How to Build a

Manuscript

SandwichConstructing a Thesis from the Bottom Up

Using the University Guidelines Manual

The Chef Staff

Grad. Studies, ES, Dept., Comm., IRB, TDO, and

the Elusive College Designee

• Graduate Studies oversees all activities of CSULB graduate students

• Enrollment Services will not release grades until all requirements for your manuscript are complete

• The graduate advisor in your department should be familiar with manuscript requirements of your department

• Your committee chair plays the most important role during the thesis process. Choose carefully

• Institutional Review Board must be consulted if your research involves working with people or animals

• The Thesis and Dissertation Office helps with formatting rules (fine tuning). Content and composition should be taken care of by the time you work with us

• The college designee signs the final signature on your signature page. Be sure you know his or her identity before it’s time to capture that precious final signature

NEW!

The Cookbooks

Print and Online Formatting Resources

• Thesis and Dissertation Office website, particularly Format Guide

web page, has University Guidelines Manual, mini-manuscript,

PowerPoints, and other formatting aids. The easiest way to access

this page is through the University Library homepage—look for a

link on the list at the left side of the page

• APA Manual, 6th edition, particularly Chapter 7, has examples of

citations

• Cite Right, by Charles Lipson (2011), has easy-to-follow

explanations of APA style with lots of examples

• Form and Style, by Carole Slade and Robert Perrin (2009), covers

writing, documenting and formatting for theses and project reports

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL; http://owl.english.purdue.edu/)

has a major section on APA formatting as well as well-structured

advice on the process of writing

The Appliances

Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases

and More

• Microsoft Word—Get familiar with techniques like positioning page numbers, setting page breaks, and adjusting line spacing

• Microsoft Excel—If you use this program to create tables, be sure the font is set to match the font used in your text

• Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)—Good for manipulating data in surveys to create tables, but requires tutorial to understand

• RefWorks—Citation generator available free through the homepage of University Library, which also offers workshops on how to use it

• Evernote or OneNote—Programs to help organize notes and chapters

• Never underestimate the power of battery-free technology—Use a small notebook or 3 x 5 index cards for jotting down inspirations or experimenting with arrangement of sections

The Recipe

Typical Features of a Thesis

Remember that your manuscript is not typical. Use these parameters

as a springboard. Do not let them limit you.

• Number of pages (abstract to final guard sheet)—from 48 to 171;

average page count = 106

• Number of pages in references list—from 3 to 9

• Number of tables—from 0 to 22

• Number of figures—from 0 to 4

• 5 Chapters—Introduction or Overview, Literature Review,

Methodology, Results, Discussion or Conclusions

• About three fourths of students include an acknowledgements

page

The Outer Layers

Bottom Layer—References List

• Selecting the best sources for your references list is part of the process; a shorter list is easier to format and obscure in-text citation rules are less likely to come into play with a shorter references list

• Citation generators are most effective if you input sources directly from other databases, but citation generators are not 100% accurate. Be sure to proofread your references list

• When creating a citation, answer these questions: Who created the work? Whenwas it created? What is its title? How can it be accessed?

• All sources cited in your text must be listed in the references list

• Use hanging indent format for each citation: first line begins at left margin and all other lines are indented

• Use single line spacing within each citation and leave one blank line between citation

• Check the last citation on each page to be sure it is not split onto two pages. Move the part at the bottom of the page to the top of the next page if needed

• Use a title page before the first page of the references list with REFERENCES (all caps) centered on the page and a page number. The page number of this title page is the page number used in the table of contents

Top Layer—Title Page and Signature Page

• Take a break from your writing to create a title and format a title page

• Templates for a title page and a signature page are available at the Thesis and Dissertation Office web pages

• On title page, signature page, and abstract, the title of your thesis must match exactly, not only word-for-word but also line-for-line

• Format the title with the longest line first followed by progressively shorter lines (an inverted pyramid)

• Your name must also match on title page, signature page, and abstract

• Use single line spacing for the names of committee members listed on the title page

• The title page and the signature page have blocks of text arranged between blank areas to fill the pages from the one inch top margin to the one inch bottom margin and neither of these pages has a page number

The Juicy Extras

Appendices

• Appendices are used for material that is difficult to conform to the many University Guideline rules for text. Tables, figures, flyers, outlines, curriculum guides, handbooks, survey questions, extended interviews, and computer code are often included in appendices

• Material in appendices must fit within the standard margins—1 ½ inch left margin and 1 inch top, right and bottom margins

• All pages in appendices must have page numbers in sequence following the last page of the text

• Title pages are used to introduce appendices. The text on these title pages is centered on the page and uses all uppercase letters and double line spacing. Title pages have page numbers, and it is the page number of the title pages that is listed in the table of contents

• If there is only one appendix, use the word APPENDIX as the first line and then the title of the appendix on the next line

• For more than one appendix, begin with a separate APPENDICES title page followed by the first appendix title page which contains the words APPENDIX A, then a blank line and then the title of Appendix A on the next line

The Meat

Formatting Essentials

Submit manuscripts printed on 20 lb. (standard weight) printer paper in a

thesis box

Only these 4 font styles allowed: Times Roman, Times New Roman, Courier,

or Courier New in 12 point font size

Margins: 1 ½ INCH LEFT MARGIN IS USED THROUGHOUT THESIS;

one inch margin on top, right, and bottom except on the first page of every

major section where a two inch top margin is used

Use TWO SPACES AFTER PERIODS and other punctuation ending

sentences and TWO SPACES AFTER ALL COLONS

Center page numbers just ABOVE the one inch bottom margin (footer setting

between 0.7 and 0.9 inch for good placement) and match the font size and font

style of page numbers with text

Use paragraph format with uniform double line-spacing (one empty line

between two lines of text) with no additional line space between paragraphs

and around chapter titles or subheads. Select text above and below wide blank

space and set line spacing to “0 pt.” to eliminate wide gaps

Chapter Format

1. Some important restrictions in the text: no bold font, only black

color font, no contractions, no outlines, no bullets, no right justification

2. Format enumerated items with the first line (including the

number) indented the same indentation as the first line of a paragraph

with all other lines beginning at the left margin

3. Chapters can be divided into sections by using first level

subheads and those sections can be divided into subsections by using

second and third level subheads. First level subheads are centered on a

line without text and underlined, and they use headline style

capitalization (first word and all significant words capitalized).

