Thesis Writing – VIII (Format and Appearance)

Paper: Paper used for printing of thesis should be of good quality white bond paper of 75 g. at least, substance weight 20-26 pound weight and acid-free, pH being 6.8 or above. Size of the Paper should be 8½" x 11" (A 4).

Pagination: For the preliminary pages small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) at the bottom in the centre of the page should be used. For the main body of the thesis Arabic numerals beginning with 1 from Chapter 1 throughout rest of the thesis including bibliography and appendix should be used. All the pages must be consecutively numbered on top right hand corner of the page. Do not print page number on the title page and the first page of every chapter but count it in the series.

Printing: Thesis should be printed in laser printing, on one side of each page only, with permanent black ink, without smudges or toner break.

Margin: Left margin (binding side) should be 1.75" and right, top and bottom margin should be 1".

Font: Size of the font should be 12. Typeface may be Times New Roman, Arial, Palatino, Bookman, Garamond, and Tahoma. Standard fonts should be used, not ornamental. Different fonts or point sizes (different than the text) may be used for chapter titles, headings, sub-headings, footnotes, quotations etc. Titles may be bold, but should not be underlined. Italics should only be used for foreign words or special emphasis. The font size and type should be consistent throughout the thesis.

Paragraph: Indent the first line of a paragraph by ½" (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin. Spacing of 10 points may be kept after the paragraph. At least two lines of a paragraph must appear together at the top and bottom of every page. This can be achieved by ‘widow/orphan control’ function of the word processor through paragraph sub-menu by checking ‘widow/orphan control’ checkbox under ‘Line and Page Breaks’.

Spacing: For general text 1.5 spacing should be provided. Long quotations, footnotes, endnotes, bibliography and captions take single spacing.

Alignment: Justified alignment looks good for the main text.

Typing: Professional typist with great proficiency should be engaged for typing the thesis.

Corrections: There should not be any ink corrections, strikeover, correction fluid (whitener), correction tape, paste-ups, and insertion between lines in the final copy of the thesis. All corrections should be made before final copy of the thesis is printed. Page should be substituted for any page on which an error has been found.

Duplication: Copies of thesis should be made by using services of reputable Xeroxing firm. Care should be taken to see that the copies are clear and there are no smudges.

Multiple Volumes: If thesis exceeds 2" thickness it must be bound in two volumes. All volumes must be numbered consecutively, using capital Roman numerals. Title pages of both volumes should be identical except for the notation Volume I, Volume II. Each volume must contain a complete Table of Contents.

Binding: Thesis should be given to reputed binder for binding. It should be bound in black or red cloth as prescribed by the University. Binding must be firm and stitched by drilling 5 holes with a 2 mm. drill. A white blank page must be placed after the front and before the back covers. The spine should bear the candidate’s name, the degree and year of submission. The front cover should bear the title of the thesis.