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Formatting Your Thesis

 

Consultants at the Center for Writing and Public Discourse (CWPD) are available to help with any stage of your senior thesis, including the writing process, formatting questions, and citation practices.
For extended editions of style guides or individualized support, visit the CWPD and ask a consultant for assistance. Lab Technology Assistants (LTAs) are also available in Poppa Lab to assist you with formatting, saving, and retrieving your Thesis.

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Senior Thesis Formatting: Quick Checklist

Set Up

  • ☐ Confirm citation style with your advisor
  • ☐ Font: Times New Roman (12-pt) or Courier New (10-pt)
  • ☐ Margins: Top 1”, Bottom 1”, Left 1”, Right 1”
  • ☐ Alignment: Left or fully justified (advisor preference)

Write & Cite

  • ☐ Indent paragraphs consistently (0.25” or 0.5”)
  • ☐ One space after punctuation
  • ☐ Match font for footnotes & page numbers
  • ☐ Cite all sources (use Zotero or similar)

Structure

  • ☐ Title page → Blank page → Table of contents → Chapters → Bibliography

Finish

  • ☐ Insert page numbers (Insert → Page numbers)
  • ☐ Download one PDF (File → Download → PDF → All tabs)
  • ☐ Save locally + in the cloud

  • ☐ Visit CWPD for a final check

    General Instructions

    Your thesis should include the following components, in this order:

  • Title Page
  • Table of Contents
  • Chapters
  • Documentation (footnotes or endnotes)
  • Bibliography

Selecting a Citation Style

Before you begin writing, consult with your advisor(s) to determine the appropriate citation style for your discipline (e.g., Chicago, MLA, APA, or Turabian). Always use the most recent edition of the selected style guide.

Your advisor’s formatting instructions take precedence over CWPD guidelines.
For detailed rules and examples, consult the official style manual for your discipline.

Discipline-Specific Guidelines

  • Psychology theses follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), with the addition of the standard CMC Senior Thesis title page.
    Your thesis should include, in order: the CMC Senior Thesis title page, a blank page, and then the APA title page.
    Margins should follow APA recommendations.
  • Mathematics theses follow either the American Statistical Association manuscript format or the American Mathematical Society format.
    With approval from the Mathematics Department and the Thesis Director, another appropriate mathematics journal style may be used.
  • Literature theses follow the MLA Handbook.

Theses in all other fields follow Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press).
Note the following modification to Turabian:
A full bibliographic citation must appear at the first reference to a source in each chapter, even if that source was cited in a previous chapter (see Turabian 8.12 and 8.22).
When other manuals do not address a formatting issue, consult Turabian.

Proper Citation

Follow the citation and formatting rules outlined in your chosen style guide.
Each guide explains when and how to use footnotes, endnotes, in-text citations, and bibliographies.

Online style guide resources are available through the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL), and hard copies of major style guides are available at the CWPD.

Citation Tracking Tools

Carefully track all sources as you write, and cite all outside material used in your thesis.
When working with a large number of sources, we strongly recommend using a citation management tool such as Zotero.

Citation management software is useful because it:

  • Automates in-text citations and bibliographies
  • Saves time and reduces formatting errors
  • Improves citation accuracy
  • Helps prevent plagiarism
  • Organizes research by storing, tagging, and enabling quick access to sources while integrating with word processors

Tutorials:

When in doubt, cite.

Margins

The margins for your thesis are:

  • Top: 1”
  • Bottom: 1”
  • Left: 1”
  • Right: 1”

If your reader so chooses, you may change the margins for the top, bottom, and right to accommodate the preferred citation mode.

Chapter Titles

Generally speaking, the titles of all sections should be 2” from the top of the page. However, as with the rest of your thesis, consult the appropriate style manual and check with your advisor regarding the placement of chapter titles.

Inserting Page Numbers

Page numbering requirements vary by discipline, so consult your style guide and advisor first.

To insert page numbers in Google Docs:

Go to Insert → Page numbers, then select the placement option that matches your formatting requirements.

 

If your first page should not display a page number, or if numbering should begin later in the document:

Go to Format → Page numbers, then adjust the settings in the Page Numbers dialog box.

Assembling Your Thesis into a Single PDF

Organizing Your Thesis in Google Docs

We recommend drafting and organizing your thesis in Google Docs. Google Docs allows you to structure your work using tabs, subtabs, and the built-in outline (table of contents) feature, making large documents easier to manage.

  • Click the three-line icon on the left side of the document to view tabs and outlines.

  • Click the three-dot icon beneath your document tabs to add subtabs or show/hide the document outline.

Downloading One Complete PDF

To export your entire thesis as a single PDF:

Go to File → Download → PDF.

In the download window, select “All tabs” if you used multiple tabs to organize your thesis.

Google Docs will preserve the order of tabs and subtabs in the final PDF.

Finishing Up

Save your final thesis file in at least two locations:
your local computer and a cloud-based storage option (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or U:\ drive).