4. University Guidelines has many rules about the format of tables

and figures as well as the placement of tables and figures. Because of

these restrictions, it is a good idea to create the text chapter and then

decide on placement of tables and figures rather than attempting to force

the text to immediately precede the table or figure it describes

The Toppings

Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, Etc.

• Include all major sections, chapter titles and first level subheads in the table of contents.

Match the wording of chapter and subhead titles in table of contents with the wording of

titles in text; double check that page numbers match too. If you choose to include even

one second level subhead, then ALL second AND third level subheads must be included in

the table of contents

• Column of page numbers must be right aligned (set a right-aligned tab at 5.95”)

• Dot leaders end in alignment 3-4 spaces before the longest page number (set a right-

aligned tab at 5.6” with Leader set to 2)

• The Thesis and Dissertation Office Format Guide web page has instructions on setting

tabs for the table of contents, and links to the table of contents page template, and don’t

forget the example of a table of contents in the mini-manuscript. Seeing is believing!

• Subheads and multiple-lined chapter titles are single line spaced, but leave a blank line

before and after chapter titles and appendix titles as well as other elements using all

uppercase letters like ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and LIST OF TABLES

• Include headers—CHAPTER (on left margin) and Page (on right margin). On the first

page, they are located within the other elements. On all other pages, they are located at the

top of the page

1 inch top margin

for second and

subsequent pages

The Finishing Touches

Abstract and Order of Elements

• If an abstract is one page, do NOT include a page number

• If an abstract is more than one page, use Arabic numerals (1, 2) for page numbers

• A word count of 150 words is recommended for abstracts by Master’s degree candidates because ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database uses the text of each candidate’s abstract as the abstract used in the item record of the database. Because of the design of the database item record screen, each abstract is cut off at about 150 words in the database

• Use uniform double line spacing between introductory lines and within text. The introductory lines are centered and arranged in this order: (a) the word ABSTRACT in all uppercase letters, (b) the title of the thesis in all uppercase letters and inverted pyramid format, (c) the word By with an uppercase B, (d) your name, and (e) the date line indicating the last month of the semester in which you submitted the thesis and the year

• Once you’ve assembled all the elements, be sure they are in the right order

Order of Elements

Abstract—If only one page, do NOT use page number, otherwise use Arabic numerals (1, 2) for page numbers; 2 inch top margin for first page

Title Page

Copyright Page (optional)

Acknowledgements (optional)—Use lowercase Roman numerals (iii) for page numbers; 2 inch top margin for first pageTable of Contents—Use lowercase Roman numerals (use iii if there is no acknowledgements page); 2 inch top margin for first pageList of Tables, List of Figures, List of Works, and so on (as needed)—Use lowercase Roman numerals; 2 inch top margin for first page of eachChapters—Use Arabic numerals for page numbers from here to the end of the manuscript (Chapter 1 starts with page 1); 2 inch top margin for first page of each chapterAppendices (optional)—Each one begins with a title page; if there is more than one appendix, begin with a title page with APPENDICES centered on the page followed by title page for APPENDIX A

Reference List or Bibliography—Begins with a title page with REFERENCES or BIBLIOGRAPHY centered on page; 2 inch top margin for first page

The Delivery

Submission Process

• Have your signature page fully signed with all signatures.

• Have your manuscript formatted to the best of your ability and

complete in one PDF file.

• Deliver you signature page to the Thesis Office by 5 p.m. of

deadline date.

• Thesis Office will email you with a link to the database

website to use to upload your PDF manuscript.

• You must upload your PDF within a week of the date that the

email is sent.

• A fee of $95 is required for Open Access Publishing at the

time of the upload.

• Make a note of your User Name and Password so you can

access PDFs for revisions.

Evaluation Process

• Formatters read through PDFs on a first come, first served basis as they are uploaded.

Corrections are added to the PDF. The student is emailed when the read-through is

complete and the PDF with correction notes is available for the student to download from

the database website.

• Using a version of the manuscript that’s easy to revise (usually Microsoft Word version),

the student makes revisions based on the annotated PDF. After making a PDF of the

revised manuscript, the student uploads it to the database website. Setting a 2 week

turnaround time for this initial revision ensures completing the submission process within

the term deadline..

• Formatters read through revised PDF and contact the student within a week. There are

three possible outcomes: (1) Second corrections—Another PDF is uploaded with notes

about corrections needed, (2) Cleared pending—Email is sent with a list of a few (15 or

less) corrections still needed, (3) Cleared—No further corrections needed.

• Once formatting of a student’s PDF manuscript is cleared, meaning there are no more

corrections needed, the Thesis Office releases the PDF for publication on the ProQuest

database. The student will receive an email “clearance letter” from the Thesis Office to

confirm that the submission process is complete. A copy of the email is also sent to the

student’s committee chair, the department graduate advisor, and Enrollment Services.