rguhs dissertation format

Thesis and dissertation filing guidelines

Students who have enrolled in dissertation or thesis credits will prepare a manuscript to publish through ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing. You own and retain the copyright to your manuscript. The Graduate School collects the manuscript via electronic submissions only. All manuscripts are made available through ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database (PQDT), in ProQuest/UMI’s Dissertation Abstracts International, and through the University’s institutional repository, ScholarWorks.

Getting started with campus resources:

• Office of Human Research Protection
• Campus computer Help Desk @One : (775) 682-5000
• ProQuest Help Line: (877) 408-5027 (8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET, or 5 a.m. - 2 p.m. PT)
• For specific questions, call the Graduate School Graduation staff at (775) 784-6869

Jump to a section

• Important dates and milestones for graduating students
• Electronic manuscript submission
• Checklist to complete your electronic submission
• Instructions for completing thesis/dissertation committee approval page
• Formatting your dissertation or thesis
• Templates, samples and forms for filing

1. Important dates and milestones for graduating students

• Contact your advisor to discuss department considerations and potential dates for your defense.
• Contact the Graduate School to ensure your progression paperwork has been approved.
• View important dates and purchase a graduation application through MyNevada for your graduation semester.
• Doctoral students must submit their dissertation title for the commencement program.
• Schedule defense date with the entire advisory committee in accordance with graduation deadlines.
• Submit all forms and final manuscripts to the Graduate School by established deadlines.

2. Electronic Manuscript submission

ProQuest electronic submission site

Set up an account with ProQuest and wait for a password sent via email. ProQuest offers email and phone support,   1-877-408-5027 , frequently asked questions, etc. Visit the site early to familiarize yourself with the submission process.

3. Checklist to complete your electronic submission

• Master's  Notice of Completion and Doctoral Notice of Completion Form  - This form includes all committee signatures AND the Graduate Program Director’s signature.
• Master's Final Review Approval and Doctoral Final Review Approval   Form - This form serves as the final approval from your advisor. The Graduate School will accept the dissertation/thesis after the date listed on the form. The approval date on the form indicates the student’s submission can be accepted.
• Committee Approval Page   - Use the online Word document template (NO SIGNATURES and no page number). This page will be merged into your manuscript to acknowledge committee members.
• Filing for Copyright Registration   (optional) - Students have the opportunity to register a copyright of their graduate work with the U.S. Copyright Office. It is strictly optional, and there is a $75.00 fee associated with the service, which is paid online with student submission.
• Processing fee  - $85 thesis / $95 dissertation.  Log into your Student Center in MyNEVADA . Under the Finances section, click on the link “Purchase Miscellaneous Items.” Select the applicable processing fee to pay (Dissertation or Thesis) and complete the transaction. You will receive a receipt that generates overnight.  Please keep this item as proof of payment for your records. Our office will automatically check for payment posted.
• NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates  – For  doctoral students only.

4. Instructions for completing thesis/dissertation committee approval page

• The Committee Approval Page (see forms links at bottom of page ): This interactive template has established borders.
• Use the accompanying template on page two of this handout to complete the Committee Approval form. Check spelling carefully and make sure that case (upper-case/capital and lower-case letters) and font style (regular or bold) follow the template. Spacing between lines will depend on how long your thesis/dissertation title is and how many committee members you have.
• Type the words as they appear on the template, i.e., on the first line “We recommend that the thesis/dissertation”, followed by the second line “prepared under our supervision by.”
• At brackets [1] enter your full name in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and BOLD-FACED.
• Type the word “entitled” all in lowercase letters.
• At brackets [2] enter the complete title of your thesis/dissertation. The title should be in both CAPITAL and lower-case letters and must be Bold-Faced. If the title is long, use two or more lines, breaking the lines at appropriate words in the title. Do not hyphenate between lines.
• Type the words “be accepted in partial fulfillment of the,” and then, on the next line, “requirements for the degree of.”
• At brackets [3] enter the name of the degree being awarded, e.g., for Ph.D. enter “Doctor of Philosophy,” for Ed.D. enter “Doctor of Education”. The degree should be in all CAPITAL LETTERS and Bold-Faced. DO NOT enter the name of the graduate program, such as anthropology or economics.
• At brackets [4] type the full name of your thesis/dissertation advisor followed by his/her degree, followed by the word “Advisor”. For example, “Sonia A. Skakich, Ph.D., Advisor”. Use both capital and lowercase letters.
• Enter the subsequent committee members and type the full names of the rest of your committee members followed by their degrees and their roles in the committee (Committee Member or Graduate School Rep.) under each one. Use one line for each member. The Graduate School Representative should be the last committee member listed. Use both capital and lowercase letters.
• The last entry is reserved for the Dean of the Graduate School (which is already entered on the form).
• At brackets [5] enter the month and year of official graduation. The month must be May, August, or December. Enter the appropriate four-digit designation of the year (e.g., 2018).

