Text Chapters

It may be helpful to review the General Information section for margins, pagination, and sub-headings. All text chapters are to be double-spaced. Additional information for writing text chapters is given as follows.

Symbols, Equations, and Formulae

All material must be prepared on computer. No hand-drawn or hand-written material will be accepted in the final version of the thesis. It is easiest to begin equations with a uniform small left-hand indentation rather than to attempt to center each one. If a number identifies the formula or equation, that number should be typed on the right hand side of the page, maintaining the standard 1-inch right margin.

Hyphenation

Words divided at the end of the line with a hyphen should be divided between syllables as shown in a dictionary. Such divisions should be avoided if the first syllable is short; also names, numbers, dates, and words in headings should not be divided. Uses of hyphens or dashes should be minimized and used only where needed, never as ornamentation.

Punctuation

Excessive punctuation can be obstructive and superfluous. A period should always be followed by one blank space. An introductory subordinate clause should be followed by a comma. Commonly accepted abbreviations such as cm, gm, sec, should not be followed by periods. Short quotations in the text should be enclosed in quotation marks with the final period, question mark, or comma preceding the final quotation mark. Foreign words and titles of books and publications are usually set in italics in the text. Bold fonts for emphasis may be used, however, overuse may destroy its value in a thesis. Ditto marks should never be used in a thesis.

Numbers

In the text, numbers less than 10 should be spelled out. Any number at the beginning of a sentence must be spelled out. Dates, page numbers, section or chapter numbers, figure numbers, table numbers, street and telephone numbers, exact pages, sums of money, compound fractions, decimals, percentages, and units of measure should be given in figures. A decimal number less than one must begin with a zero.

Division Headings and Sub-Headings

The major sub-division of the text is called a CHAPTER, in capital letters, followed by an Arabic numeral. The word CHAPTER is not bolded, italicized or underlined. Each chapter must begin on a new page. The chapter and the chapter number must be centered on the top line of the page. The title of the chapter must be in capital letters, centered, and a double-space below the chapter designation.

Chapter titles should be followed by a triple space before the text paragraph or first order sub-heading (text begins on the third single line). If the chapter title is longer than one line, then the subsequent lines should be single-spaced and arranged in an inverted pyramid style with the lines separated at logical places.

First Order Sub-Headings

The principal sub-headings must start with the left hand margin, typed with initial capitals, and underlined or bolded. Subsequent text should start a double space below. (If a sub-heading number is not used, indentation of the heading is needed. However, the paragraphs of the following text must be indented.)

Second Order Sub-Headings

The heading is typed in bold font with initial capitals, terminated with a period, and followed by the text on the same line. (If a sub-heading number is not used, no indentation of the heading is needed. However, the paragraphs of the following text must be indented.) Italic font or underline font may also be used, but not in combination; e.g., do not underline and bold a sub-heading or italicize and underline a sub-heading.

Third Order Sub-Headings

Third order sub-headings should be avoided. If used, however, they may be in bold font, italic font, or underline font, with initial capitals, terminated with a period and followed by the text on the same line.

Additional Sub-Heading Levels

In the event additional levels of sub-headings are necessary, then the first order sub-heading titles should be changed to bold font, centered headings, typed with initial capitals. The text must follow three spaces below the centered heading. The subsequent sub-headings must each be moved up one step in the above.

In the event centered first order sub-headings are used, they should be placed two double spaces below the text that precedes them, and followed by a triple space for the first line of the text that follows. Second and third order sub-headings have the normal double space below the preceding text.

Quotations

It is not advisable to use many or long quotations. A long quotation, arbitrarily defined here as consisting of four or more lines, must be set off from the rest of the text by being single spaced and indented in its entirety 0.5 inches from the left margin and separated from the text both above and below it by a triple space.

There are no quotation marks allowed at the beginning or end, and the work quoted must be faithfully reflected, including original errors in the quote. Short quotations are enclosed in quotation marks and incorporated in the text itself. Every quote must be accompanied by a reference to the source in a footnote, or in the Bibliography.

Printed material that is copyrighted must not be quoted without permission of the one who holds the copyright. Permissions must be recorded in the Acknowledgment or Appendix.

Footnotes

A footnote may serve one of several purposes. It may be a form of bibliographic reference to other authorities. It may be a quote or brief textual item which comments on the thesis author's statements. Or it may refer to material found elsewhere in the thesis. Any footnote should be brief. Long discussions should be incorporated directly in the text. In many fields, footnotes are restricted to literature references, but are rarely used. Footnotes do not replace the Bibliography, and should be mainly used to add additional ancillary or explanatory information about the designated text.

Position

The last line of the last footnote on each page must be on the last line that is the standard 1 inch from the bottom edge of the page. Double-space between footnotes, and single-space within a single footnote. Footnotes are separated from the text by a horizontal line 1.5 inches long, beginning at the left margin and single-spaced below the last line of text, or double-spaced above the top line of the footnote, if the page is not full of text. The footnote should be indented the standard 0.5 inches from the left margin. If many individual footnotes are long, or if single superscripts contain several references to the same topic, then separate references in the footnote should be treated as paragraphs, indented 0.5 inches, and single-spaced from margin to margin. This system must be consistently applied throughout the thesis.

Footnote Citation in the Text

This should always be superscript, Arabic numerals, one-half space above the line of text. (Do not confuse footnotes with literature citations in the Bibliography). In most theses, numbers should begin with 1 and proceed consecutively through the entire thesis. Footnotes never use the 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc., system. If only a very few footnotes are scattered throughout the text, then asterisks or other standard symbols may be used. Each citation in a footnote must appear on the page containing the citation number in the text.

References

Bibliographic references in footnotes should follow the form and style used in the Bibliography. (Refer to the Bibliography section of the Thesis Manual). When footnotes are extensive, subsequent footnotes referring to previously cited footnotes can be simplified by using abbreviations. The Latin words are in italics, followed by a comma, and then the page on which the reference is found. If the word is an abbreviation, it is immediately followed by a period before the comma. Ibid. means ibidem.