Work with your committee to develop and execute the research and to write your thesis or dissertation. Examples of ETDs from most programs are available online at the OhioLINK ETD Collection.

While specific formatting requirements are determined by your committee and/or department, the following information provides "best practice" guidelines:

General Formatting

It is up to you and your committee to agree on formatting requirements for ETDs.

Spacing

Double-space all text. Long quotations and footnotes may be single-spaced.

Font

11-point or larger is recommended for readability. No matter what font you choose, all fonts must be embedded in your final PDF.

Margins

Approximately one inch of white space should be at the top, bottom and sides on each page.

Page Numbers

Except for the title page, number all pages in your ETD.

• Number the pages preceding the body of the text with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.), placed at the bottom center of the page. Remember, the page number for the Title Page (i) should not be visible.
  
• Number all pages through the body, bibliography, appendices and index with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). All numbering should be in the bottom-center of the page.

Footnotes

Recommended placement of footnotes is at the bottom of the appropriate page. It is not advisable to place them at the end of chapters where they are difficult to consult. Please consult with your committee to determine which style is appropriate for your field.

Illustrations

May consist of line drawings, graphs, maps, photographs, chemical formulas, or musical scores or passages. All of these should be inserted into the PDF document (not linked to external sources).

Title

Do not use all capital letters for your title. Capital letters are still appropriate for acronyms, proper nouns, first letter, etc.