5. Formatting your dissertation or thesis

The Graduate School requires standardized formatting for the dissertation and thesis documents. Students will follow a style guide (APA, MLA, etc.) to prepare their document; however, the document must comply with University formatting requirements listed below.

Margins and spacing

• Left margin: 1.5” from the left edge of the page.
• Right margin: 1.0” from the right edge of the page.
• Top margin: 1.0” from the top edge of the page.
• Bottom margin: 1.25” from the bottom edge of the page.
• All text should be double-spaced with the exception of captions, footnotes, long quotations, bibliographic entries of more than one line, and materials in tables and appendices.

Recommended fonts

Fonts should be easy to read. Times New Roman, Arial, or a similarly clear font is preferred; type size must be 10, 11, or 12 points. Script and italic typefaces are not acceptable except where absolutely necessary i.e. in Latin designations of species, etc.

In preparing your dissertation or thesis for electronic submission, you must embed all fonts. In Microsoft Word 2013, this is done by accessing the FILE menu; selecting OPTIONS, select SAVE. From the SAVE menu check the box labeled, ”Embed fonts in the file.” If the file size is a concern, check the box next to “Do NOT embed common system fonts."

Large tables, charts, etc., may be reduced to conform to page size, but the print must remain clear enough to be readable. You can also attach a PDF for electronic submissions.

Page numbering

Every page, with the exception of the title page, the copyright page, and the committee approval page is numbered in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top of the page and one inch from the right edge of the page. Do not underline or place a period after the number. Do not use a running header.

• The prefatory materials (abstract, acknowledgments, table of contents, etc.) are numbered in lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv…). Insert a section break after the Roman numerals to create different page numbering styles.
• The first page of the main text and all subsequent pages are continuously numbered in Arabic numerals beginning with one until the final page number (1, 2, 3, 4…)
• Do NOT number appendices or pages of additional material with numbers such as 4a or A-1.

Tables and appendices

Tables and appendices are part of the document and must conform to the same margin and page numbering requirements.

Format and sequence of pages

Assemble pages in the following order:

• Title page *no page number* (create according to the example provided)
• Copyright Notice *no page number* (optional - see example)
• Committee Approval Page *no page number* (use the online template available on our   forms page – NO SIGNATURES on this page)
• Abstract (begins lowercase Roman numerals i, ii, iii…)
• Dedication (optional)
• Acknowledgments (optional)
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Body of Manuscript (begins Arabic numbering 1, 2, 3…)
• Back Matter (appendices, notes, bibliography, etc.)
• Do not number the title page
• Center each line of type
• Use BOLD text type for the manuscript title
• The date listed is the month and year in which you will graduate. The only acceptable months are May, August, and December (graduation cycles).

Copyright page

No page number on this page. Although not required, we strongly recommend you insert a copyright notice in your manuscript following the title page. Essential components of the copyright notice include the copyright symbol, full legal name of the author, and year of first publication. Follow the format of the sample provided below.

