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Formatting Manuscript
One of the final steps leading to the award of your graduate degree is completing the thesis or dissertation. Your manuscript is a scholarly presentation of the results of your research. We are proud of your contributions to your respective fields and excited to share your work with the broader scholarly community. Your work will be displayed on ProQuest and published at the university library through ScholarWorks.
Human subjects and animal use
All studies involving human subjects must be reviewed and approved by the UTRGV Human Subjects Review Committee. If your research involves human or animal subjects, you must follow the guidelines and obtain an approved protocol before you begin your research.
Formatting your manuscript
All manuscripts must be submitted through ProQuest as a PDF.
PAGE SIZE
- Page should be letter size 8.5” x 11”
FONT
- The font should be Times New Roman, 12 point, in black.
- The same font must be used throughout the manuscript. It is acceptable to reduce the font size on tables, figures, and in the appendices in order to make them fit on one page. (10 pt.)
- Boldface should only be used on Level 1, 2, 3, and 4 Headings
JUSTIFICATION
- Left justification or full justification is allowed.
LINE SPACING
- The text must be double spaced. Ensure spacing before and after is set to “0” for the preliminary pages. Slight extra spacing between paragraphs in the body of the manuscript is allowed, and should be consistent throughout the manuscript.
- The start of each paragraph should be indented.
- Orphan and Widow lines should be avoided. A new paragraph should not begin at the bottom of a page or end at the top of a page, unless at least two (2) lines of text can be included in each case. Large expanses of white space within chapters should be avoided.
QUOTATIONS/BLOCK QUOTES
- Quotations less than three lines should use quotation marks and follow APA style.
- Quotations more than three (3) lines, about 40 words, – called block quotes - should be indented from the right and left margins. It is recommended to fully justify block quotes. Block quotes do not get quotation marks.
MARGINS
For pages with HEADERS, margins should be:
LEFT: 1 inch
RIGHT: 1 inch
TOP: 2 inches
BOTTOM: 1 inch
Subsequent pages should have margins set to:
LEFT: 1 inch
RIGHT: 1 inch
TOP: 1 inch
BOTTOM: 1 inch
Headers: TITLE page, COMMITTEE page, ABSTRACT, DEDICATION, ACKNOWLEDGMENT(s), ToC, LoT, LoF, Chapter headers, REFERENCES, APPENDIX, VITA.
PAGINATION
- The following pages should not have pagination: Title, Committee, Copyright, and all blank pages. Other preliminary pages should have pagination in lower case Roman numerals, starting with “iii” on the Abstract. Starting with Chapter I, pagination uses Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.). The pagination font should also be in Times New Roman, 12 point., black
- Pagination should be centered at the bottom 0.5” margin. In the event an Appendix has a page number, the manuscript page number should be as close to the center as possible, within brackets, i.e. [133]
- If landscape pages are used, pagination should remain in the same location as it would be on a portrait page. So, on a landscape page, it would appear at the left 0.5” margin, centered, and turned 90 degrees. Envision the document as a hard copy book, where the page numbers always appear in the same location.
Organizing the manuscript
Links below include examples of manuscript section pages. Do not deviate from the wording and spacing in the examples, except for details applicable to you (e.g. name, major, committee, etc.). The red text on the sample pages is included for explanatory purposes only. Do not include them in your submission.
“Major Subject” (not concentration) should be included on the Title Page. Throughout your draft, the month and year listed should be the month and year in which you will graduate.
The proper organization and page order for your manuscript is as follows:
- blank page (no page number)
- blank page (no page number)
- blank page (no page number)
- Abstract (the first numbered page, iii)
- blank page (no page number) [blank page needed only if the abstract is one page]
- Dedication page (optional)
- blank page (no page number)
- Acknowledgments (optional)
- blank page (no page number)
- blank page (no page number) [blank page needed only if the total number of pages for the Table of Contents is an odd number]
- List of Tables (only needed if there is more than one table)
- blank page (no page number) [needed only if the total number of pages for the List of Tables is an odd number]
- List of Figures (only needed if there is more than one figure)
- blank page (no page number) [blank page needed only if the total number of pages for the List of Figures is an odd number]
- Chapters (also referred to as text or body). Each chapter should start on a new page.
