FLL Thesis Format Helps

Some documents describing techniques for accomplishing certain layouts in Microsoft Word® are available here. Clicking on the document format you prefer will open or download a copy of the document. Some of the tips are complete on this page. To see photos of sample theses, click here.

Use "US Letter" setting for paper size, not A4

When you start to set up your thesis, be sure that you choose "US letter" and not "A4" for Page Size in the Page Setup box.

Theses have to be printed on 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper (see page 3 of the Manual), which requires the US letter setting wherever you are asked to designate page size. The two places that occur to me off hand are the Page Setup box and the Print dialog box. There may be others.

International students please take note: In the US, almost no one knows what A4 paper is. The standard in the US is US letter (8.5 x 11 inches). A4 paper, standard in most of the rest of the world, measures 8.26 x 11.69 inches. This means it is slightly narrower and slightly longer than standard US letter paper. If you use the A4 setting, your margins will not be correct when you print to the paper you purchase in the store or that is provided in the labs. Providing your own A4 paper is not an option because the manual requires that thesis be printed on 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper. The manual specifies a size, but it does not mention US letter or A4 (see page 3); the size equates to US letter.

 

Curling the Quote Marks, Word document (download)

The document entitled "Curling the Quote Marks" tells how to replace straight or typewriter quote marks with curled or typographer's quotes (also referred to as "smart" quotes).

Removing the Continuation Line, Word document (download)

When Microsoft Word® places footnotes at the end of a document as endnotes, it usually draws the continuation line on each page, just as if the notes were still footnotes. This document tells how to remove the continuation lines

This document provides keyboard commands (AKA shortcuts) for common accent marks and symbols in Microsoft Word® for both Mac and PC format, and addresses several other issues about typing in a language other than English.

Index to Manual for Preparation of Graduate Theses (7th rev. ed. 2006), Word document (download)

Matthieu Chan Tsin's Tip on Creating Cover Sheets

Cover Sheets are pages that are neither counted nor numbered, and this creates a problem because the software wants to assign a number to every page, even if the page number isn't printed on the page. The usual advice is to put the cover sheets at the end of the document or in a document of their own and manually place the sheets in the thesis. This works fine if you are printing from a paper copy, but if you are printing from a PDF, the pages won't be in the right place.

Matthieu told me you can keep the cover sheet (which is to be neither counted nor numbered) in order numerically if you use section breaks around it. Insert a section break before the cover page, start the page numbering on the same page as preceding one, create the cover page (e.g., BIBLIOGRAPHY, centered on the page), insert another section break, and start the page numbering for this section at the next page number. Then create the bibliography according to instructions. The same could be done for other cover sheets: Appendices, Vita. See the thesis manual for instructions on cover sheets. (No download for this tip; it is all printed here.)

Microsoft Word® Tips on the Thesis Office site (opens in a new window).

The Thesis Office offers a document of tips that includes such topics as Creating a Table of Contents, Inserting "Landscape" Pagination, and Removing the Continuation Line. Also offered on the site are a Page Margin Template and some checklists.

If you just can't find the time or feel you don't have the technical expertise to do the formatting yourself, you may be able to hire a professional to do it for you. Inside Purdue maintains an online listing of Purdue employees who do this work on their own time. To check this listing, click here (opens in a new window). The URL is http://www2.itap.purdue.edu/ periodicals/insidepurdue/business/#typing,%20editing

 

When you create a PDF, be careful!

Be sure that you create the PDF on a computer on which you have checked every aspect of the format of the Word document from which the PDF will be made. If you have to take the Word file or files to another computer to create the PDF, you will have to recheck every aspect of your thesis before you make the PDF. Otherwise, you may be surprised by things that shift slightly. Tabs are especially likely to shift, but spacing and almost anything else can also be affected.

This is because Word documents are printer dependent. The printer connected to the computer and the settings of the version of Word on the computer may change the format when you open the file on the new computer to make the PDF.

See the Adobe® instructions for creating PDFs. The instructions are here on the Adobe site (opens in a new window).

How to format the first page of a chapter

The current thesis manual (7th ed.) doesn't have exact wording about how to format the first page of each chapter, although if you recognize that the chapter title is a major division heading, you should have no trouble. You can tell how to do the first page of a chapter by looking at either p. 40 (Appendix C: Sample Format of Subdivisions) or p. 44 (sample Acknowledgments page). You can follow the instructions on how to do the title for any other major division (acknowledgments page, preface, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, etc., or introduction).

Here's how: The chapter number and title are all part of the chapter title / major division heading. The title begins 2 inches from the top of the page. The page does carry a page number, in Arabic numbers, located in the same place as on every other page, 1/2 inch from the top of the page and 1 inch from the right edge of the page. The chapter title is typed in ALL CAPS, centered, with no end punctuation. Be sure to use single spacing for the chapter title, since this will make it easier to count the single-spaced blank lines that must follow. Also, if the title runs to more than one line, it must be single spaced, so you will be all set if you use single spacing for all chapter titles. The title is followed by three single-spaced blank lines, and the text begins indented. The spacing for the text should be either double or 1 1/2 spacing, whichever you have decided to use throughout.

The training packets distributed at the thesis workshops each semester do contain an example of the first page of a chapter. Also, you can download an example here. This is a PDF that I made up. I have tried to make the measurements exact, but they may not be perfect. If you print out this PDF, the resulting page margins will be more accurate if you print with any boxes for centering or scaling unchecked or turned to off or none. If you still have questions, please see me in my office.

Computer Labs in Stanley Coulter Hall

Always open for general use:

G073, with 37 PCs and 2 Macs

Restricted hours; check schedule on door of lab:

MAC:
G046, 183

PC:
179, 231, 246
277, 283, 289

SUN: 189

G = ground (basement)

For more information visit:
http://www.purdue.edu/apps/ics/LabInfo,
choose SC in the popup menu, then
click DISPLAY LABS button
rev. 6/14/2006

 

Here are the titles of some books on writing a thesis or dissertation:

Bond, Alan, ed., Your Master's Thesis: How to Plan, Draft, Write, and Revise, 2nd rev. ed. (Albergele, UK: Studymates, 2006). 135 pp. Includes advice on working with your supervisor / major professor and copyright. Written with UK in mind, but universally applicable. I have a copy of this book. Also available: Your PhD Thesis. http://www.studymates.co.uk

Bolker, Joan, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis (New York: Holt–Owl, 1998). For a brief review of this book, and other tips, visit http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/dissertation.html

Davis, Gordon B. Writing the Doctoral Dissertation, 2nd ed. (Hauppauge NY: Barron's Educational , 1997). 154 pp.
ISBN-10: 0812098005; ISBN-13: 978-0812098006 (Paperback). Amazon has excerpts available online.