Committee approval page

• No page number on this page
• Use the electronic PDF template provided below. This page will list the advisory committee members and graduate dean but will NOT include committee signatures.   Combine the PDF into your manuscript to form a single PDF file.  To do this in Adobe Pro, select "Organize pages," "Insert," and "From file."   
• A window will open and you can drag your separate PDF files into this window to combine them into a single file.
• Choose the PDF documents in order of page sequencing (title page, committee page, main manuscript) and then combine files into a single PDF.

(Lower case Roman numeral “i” page number)

Abstracts are required for all theses and dissertations. ProQuest no longer has a word limit on the abstract, “as this constrains your ability to describe your research in a section that is accessible to search engines, and therefore would constrain potential exposure of your work.” ProQuest does publish print indices that include citations and abstracts of all dissertations and theses published by ProQuest/UMI. These print indices require word limits of 350 words for doctoral dissertations and 150 words for master’s theses (only text will be included in the abstract). You may wish to limit the length of your abstract if this concerns you. The abstracts as you submit them will NOT be altered in your published manuscript.

Processing note

Each copy of your thesis or dissertation will be checked for margins, clarity of copy, and pagination. The Graduate School will run the manuscript through the Turn It In plagiarism tool.

Electronically submitted theses/dissertations are available in electronic format only; no hard copies will be produced. Students are responsible for binding any copies for personal use or for distribution to their advisor, department, or committee members.

Dissertation & Thesis Processing Fee

Mandatory processing fees are required for all theses ($85.00) and all dissertations ($95.00). Log into your Student Center in MyNEVADA. Under the Finances section, click on the link “Purchase Miscellaneous Items.” Select the applicable processing fee to pay (Dissertation or Thesis) and complete the transaction. You will receive a receipt that generates overnight.  Please keep this item as proof of payment for your records. Our office will automatically check for payment posted.

Using copyrighted materials

You must certify in ProQuest that any copyrighted material used in your work, beyond brief excerpts, is with the written permission of the copyright owner. Attach copies of permission letters to the agreement form.

Copyright registration (optional)

Students have the opportunity to register a copyright on their graduate work with the U.S. Copyright Office. It is strictly optional, and there is a $75.00 fee associated with the service. Students submitting electronically pay online. Paying for the claim to copyright is a voluntary action, which allows a court of law to award monetary damages if the copyright is infringed. You may file a Registration of Copyright yourself by sending a properly completed application form, a nonrefundable filing fee of $45.00 and a nonreturnable copy of your thesis or dissertation to the United States Copyright Office. Application materials and instructions are available from:

Register of Copyrights Copyright Office Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20559-6000 Information is also available at the Copyright Office’s website:   lcweb.loc.gov/copyright

ScholarWorks repository

ScholarWorks - the University's institutional repository - assists in collecting, preserving, and distributing the university's intellectual output accessible to end-users on local and global levels with few if any barriers. The repository will provide long-term access to the items deposited and can accept works from all the University faculty/staff/students. A wide variety of items including Articles, Datasets, Presentations, Technical Reports, Thesis and Dissertations, Posters, Conference Papers, etc. in all file formats can be deposited into the repository. The repository supports creative commons licensing and open-access publishing without any cost.

The discovery services and search engine optimizations ensure that major search engines easily discover the uploaded content. This increases the visibility, citations, and overall impact of the research. All items deposited in the repository receive a persistent URL that can be used for citations. Various statistics are collected with the built-in statistics module and Google Analytics modules. Information on monthly/yearly views, number of downloads, demographic information, etc. is available for each deposited item upon request.

All the ETDs uploaded into ProQuest are automatically deposited into the University's ScholarWorks repository. The embargo period set in ProQuest during deposit is carried over to the ScholarWorks repository. Any changes to the embargo period after deposit can be made by contacting ProQuest at 1-800-521-0600 as well as the ScholarWorks administrator at [email protected] .

Scholarworks FAQ

Do I need to upload my ETD into the ScholarWorks repository?