- Appendices (optional section)
Visit the ScholarWorks site to explore published thesis and dissertations.
Thesis and Dissertation Procedures
SETTING UP DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
- Choose your supervising committee chair, then select the remaining members of your supervising committee.
- Then, go to the Grad College Smart Forms page and complete the Application for Dissertation/Thesis Committee Form.
- You are expected to work closely with the chair in selecting the topic and in completing other details of the study.
ENROLLMENT IN A THESIS AND DISSERTATION COURSE
- You must continue to enroll in a Thesis/Dissertation course each semester until you complete your Thesis or Dissertation.
- Students who are applying for graduation must be enrolled in a Thesis/Dissertation course in the same semester in which they plan to graduate (also applies to Summer graduation).
SUBMITTING THE DRAFT
- As you write your Thesis/Dissertation, refer to the Formatting Guide for formatting requirements (ANCHOR ABOVE).
- Submit the completed draft, as per instructions noted on the manuscript submission page, to the ProQuest ETD website.
- Here you will have the option to purchase bound copies (at your own expense). You are not required to purchase copies for the Graduate College. However, your program may require one, please check with program.
- You do not need to wait until either deadline date to submit your draft. It is recommended that you submit your draft as soon as possible, so there is ample time to make any necessary revisions.
- A draft that is submitted for review should be as complete as possible except for some formatting improvements and changes that will be made based on the committee’s recommendations. Therefore, a draft should include:
- All preliminary pages
- Table of Contents
- All chapters (text of manuscript)
- All supplementary pages
The Graduate College will review the formatting of your draft based on guidelines contained in the "Formatting Guide". You will be notified by email after your draft is reviewed with any revisions that need to be made. If major revisions are required, these must be addressed, and the draft resubmitted for review prior to final submission. Manuscripts will be reviewed in the order they are received.
Please note: The Graduate College does not check the content of your manuscript. You are responsible for checking grammar and spelling.
SUBMITTING FINAL COPIES
After your defense, once your manuscript has been approved by your committee, you will upload the final copy as per instructions posted on the ProQuest ETD website.
COPYRIGHT SERVICES
- Per the Library of Congress website, “Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.” For more information visit U.S. Copyright Office.
- You can elect to have ProQuest/ETD handle the application for registration of their claim to copyright their work. This can be completed by selecting the appropriate box when submitting the manuscript and paying the appropriate fee at that time. You can also complete this process on your own at U.S. Copyright Office.
DEADLINES
- Access upcoming thesis/dissertation deadlines.
- You do not need to wait for the deadline to submit; you may submit earlier than the posted deadline.
- If you have any questions or require further clarification regarding these deadlines or the submission process, please contact our team at ETD@utrgv.edu.
EXTENSIONS
- An extension to the final draft deadline may be requested using the Grad College Smart Forms. An extension is generally granted for one week.
CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETION
The supervising committee chair must submit the Certification of Completion form after a successful defense. This must be Approved by all committee members and must be received by the posted deadline in order to fulfill graduation requirements.
THESIS/DISSERTATION DEFENSE
- The defense must be scheduled at least two weeks before the final draft deadline.
- Certain graduate programs may require more advanced notice – you are advised to consult with their chair and Graduate Program Coordinator for more information.
- Doctoral students must complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates after successfully defending dissertation.
*Make sure to leave enough time between your defense and the final draft deadline, in the event your committee has feedback and need to make changes to your manuscript.
EMBARGOES
- Occasionally, there are circumstances in which you may prefer that your thesis/dissertation not be published immediately. Such circumstances may include the disclosure of patentable rights in the work before a patent can be granted, similar disclosures detrimental to the rights of the author, or disclosures of facts about persons, institutions, or locations before professional ethics would permit.
- A request to the Dean of the Graduate College can be made to withhold full-text publication of manuscript. The publication embargo request can be extended for up to two years. Embargo request should be submitted at the time final manuscript has been uploaded to ProQuest.
- Once the manuscript has been published an embargo cannot be requested.