordinator to find your department's style guide.

Anyone wishing to follow a manual other than that approved by the department must provide the Graduate Research and Writing Coordinator with a written memo signed by all committee members approving the change and a copy of the alternative style manual. 

Links for Style Guides: APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, CSI, and ECE

• http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/new/new_questions01.html
• http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html
• https://www.mla.org/(opens in new window)(opens in new window)
• http://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/citations(opens in new window)(opens in new window)
• http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.htm(opens in new window)(opens in new window)l
• https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/(opens in new window)(opens in new window)
• http://www.csuchico.edu/csci/programs/ms-compsci/style-guide.shtml(opens in new window)(opens in new window)
• http://www.apastyle.org/

University Format

The University Format guidelines provide a systematic structure for thesis and project documents and need to be adhered to for final submission. Formatting requirements for theses/projects have been developed with accessibility and readability guidelines in mind.