The Dissertation Format: 5 Must-Know Rules

Everyone who has ever written a dissertation knows that it is difficult and you need guidelines. This is a short article with the 5 must-know rules when it comes to its format, before start writing it.

What is a dissertation and the most common format?

It is a long and formal document that defends previously set thesis. It starts with a hypothesis and collects evidence to support the thesis or deny it. This type of writing involves critical thinking and opinion. It is all about analysis and concepts. Everything in this type of writing must refer to published work or to an original work. It doesn’t repeat the published work, but it uses the results to refer to the source.

It usually defines the issue and the motivation that led the author to choosing that topic, why is that issue relevant, talks about what is done regarding that issue, about author’s contribution to that issue, explains the experiments and makes conclusions based on the experiment. Usually people who do this for the first time follow the term paper format below:

• Chapter 1: Introduction (An overview of the issue being later discussed)
• Chapter 2: Definitions of new terms
• Chapter 3: Describing the concept how you work on the issue
• Chapter 4: Explanation of the experiment
• Chapter 5: Description of the results
• Chapter 6: Bringing up a conclusion
• Chapter 7: Abstract (A short description of the whole paper)

Must-Know rules about format for dissertation

• #1 Margins shouldn’t be less than one inch – Different institutions have different requirements, but the minimum for the margins is one inch.
• #2 Single column – You have to write in a single column.
• #3 Place headings appropriately – you mustn’t let headings to hang at the bottom of the previous page. Handle them prior handing down. Do not bold any heading.
• #4 Font – Don’t use any inappropriate font. Times New Roman or Calibri are just fine.
• #5 Check before sending – Don’t forget to check everything you did before sending your work online. That means read the paper carefully before submitting it.

Another common mistake people do is looking at someone else’s work before writing their own work. Mistakes often arise here. Therefore, follow the manual instruction guidelines when in formatting your paper.

As it was previously mentioned, different universities have different requirements. Therefore, you should always ask about the formatting of your writing before doing it and have the abovementioned format rules in mind while writing it.