• No, ProQuest will automatically upload the ETD into ScholarWorks on approval from the Graduate School.

Can I extend the embargo period on my Thesis/Dissertation after uploading it to ProQuest?

• Yes, to change or extend the embargo period of your ETD you need to contact ProQuest at 1-800-521-0600 and the ScholarWorks administrator at [email protected] .

Can I make my ETD open access in the ScholarWorks repository?

• Yes, ScholarWorks supports open access with creative commons licensing. It is available as a free service to all the faculty/staff/students.

Alternative formatting for thesis or dissertation

These guidelines apply to those theses or dissertations which consist of a number of papers either previously published or being published concurrently with the submission of the thesis or dissertation. Acceptance and publication of the articles are not criteria for this alternative. Each of the papers should constitute a separate chapter of the overall work. Preceding the papers should be an introductory section. This section may be one or more chapters but should include:

• an overall introduction to the thesis/dissertation,
• a review of the appropriate literature, and
• a description of the methodology used in the study.

The student’s advisory committee should determine the format and specific content of this introductory section.

The number of individual papers constituting chapters of the thesis/dissertation is determined by the student’s advisory committee. These chapters may be formatted in the same style required by the journals to which they are to be submitted. However, the margins must conform to those of the overall thesis, i.e. left margin = 1.5"; right margin = 1"; top margin = 1"; bottom margin = 1.25". In addition, each page must be numbered consistent with the rest of the thesis/dissertation, that is, the first page of text is numbered 1 with each subsequent page numbered consecutively until the end, to include all appendices, indexes, etc.

Following the chapters consisting of individual papers, there must follow a summary, conclusions and recommendations section. This section may be formatted as one or more chapters.

Work reported in the articles should represent a major contribution by the student that is the review of the literature, the conceptual framework and/or research design for the reported work. The statistical analyses, summaries, conclusions, and recommendations should represent the student’s own work.

For publication purposes, other researchers may be named as additional authors. This would be especially appropriate when publication is dependent upon extensive revision of the initial manuscript submitted and the faculty involved assumes responsibility for the revisions, or when the student is using an existing database.

When a student chooses this option, the articles will be submitted to the journals agreed upon by the concerned academic unit. Responsibility for follow-up, revisions, etc., should be identified in a written document and agreed upon by the student and faculty member(s) involved.

6. Templates, samples and forms

Please be sure to read the above instructions before proceeding with documents.

Forms for filing a master's thesis   Forms for filing a doctoral dissertation

Thesis filing templates and samples

• Committee Approval page for 3-member committee (TEMPLATE)
• Committee Approval page for 3-member committee with co-advisor (TEMPLATE)
• Committee Approval page for 4-member committee (TEMPLATE)
• Committee Approval page for 4-member committee with co-advisor (TEMPLATE)

Sample pages

• Thesis Title page (SAMPLE)
• Thesis Copyright page (SAMPLE)
• Thesis Committee approval page (SAMPLE)

Dissertation filing templates, samples and Survey of Earned Doctorates

• Committee Approval page  for 5-member committee (TEMPLATE)
• Committee Approval page  for  5-member committee with co-advisor (TEMPLATE)
• Committee Approval page  for 6-member committee (TEMPLATE)
• Committee Approval page  for 6 -member committee with co-advisor (TEMPLATE)
• Dissertation Title page (SAMPLE)
• Dissertation Copyright page (SAMPLE)
• Dissertation Committee approval page (SAMPLE)

Survey of Earned Doctorates

• Survey of Earned Doctorates  - The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an annual census conducted since 1957 of all individuals receiving a research doctorate from an accredited U.S. institution in a given academic year. The SED is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by three other federal agencies: the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and National Endowment for the Humanities. The SED collects information on the doctoral recipient's educational history, demographic characteristics, and postgraduation plans. Results are used to assess characteristics of the doctoral population and trends in doctoral education and degrees. Read more about the purpose and methods of the SED .